Dirty Metal
A Novel

Name: Dirty Metal
Brand: Macmillan Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Allison LaMothe
ISBN: 9781250433275

Author: Allison LaMothe

Narrator: Gail Shalan

Unabridged: 9 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Published: 02/03/2026

Categories: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Crime, Suspense & Thriller

Synopsis

An electrifying new voice in crime fiction: Allison LaMothe’s debut is a gritty, fast-paced mystery about a reporter running down two huge stories at once

“Allison LaMothe is a wildly talented writer with an exacting eye for detail and her tenacious tabloid reporter, Parker Snow, is gutsy, whip-smart, and the perfect tour guide through pre-Giuliani New York City." —Julia Dahl, author of I Dreamed of Falling

New York City, 1992—Meet Parker Snow, the most tenacious reporter for a tabloid paper that thrives on juicy gossip over hard-hitting news, the New York Street. She also has a big black mark on her record from her last street crime story—and a habit of taking a few too many pills to erase the memory.

Since the fall of the USSR, a new crop of Russian criminals have been arriving in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. It's now Parker's job to cover them. But her old beat keeps calling to her, especially when she learns of a murdered woman whose case the cops want to ignore.

Trying to run down two stories at once—a simmering mafia turf war, and a homicide that leads to two more with no clear link between them—Parker must also fight the pull of her pills and the arrogant men who get in her way at every turn. Despite it all, she's determined to find truth and redemption for herself, the victims, and a city in chaos—if her demons don't get to her first.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

About Allison LaMothe

Allison LaMothe is a writer based in Miami by way of New York. After studying French and English with a concentration in poetry writing at the University of Virginia, she spent a year in Russia before moving on to New York City. When not writing or reading three books at a time she can generally be found in the dance studio, in the kitchen, or under water. Dirty Metal is her first novel.

About Gail Shalan

Gail Shalan (she/her) is a NYC-based storyteller on screen, stage, behind the mic, and with puppets.A 2024 two-time Audie Award winner ( Best Young Adult and Best Middle Grade), as well as a multiple Earphones Award winner, praised by The New York Times, Library Journal, Vulture Magazine, Booklist, and Audiofile, she’s narrated 200+ titles.Gail has performed on stage at The Bristol Old Vic, Cherry Lane Theatre, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and other various theater spaces across the US and UK.Her work as both an actor and a puppeteer was featured in the award-winning short film Coyote Girl (BostonIFF Best Short).Known for her dexterity with character and dialects, her tangibly emotional reads, and her deep respect for the text, Gail is passionate about stories that center generational healing and mental health, that navigate the sticky spaces between childhood and adulthood, and stories that ask who am “I”? Who are “we”? And what swells in the space between us, what dwells in the space within us? For that’s where the greatest discoveries and curiosities lie.For more follow her on socials @grshalan and check out www.gailshalan.com

Reviews

Goodreads review by Amandine on January 24, 2026

I went into Dirty Metal hoping to really connect with it, and while I didn’t love it, I didn’t dislike it either. There’s a strong mood running through the book, and it definitely has that gritty, uncomfortable feel that sticks with you after you put it down. You can tell Allison LaMothe has a clear......more

Goodreads review by Daniella on January 20, 2026

Parker Snow is just the journalist for the case of the murder of a young woman. After her previous story went sideways she’s relegated to organized crime but she can’t seem to give up the young girl she found in the streets. As story twists and turns more LaMothe’s writing keeps you wanting to turn......more

Goodreads review by Megan on January 22, 2026

This was a bit of a tough read. A round about story to get to an ending in the last two chapters that was not desperately exciting. It took me awhile to finish this book as it www difficult to grab the attention. There were some interesting tibbits throughout.......more

Goodreads review by Judy on February 04, 2026

Allison LaMothe's compelling debut crime novel, DIRTY METAL, plunges readers into the gritty underworld of 1992 New York City, a time marked by vibrant chaos and the clashing of cultures. The narrative centers around Parker Snow, an intrepid reporter for the sensational tabloid New York Street. A......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on January 27, 2026

This review is mainly going to be geared towards the audiobook. But first, the actual novel. “Dirty Metal” is Allison LaMothe’s debut novel and she does a good job. The time and place of the novel is 1992 in New York City. Ms. LaMothe does an excellent job of capturing the culture of that day. There......more

Quotes

“LaMothe’s language is electric, crackling with energy. . . A bold debut befitting its bold heroine.”
—Kirkus (starred review)

“Dirty Metal is one of the boldest debut novels I've read in years. Allison LaMothe is a wildly talented writer with an exacting eye for detail and her tenacious tabloid reporter, Parker Snow, is gutsy, whip-smart, and the perfect tour guide through pre-Giuliani New York City. I absolutely loved this book." —Julia Dahl, author of I Dreamed of Falling and Invisible City

"Driven by a need for redemption, both for herself and the murdered women, Parker Snow proves she’s as gritty and relentless as the streets she covers—making Dirty Metal a razor-sharp debut."—Lauren Nossett, ITW Thriller Award–winning author of The Professor and The Resemblance

“A rough and tumble debut that crackles with voice and style, Allison LaMothe’s Dirty Metal will ring in your head long after you’ve turned the last page. Boasting all the ingredients of a must-read thriller—a plucky and complicated protagonist, mesmerizing setting, and gripping mystery—Dirty Metal is a poised and poignant story that feels more like a tenth novel than a first.” —Alex Segura, bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego

“Set in 1992 NYC, Dirty Metal rumbles and roars like a downtown express train. From the Lower East Side to Bensonhurst to Brighton Beach, Allison LaMothe's relentless reporter, Parker Snow, leaves no door un-knocked and can smell a liar a mile away. Her investigation pushes her to the limit in this debut that is vibrating with heart, grit, and an uncompromising moral clarity.” —Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Note

“This novel has a real chance of contending for a debut Edgar or Anthony Prize. Confident but not cocky, mouthy but not sassy, it will be on a lot of TBR lists.”
—Library Journal

“Solid debut thriller. . . LaMothe hits the beats of a satisfying neo-noir—a deliciously dark atmosphere, a wounded hero, a corrupt urban underbelly—with ease.”
—Publishers Weekly