Rain Dogs

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award

Rain Dogs, a stunning installment in the Sean Duffy thriller series, following the Edgar Award-nominated Gun Street Girl, is "another standout in a superior series" (Booklist).

It's just the same things over and again for Sean Duffy: riot duty, heartbreak, cases he can solve but never get to court. But what detective gets two locked-room mysteries in one career?

When journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus castle, it looks like a suicide. Yet there are a few things that bother Duffy just enough to keep the case file open, which is how he finds out that Bigelow was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond. And so Duffy has two impossible problems on his desk: Who killed Lily Bigelow? And what were they trying to hide?

©2016 Adrian McKinty (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"McKinty expertly balances Duffy's tense and suspenseful investigation with the political tensions of the region." ( Publishers Review)

"McKinty manages a second locked-room success...another standout in a superior series, combining terrific plotting with evocative historical detail." ( Booklist)

"The tension between McKinty's competing love of tight, formal puzzles and loose, riffing dialogue is what makes the Duffy novels such a tremendous joy." ( The Guardian)

The Narrator IS the Story

Detective Sean Duffy novels are good cop stuff set in an excellent backdrop ("The Troubles" in Ireland). Rain Dogs delivers all the gritty and humorous material we have come to expect from Adrian McKinty's erudite, but seemingly feckless (he's not…it's a ruse), Detective Inspector Duffy. However, if you are this far along in the series you don't need a lecture on that…

What I want my fellow listeners to grock is that Gerard Doyle, our reader, is one of the top five narrators in the world…unbelievably enjoyable to hear in your earbuds and totally believable as he shifts characters (male or female). HIs Irish brogue, thick or thin, is classic BBC teletheater.

This series is great, although when you begin your search click on the narrator's name first to see what he has to offer. Amazing stuff!

14 of 14 people found this review helpful

With McKinty it's about the story!

Adrian McKinty is one of the best story tellers of our time. In Rain Dogs he is at his very best. Gerard iDoyle is one of the best narrators. In Rain Dogs he is at his very best.

This Detective Sean Duffy police procedural, Book 5 in the series, is set in 1987 during turbulent times in Northern Ireland. Among other things the story is about the apparent death by suicide of a journalist at a castle. If it is murder then there appears to be only on possible culprit. Duffy sets out to solve the mystery.

This novel is as much about Sean Duffy's personal life as about the murder case. In telling this compelling story McKinty almost magically weaves the case and the personal together to where they are one.

I believed that this series would end with five books. A twist at the end casts doubt on my assumption.

Rain Dogs has mystery but little action or suspense. It is a great story well told.

I VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND Rain Dogs not just to mystery/thriller enthusiasts but to all who like a good story.

22 of 23 people found this review helpful

Always a good story

I'm never disappointed with Sean Duffy. He's an ordinary cop, just trying to be diligent in his job, always seemingly to lose at love and even when his cases are solved, they seem to have a twist adding to the realism of the story. Duffy's life is lackluster, plodding away day to day, but he's dedicated to the marrow. The narration is perfect for the character putting you in the heart of Ireland.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Another good Sean Duffy book

The entire series has been a good one and this one does not disappoint. It starts a little slow but the story is another interesting and ingenious mystery with witty dialogue along the way.

Narration from Doyle is terrific as usual. Recommended along with the series.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

DCI Sean with another great mystery

Would you listen to Rain Dogs again? Why?

Yes, it has all the check marks of a great story

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rain Dogs?

I loved the opening chapter in Belfast with the greatest man on earth

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

Sean is his best but Mr Doyle does a great job on all the characters in the story Keep up the good work

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, two times both with pride the beginning and at the end

Any additional comments?

Adrian McKinty is a masterful story teller who makes you feel the pain and pride of his characters, Look forward to his next works Soon I hope

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Lester Carthan's Review

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, because it everything I look for when listening to an audiobook.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Doyle. He used to be a character I loved but did not like. This time out I like and love him, he has matured nicely over the past seven years in novel time.

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

When I read a book I give each character a voice that used to sound a lot like mine. Now it sounds like a combination of many audio actors I've heard. Doyle beats them all.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not weep in this one but laughed throughout. There is a lot more to the book than laughing but there are a lot of chuckles in this one.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book. Not being a writer I want to end the review there but I suppose those reading this want more. I know I would.

First of all this book is a deviation from previous books in the series. Those other books were police procedures that take place during the Troubles but our hero while trying to solve a case our hero was one player among many each with their own conflicting interests in how Duffy’s case turned out with global consequences. Duffy had to deal with America, England, his supervisors, paramilitaries, being a minority cop in a secretarial low level civil war, a messy love life, torn between doing the right thing for the victim and the right thing for his career ah he solve the case.

This novel by contrast is a much more intimate experience. It’s Duffy, Lawson, Crabby against the big mystery. As readers we are given every clue up front, there is no 11th hour shenanigans where we get new information that was never disclosed. If you are up to the challenge you can figure out why and how before Duffy. I couldn’t but if you are into that kind of thing I’m sure it adds an extra layer of enjoyment to an already enjoyable experience.

This is a mystery that takes place in the real world with real characters. Duffy isn’t omniscient or always right you see him go down blind allies, make wrong accusations, miss stuff. Leads and breaks are to come from other characters as much as they are from Duffy himself and mystery concludes the way it would in real life. No cliché shortcuts everything is earned and original this isn’t the same novel in a series that written over and over dispensed and consume like junk food.

Finally what make this novel so good are the characters. Through the characters we experience humor, action, suspense, drama, intrigue, love, loss, betrayal, heartbreak a roller coaster of emotions peppered throughout the book against the backdrop of characters try to solve and prevent a mystery from being solved. Without the characters it would be a very boring police procedure but with characters it’s a larger than life adventure that we get to go along inside Duffy’s head experiencing everything as he experiences it.

On to the narrator Doyle. If you close your eyes you can pretend you have half dozen A list actors from both sexes doing a passion project. He’s able to bring every accent for male and female to life and have it be dead on. Early on, I mean in the first five minutes he does a Muhammad Ali impersonation that I thought was awful, but went on YouTube to see how the champ sounded in 1987 and it was really good indeed. This coming from a voice actor that descended from white English and Irish parents.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

McKintey's Off The Needle!

I almost swore off of Adrian McKinty after listening to his, "The River" last month. I found it to be an AWFUL self-indulgent drug addled morass! Odd since I'd given him about 135 stars for the last ten of his novels I've heard. I'd probably have given "Rain Dogs" 15 stars as well if it weren't for the acrid debris still in my ears from "The River". But here Shawn Duffy's back. I recall when this series was supposed to be a triad - but it's obviously been nurtured into a larger crop by the money fans have poured into Duffy's engaging maturation. And the ending's a clear signal to Duffy's future growth.

If you've caught up with this series, then yeah, get "Rain Dogs", if not... start from the beginning. Since it's set in 80s Northern Ireland - each of these books is as fresh as the day they were first read by Gerard Doyle. And Doyle, once again, is Shawn Duffy as he moves through the rain, bombs, and political murk of British secrets.

Oh... the plot here's so classic that McKinty spends a LOT of time actually apologizing for its familiarity... Charmingly I think, but I won't be surprised when I read other reviewers who find it a LOT derivative of earlier Duffy novels.

I'll buy the next Shawn Duffy tale, now that McKinley's almost entirely flushed "The River" from my memory.

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

Consistently McKinty

Where does Rain Dogs rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. The whodunnit seemed obvious, at first, and then not. The howdunnit came in and out of focus. The whydunnit wasn't resolved until the end.

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There are nuances to the prose that cannot be appreciated easily by someone who isn't from Ireland. Gerard Doyle's interpretation clarifies and deepens the story.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Rain, whiskey, murder.

Any additional comments?

Do I really have to wait 51 1/2 weeks for another McKinty?

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

McKinty triumphs again

Would you listen to Rain Dogs again? Why?

In case I missed something which I doubt I did

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sean Duffy of course. Why? Because he sounds like someone I'd want to be friends with

What does Gerard Doyle bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The Irish accent plus other character nuances make the people come alive

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

As always I can't stop listening when I should

Any additional comments?

Pure escapism. I live the situations

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

McKinty is Stellar as Usual

The Sean Duffy series starts off exciting and then continues to get better and better with each book. The stories are so clever and intriguing, but Sean Duffy is as well drawn as any series protagonist. You could read this book without starting at the beginning, but it is so enjoyable watching how the characters progress through the 4 books in the series. I am hoping more will be coming soon. I know I can't wait.

Special mention goes to Gerard Doyle as narrator. He beautiful Irish brogue and excellent acting make for a rare listening experience. He was the perfect choice as narrator of this series.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

McKinty delivers again.

Excellent story with lots of twists and turns. Interesting use of Jimmy Saville and other scandals intertwined with Sean Duffy to give an added edge and suspension of disbelief underlaid with gallows humour .

This series just gets better and better

Inspector Sean Duffy is a relentless investigator, who's right into his music and quite fond of the drink and the cigarettes.

He's ably backed by The Crabman and Young Lawson in a captivating tale of intrigue which unfolds at a gentle but persistent pace.

There are none of the daft chase / fight scenes which blight other detective stories, and McKinty's turn of phrase is beguiling.

Gerard Doyle's narration is sublime. Terrific stuff.

Another good story

Very contemporaneous despite the setting. Gripping and lively. Good read and well delivered (some accents apart!)

Work on the accents!

I really enjoy the Sean Duffy books and am half way through this one, but the narrators attempts at regional accents are dreadful. The Liverpudlian and the Geordie one are so awful, to the point where I was detracted from listening to the content. A real shame.