Mission Flats

By: William Landay

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Former DA and rookie writer William Landay delivers a white-hot thriller. When a Boston DA is found brutally murdered in a lakeside cabin in rural Maine, local Police Chief Ben Truman is forced to head down to Boston to follow the few fragile leads he has in the case. From a retired Boston cop, he learns the ropes of big-city policing, and finds that it is a more corrupt and cynical endeavor than the job he's been doing back in Versailles, Maine. The search for the murderer will lead Ben to the highest echelons of the Boston Police Department, where the ghosts of past crimes haunt the present case, and Ben finds himself defending his own innocence while trying to uncover the truth about the murder.

©2003 William Landay (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Tough but true: a first-time novelist has to bring something new to the table - something like the trumps that William Landay throws down in his high-stakes police procedural, Mission Flats.... Landay writes with eloquent intensity...about the no-win ethical choices that can corrupt or otherwise crush a good cop.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“You'll get everything you paid for in William Landay's debut thriller, Mission Flats.... Landay is a superb writer who can evoke visceral emotional reactions with skillful evocative prose.” (St. Petersburg Times)

“Landay's story is rife with nuanced characters and the gritty realism of street justice. His tale is reminiscent of his fellow Beantown writer Dennis Lehane, which is a true compliment.” (Rocky Mountain News)

Read "Defending Jacob" instead

I was anxious to try other books by Landay after really enjoying Defending Jacob, but it's obvious he got better as he went on because this, his first book, is really only just OK. It's pretty much what I would expect from a lawyer turned author, but without much polish or style. Nothing really surprising in story or quality......I'd recommend you read "Defending Jacob" instead and think about future books, not his past books.

Took a LONG time to get to the surprise ending.

The story was a good one but the author spent too much of the book telling stories that didn't matter to the plot.

Mission flats

A really well written story, and well narrated.
I would recommend it to those who enjoyed
Defending Jacob.

They're both right!

One reviewer on this site gives "Mission Flats" five stars, another gives it one. Who's right? Well, both are. This is a brilliantly written mystery -- right up there with Michael Connelly. (Hard to believe it's a first novel!!) Five stars for story and style. But the one-star reviewer has a point: the jinks in the plot are so abrupt and extreme that you feel as though you've been in a roll-over accident. Put on your seatbelt! If you look back over the story, though, you'll find plenty of clues and foreshadowing to warn you of what's ahead. A combination of Spencer and Bosch? Yes, it's that -- plus a generous dollop of Agatha Christie at her most devious.

Poorly narrated

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story is interesting. The narration detracts from it to the point that I switched to print format.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The voice of the protagonist is rendered in what I assume is the narrator's own voice and is acceptable if somewhat flat. But the other characters' voices sound monotonous, just the narrator's voice pitched lower for older males and higher for females. The character of Kelly is especially difficult to listen to. The narrator is missing any unique tone or cadence.

Should have read the reviews before purchasing...

Would you ever listen to anything by William Landay again?

Defending Jacob

Any additional comments?

I purchased one of the authors other books, "Defending Jacob", and loved it. As soon as I finished it, I did a search for other books by him and decided to start with his first. Maybe I should have read some reviews before making that decision...

This book goes on and on with small details about things that just does not matter. I listened to about 3 hours of this book and still could care less about finishing it, and this is very rare for me. Finally, on my way into work today (almost a 1.5 trip one way), I just gave up. Funny thing is I really just don't care even to know the "who, why and where". The only thing I am sorry for is I did not have another book loaded onto my iPhone so I had to finish the drive with the radio.

Given how much I liked "Defending Jacob", I am willing to give the author a pass on this one. If you read this book and liked it (some of the reviews are glowing), good for you. As for me, I wasted a credit and 3 hours that could have been spent listening to something I would actually enjoy and finish.

This author never disappoints.

All of his books are amazing. You never see the endings coming. This is a must read.

Lot going on.

Enjoyed, but not as much as Defending Jacob. It was narrated well, and the book was enjoyable.

Good Story But Narrator Was Not a Good Choice

The story was good, but not amazing. Worth the credit, at least.
However, the narrator sucked some of the seriousness out of it because of his almost cartoonish presentation manor. His attempts at voice acting are what you would expect from the cartoons. He just doesn't do voices very well.
He narrated one of my favorites, Cryptonomicon, which was great because of the humor and satire threaded throughout that story. But his almost laughable impersonations did work because it sounded like he was doing them extra funny on purpose.
It's a shame that he almost ruined it.

Good book -- Good author -- Good reader!

I "read" this book because my wife had bought it and read it. She thought it was, "OK." I thought it was excellent.

The Book: An excellent departure from standard mystery novel formulas. A most interesting story based on two ideas which can engender a great deal of thought -- 1. One action can trigger a series of events that lead inexorably from one to the other and which may be impossible to stop. 2. Good people sometimes . . . I have to stop there to avoid giving away important plot information. I had moments during the plot development when I felt we were going in a pointless (and frankly annoying) direction. But no, we were in a series of events that . . . well, you understand.

The Author: First rate character development and an excellent ear for completely realistic dialogue. On top of that, Landay writes with style and language that clearly says "good writer", not just a "good typist". I've read quite a few books by typists. Come on Mr. Landay -- more books!

The Reader: Sorry, Mr. Dufris, but I was really upset by your opening words in this book. My reaction was that I simply could not listen to this guy through a complete abridged book. Then I GOT IT! William Dufris is an excellent reader. Not just multiple voices (though they are very well done), but multiple personalities. None of the characters were aural characatures. All became real people with real accents, real vocal inflections, real personalities. Scott Brick has a reader/brother.

Do I gush? Yeah, I guess I do. I really liked this book!