Terms of Restitution

By: Denzil Meyrick

Narrated by: Angus King

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Gangland boss Zander Finn is so sickened by the brutal murder of his son in a Paisley pub, he decides to change his life. Following the advice of his priest and mentor, he moves clandestinely to London and becomes an ambulance driver. But when his old second-in-command, Malky Maloney, tracks him down on a London street, Finn knows he must return. Both his real family and his crime family face an existential threat from Albanian mobsters determined to take control of the Scottish underworld.

Under the watchful eye of his charismatic mother, he must try to look after his lovelorn younger daughter and her older sister, who is pregnant to his old enemy Joe Mannion’s son. His estranged wife, who has more than just a business relationship with Mannion, and his remaining son, crippled while serving in Afghanistan, also require his attention. But most of all, he must take back what is his.

©2021 Denzil Meyrick (P)2023 Audible Ltd.

What a pleasant surprise

This book was recommended to me by audible based on other things I’ve read as some thing I might enjoy. Well, this exceeded any expectations I may have had about a story I knew nothing about nor did I know the author. And what a clever clever story. Thank you audible for recommending this book to me.

Brilliant tale! Already listened twice!

The ending was so clever and such a surprise, I actually listened again to see how I missed it. (Much like watching The Sixth Sense for the first time. I watched it again to appreciate the artistry of cloaking the mystery.) I took the time to tweet the author to congratulate him. He responded saying it was one of his favorite works.

About the narration. The Scottish brogue is heavy and takes some getting used too. However, by the second listening I found I could keep up even at 1.2 speed. Nevertheless this is a special treat, so don’t be turned away by the accent.

Great story

Wonderful surprise - I really enjoyed and glad it was recommended to me- thank you Audible!

More please!

I was immediately sucked in. I have read all of Denzil Meyrick’s books and this may be one of my favorites. It was entertaining and had good twists throughout. Plus, I am a huge fan of narrator Angus King.

Old Gangsters Never Retire

This story has a bit of an identity crisis. It's mostly suspense, as the small town of Paisley, Scotland finds itself in the throws of a gang war. But this suspense has the distinct air of a soap opera as the wife sleeps with her husband's enemy, the daughter is pregnant with the son of an enemy, and wait... the cop did what with WHO? Then there's the purely frivolous, ridiculous side of this story, with the matriarch being a foul-mouthed old woman who will attack anyone and everyone with her barbed tongue, and Armenians are running amok through the city.

Confused? Yeah. Get used to that. A lot is going on in this fanciful story. Truthfully, if I were a screenwriter, I'd turn this into a pure comedy about aging gangsters. Maybe Sean Connery would be willing to play the lead...

There's a lot of karmic irony happening to this motley crew of thugs, thieves, deceivers, murderers, and family. There are also a lot of hidden agendas, but isn't that the nature of the gangland lifestyle? I'll admit, if I didn't stay right on it, it was easy to lose the storyline for a bit. There is a multitude of ancillary characters, as well as a few last-minute WTH characters just when you thought you had a clue. None of these characters run very deep, but that's okay. This would be an epic piece if the author had sought to build backstories for all these wise guys. If you're the type of reader who likes to latch on to a hero in the story, well... good luck. They're all bad; just in varying degrees. So you may find a couple of sort-of-heroes.

Suspense fans who enjoy a genre-bending style, want more action than character-building, and appreciate quirky foul-mouthed personalities will find plenty to like here.

Performance issues

I can’t understand the narrator when he speaks in his accent half the time
sorry about that