The Cold Cold Ground, Adrian McKinty
The Cold Cold Ground, Adrian McKinty
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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The Cold Cold Ground

Author: Adrian McKinty

Series: Sean Duffy Series #1

Narrator: Gerard Doyle

Unabridged: 10 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/05/2012

Synopsis

Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles—and of a cop treading a thin, thin line—from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author Adrian McKinty.“McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.” —Tana FrenchNorthern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn’t matter which side he’s on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.

About Adrian McKinty

How does one graduate from prestigious Oxford University and end up with such a mixture of odd jobs. Such was the life of Irish born author, Adrian McKinty. He was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1968 as number four of five children. His father was a welder and boilermaker, but then became a merchant seaman. Adrian grew up reading crime novels and science fiction.

McKinty moved to New York City after receiving his Oxford degree, where he lived in Harlem. This is where the Oxford graduate took jobs as bartender, security guard, bookstore clerk, rugby coach, door to door salesman, and librarian for the Columbia University Medical School Library. After that, Adrian moved to Denver, Colorado where he was a high school English teacher. During this phase of his career, he began writing fiction with his first novel being, Dead I Well May Be. It received great recognition from peer review publishers. The next award winning novel was the sequel to his first entitled, The Dead Yard.

McKinty and his wife moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2008 with their children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by James on April 29, 2017

The Cold Cold Ground introduces Sean Duffy, a Catholic police sergeant in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. As a Catholic who joined the mostly Protestant police force, Duffy is essentially under suspicion--and threat--from both sides in the long-running "Troubles" pitting Catholics and Protestants aga......more

Goodreads review by Francesc on July 31, 2023

La novela es fantástica. El autor nos traslada al Ulster de 1981 en medio del conflicto de las huelgas de hambre de los prisioneros del IRA del bloque H. La ambientación es fantástica y los personajes son reales. Puedes sentir la violencia de esos días. El autor conduce la trama a través de los acont......more

Quotes

“The audiobook exceeds all expectations because of narrator Gerard Doyle. His storytelling is understated, and his dialect work is remarkable…Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“A dark-humored shamus in the Philip Marlowe tradition.” Wall Street Journal

“A masterpiece of Troubles crime fiction.” Irish Times (Dublin)

“A crime novel, fast-paced, intricate, and genre to the core.” The Guardian (London)

“McKinty creates a marvelous sense of time and place.” Irish Independent (Dublin)

“If Raymond Chandler had grown up in Northern Ireland, The Cold Cold Ground is what he would have written.” The Times (London)

“Reader Gerard Doyle captures every ironic twitch of McKinty’s world-weary Duffy…In each note of Doyle’s narration you hear Duffy’s resignation to the madness surrounding him. The plots are riveting, but the front-row seat to Duffy’s deteriorating equilibrium makes them even better.” Kirkus Reviews (audio review)

“Everything in this novel hits all the right notes, from its brilliant evocation of time and place to razor-sharp dialogue to detailed police procedures.” Booklist (starred review)

“McKinty’s fine police procedural is also the ultimate page-turner.” Library Journal (starred review)

“A journey into a terrifying and almost dreamlike labyrinth of violence and betrayal.” Shots Crime & Thriller Ezine

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • Indie Next List
  • Ned Kelly Award
  • Spinetingler Award
  • Kirkus Reviews Pick
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