Nobody Walks

By: Mick Herron

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

The death of Tom Bettany's estranged 26-year-old son brings him back to London. His return sparks the interest of everyone from mobsters to MI5 officers - he may have thought he left his old life as a spy behind, but nobody just walks away.

Tom Bettany is working at a meat processing plant in France when he gets the voicemail from an English woman he doesn't know telling him that his estranged 26-year-old son is dead. Liam was smoking dope on his London balcony when he fell. Now for the first time since he cut all ties years ago, Bettany returns home to London to find out the truth about his son's death. It may be the guilt he feels about losing touch with his son that's gnawing at him, or maybe he has actually put his finger on a labyrinthine plot, but either way he is going to get to the bottom of the tragedy, no matter whose feathers he has to ruffle. But there are many people who are interested to hear Bettany is back in town, from incarcerated mob bosses to the highest echelons of MI5.

©2015 Mick Herron (P)2015 Recorded Books

Loved the book, hated the ending

Narrator was great, I think he really made the words come alive.

There is something really enjoyable about Mick Heron's writing style. I'm not sure if it is the story, the slow build, the slightly off-beat characterization, or something else...but I seem to be pulled into the story eventually, every time.

I was somewhat disappointed when this. One came to an end. I suppose I knew it had to happen, but I was no less surprised when it did happen.

Perhaps a sequel? Hollywood can do it, why not you? Hehehe😚

Not Slough House

I’m a fan of this author’s Slough House mysteries, so when I finished the last of those I moved on with anticipation to his stand alone books. This is my first and it’s proved disappointing.

I almost want to say that the main character here is violence and that the actual characters in the story are merely supporting cast. None of them are given much depth and what we do know about them is the degree to which they will tolerate violence or be shattered by violence or perpetrate violence in order to accomplish something they want. The description of the violence itself is a bit gratuitous in my opinion, since I read mysteries for the characters and the puzzle, not the gore. So this is not my idea of an engaging story.

The other deficit is that there are a lot of players and the author switches POV constantly. We catch five minutes of action with one group, five minutes with another, etc. I keep having to move back in the narration because I’ve lost track of what the story thread is and which characters are on stage. Gerard Doyle does his usual excellent job, it's the story that's lacking.

I’ve read reviews of the other stand alones and this seems to be rather a recurring theme. I wish it weren’t so because the Slough House series is some very fine writing. The bottom line with this one is that I have about an hour to go to finish and I’m searching for motivation to continue.

Disappointing ending

What would have made Nobody Walks better?

The story dragged from the beginning. Then when it started to have promise it got lost in too many plots. It just plodded along. The protagonist was not fully described and when smart enough to understand what was happening to him from the start, just like us (read as the plot was not very clever), the ending just failed. This book came to a really poor and predictable end.

Has Nobody Walks turned you off from other books in this genre?

NO

What didn’t you like about Gerard Doyle’s performance?

Almost monotone.

What character would you cut from Nobody Walks?

Flea

Sad tale

I'm a fan of Mick Herron. When I buy one of his books I always know I'm going to get excellent writing and thoroughly developed characters and plot. I do recommend this book, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as some of his others. I think the main reason for this is that I found the book quite sad with an ending that left me hanging... it's well done, but I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it except to say that it's worth a listen.
The narration is wonderful.

Nobody walks, nobody wins

I gave this book a lot of stars because Herron’s pros reads like poetry and I would listen to Gerard Doyle read the ingredients on a bottle of Lysol. The inner workings of MI5 are a bit terrifying and while I am a big fan of the Slough House series, this offering feels more chilling. There is a slight overlap between the two books but this one stands alone as a stark reminder of the pitfalls of an organization filled with individual agendas and the ability to use broken people for their own Self-serving agendas.

Love Mick Herron. Hated the ending.

After reading the Slough House series, I can't tell you how disappointed I am with this effort. The story winds down to an anticlimactic frustrating ending. Boo!

Another Herron classic

Mick Herron is a very talented writer with stories that are unique,and interesting, look forward to the next book

Great addition to the Slough House world

Mick Herron truly is the John Le Carre of our times, don’t miss this one!

Not slow horses but nothing short of great

Mick Herron is as cynical and thus as enjoyable as ever. The narrator is the incomparable Gerard Doyle. The story is 50% espionage and 50% mystery. For slow horses fans, there is the lagniappe of the back story of both JK Coe and the bewigged Dame Ingrid.

Superb and gripping story beautifully read by this special narrator

Like other Mick Heron books, this one is crisp, makes you feel like you're there, is unsparing about the ruthlessness of the Service, and is beautifully and dramatically read by the narrator-he changes his voice to occupy the range of characters and it works very well.