The Ghosts of Belfast

By: Stuart Neville

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Fegan has been a "hard man" - an IRA killer in Northern Ireland. Now that peace has come, he is being haunted day and night by 12 ghosts: a mother and infant, a schoolboy, a butcher, an RUC constable, and seven other of his innocent victims. In order to appease them, he's going to have to kill the men who gave him orders.

As he's working his way down the list, he encounters a woman who may offer him redemption; she has borne a child to an RUC officer and is an outsider too. Now he has given Fate - and his quarry - a hostage. Is this Fegan's ultimate mistake?

©2009 Stuart Neville (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Mystery / Thriller, 2010
• Notable Crime Books of 2009 (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times)
• The Year’s Most Mesmerizing Mysteries (Maureen Corrigan, NPR)

"Stuart Neville's debut novel about the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland is harsh, brutal, and unrelentingly grim. With spare, crisp dialogue, and a gift for turning an Irish phrase, Neville plants himself firmly in Adrian McKinty territory. And who better to narrate than Gerard Doyle? Doyle gets it—and so do we. His whine; his growl; his rough yet sensitive, always-passionate performance gives everything a listener could want from an audiobook." ( AudioFile)

"With this stunning debut, Neville joins a select group of Irish writers, including Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes, and Adrian McKinty, who have reinvigorated the noir tradition with a Celtic edge." ( Publishers Weekly)

Slightly mixed feelings

Great storyline and good character development. Just a bit gruesome at times. Performed very well.

I Highly Recommend This Book!

The story is incredibly well written and excellently narrated, it holds the listeners attention from start to finish.

Brilliant

Violence, loads of it. A story about a former enforcer who's victims haunt him and demand justice. As this is extracted we are introduced to a world where the motivations behind a lot of the violence and the characters running things is brilliantly fleshed out. The same goes for the main character, Gerry Fegan, The story is very powerful, well written and convincingly narrated in a very understated style.

Great story

Where does The Ghosts of Belfast rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've got to say that Stuart Neville is the only mystery writer I've ever read that can hold a candle to Adrian McGinty. Both writers are GREAT.

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

I love to listen to his books. Love it!!!

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

I hated it when it was over. I really empathized with everyone in the story.

Amazing Irish Noir

Even better with an Irish accent!

This is a violent, bloody story of revenge and ultimately redemption set in modern Belfast. Some knowledge of the Troubles would definitely be helpful but not necessary. I loved Gerry, I loved the ghosts- basically, I loved everything. Gerald Doyle as the narrator is brilliant as always.

Great Slow Burn Celtic Noir

If you like Adrian Mckinty or other modern celtic noir authors, you'll love The Ghosts of Belfast. If not, Gerard Doyle's gripping narration is reason enough to give it a try.

Set in post-ceasefire Northern Ireland, the novel is a tense and ponderous look at the inner struggle of an ex-IRA hitman as he seeks salvation from his victims...in the only way he knows how. Beautiful prose explores the human soul and the high cost violence has on it, and is punctuated by thrilling action sequences.

I really enjoyed this book!!

It was a little slow to start, but it didn't take long until I was completely engrossed in the story. I love the narration as well. I am looking forward to book #2.

What an unexpected good read!

I do not normally read ( listen to) either crime stories or ghost stories, and bought this on a whim as a vacation read ( something different). What a compelling story. Notwithstanding there are ghosts, and violence, Neville had me hooked and actually caring about what would happen to the main character, a murderer for the IRA. The language ( clear vivid word-pictures) the story ( how politics replaced the IRA tactics of intimidation) and the plot ( which proceeds in a straight and predictable line but still leaves you interested in how it will play out) were all terrific. Excellent narration by Doyle, whom I did not care for in the beginning but did, significantly, by the end.

I listened to "Angel Time" by Anne Rice, with a (somewhat) similar theme, hit man years later trying to make amends. With respect to Ms Rice, whom I like, " Ghosts of Belfast" is -by far - a much, much better book

5 stars

You've love this Story

A am a hard core romance junkie. With that said, this is not a romance, I have no idea why I decided to purchase it, it was a moment of whimsy. I am glad for that moment, this story thought a bit slow in the beginning, became an addiction, my headset didn't leave me until the story finished. Not only because of the story itself; yet, also because of the narration. There is nothing worse then listening t a badly narrated story. I will not give you any particulars on the story itself other then to say- challenge yourself look for clues in the story- Is he mad or truly haunted? You wont regret finding out.

Sebastian Barry meets William Boyd

Thanks to Janice, who reviewed this book and addressed the issue of the violence. I might not have taken a chance on this without her review. I agree that the violence is not gratuitous and that what is there is necessary. This is a suspenseful thriller with a lot of history and a lot of depth. The protagonist is coming to terms with what he did during Ireland's Troubles, trying to put things right so that he can go on with his life. I don't want to say too much about how he goes about this, but it's a great story. Stuart Neville uses the kind of history and emotional depth found in Sebastian Barry's works, and puts them into a thriller worthy of William Boyd's Restless and Ordinary Thunderstorms. The writing is very good and the characters are very much alive, sometimes uncomfortably so.

Gerard Doyle's narration is excellent and he keeps the characters so clear and vivid that I forgot I was listening to one person.

I will definitely look for more by both Stuart Neville and Gerard Doyle.