The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter

By: Malcolm Mackay

Narrated by: Angus King

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

It's easy to kill a man. It's hard to kill a man well. A 29-year-old man lives alone in his Glasgow flat. The telephone rings; a casual conversation, but behind this a job offer. The clues are there if you know to look for them. He is an expert. A loner. Freelance. Another job is another job, but what if this organization wants more? A meeting at a club. An offer. A target: Lewis Winter, a necessary sacrifice that will be only the first step in an all-out war between crime syndicates the likes of which hasn't been seen for decades. It's easy to kill a man. It's hard to kill a man well. People who do it well know this. People who do it badly find out the hard way. The hard way has consequences.

©2015 Malcolm Mackay (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Remarkable. Mackay's achievement is all the more stunning because drawing on his sublime imagination and innate empathy he has created a cast of characters so vivid - especially MacLean, who knows how hard it is to kill a man - that they live on in the memory long after the final page." ( Daily Mail)

"Glasgow's a tough city and this is a tough book...very authentic, very gritty, you can really feel the streets. They call this genre Tartan Noir and absolutely The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter is a first class member of that." (Lee Child)

"A quietly absorbing gangland tale, full of moral ambiguities." ( The Times)

Gritty and methodical

The plot moves ploddingly but the action when it comes is intense and brutal. Looking forward to the second in the series to get a deeper glimpse in to the streets of Glasgow.

A Very Good Listen

very well done in all aspects. Great audible book to listen to driving in the car. Narrator outstanding.

one of my favorites!

read this series of books a few years ago. I read them all twice. and now I'm listening to them. some deep knowledge of how Scottish gangs and probably all gangs work.

A British Answer To Elmore Leonard? Its That Good!

This is a tale of contract murder, written in the third person with great skill. Elmore Leonard created clever and flawed characters with quick wit and a love for violence. McKay delivers much the same here.

A middle aged, mid level drug dealer is attempting to steal territory from one mobster with the backing of a rival gang. His name is Lewis Winter and his death is necessary. So a quiet, somewhat apathetic hit man is given the contract to kill Mr. Winter. But is Lewis' murder really neccesary? Do yourself a favor and buy this book!

Terrific!

Absolutely excellent characterizations, plot and reading.
One could not ask for better Glasgow noir. I totally recommend.

Sweet Noir

Would you listen to The Necessary Death of Lewis Winter again? Why?

I would not, but only because I do not relisten to books.

What did you like best about this story?

Excellent pacing.

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

The accent provides some flavor.

A new Scottish mystery

Earlier reviews compared Mackay to Elmore Leonard and I think his characters remind me Thomas Perry's characters. Very well written, great story line , interesting characters ....going immediately to the next in the series

Perfection.

Best audiobook I have listened to. Great writing, perfect narrator. If you like crime stories, don't miss this one.

These are all the boring parts

Elmore Leonard said 'Just cut out all the boing parts.' These are all those boring parts. 8 chapters in... still boring. See, the author explains something, doesn't actually tell you anything, and then he explains something related to that first explanation--none of which has to do with telling a story. So we know how the target feels about his girlfriend, how they divide up housework.... Skip this one. I actually started this one 3-4 times and wondered why I stopped and couldn't remember anything about the story. Well, it's hard to remember nothing.

Boring

Parts were interesting, but overall it was boring. Plus, there is no ending - you wade through the boring story to see what happens and they don't tell you.