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Falling Glass Audiobook
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(3.05) - 273 listener ratings
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Plot Summary
Falling Glass focuses on Killian Pavee, a minor character from McKinty's Michael Forsythe trilogy. Killian could be considered a thug for the IRA and reemerges from retiring to score cash for a job saving a wealthy industrialist's children from their neglectful and drug addicted mom.
But of course, things get complicated and Killian realizes he must face a brutal competitor in a Russian hit man, who is involved in what seems to be much more gruesome than a clear kidnapping heist.
Through all this, it is the wit and pragmatism that stay with Pavee and allow him to improvise, though sometimes this gives him trouble, which is no surprise since he was raised with Irish gypsies. The narrator for this audiobook is Gerard Doyle who has the true Irish brogue to his speech and has also narrated the rest of the Forsythe tales.
Adrian McKinty was born in 1968 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied law, politics and philosophy and moved to the U.S. in the 1990s to Harlem, New York and later to Denver, Colorado. Here he was a high school teacher, and began his journey as a writer. Now he resides in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two kids. He has written a dozen books, half of which are in two trilogies. His genres are mainly crime, mystery, and young adult fiction. He is most known as an Irish Crime novelist and has been criticized for the excessive violence in his books. Motifs of noir fiction such as revenge and betrayal are used throughout his works, which enables him to uncover the search for meaning in the cold but colorful universe of his characters.
"This novel is a slow burn, hard to get into at first, but then impossible to stop. Killian, the ex-IRA enforcer, Rachel, the junkie ex-wife who's taken off with the kids and a laptop, and the assassin, all on a collision course, and all wrestling with their own demons and choices. By changing point of view with each chapter, McKinty heightens the suspense since we often know more than each of the individual characters. McKinty's style is very well matched in Gerard Doyle's narration. In fact, I cannot imagine the book without Doyle's voice -- his accent, pacing, inflection all made the characters come alive. Learning about tinkers/Pavee/Irish Gypsies was a nice bonus -- I was unaware of this subculture and the differences from the Romani. McKinty gives us a peek inside their world, and veers away from over-romanticizing them just in time. The final confrontation is well done, bringing back Michael Forsythe, the anti-hero from the Dead trilogy (which I was compelled to read immediately after finishing Falling Glass), with a curiously satisfying open-ended conclusion."
— Susan (5 out of 5 stars)
Publisher Summary
In this noir thriller by a New York Times bestselling and Edgar award-winning author, a retired IRA fixer takes a lucrative last job finding the ex-wife and daughters of a wealthy airline owner.
Richard Coulter is a man who has everything. His beautiful new wife is pregnant, his upstart airline is undercutting the competition and moving from strength to strength, his diversification into the casino business in Macau has been successful, and his fabulous Art Deco house on an Irish cliff top has just been featured in Architectural Digest. But then, for some reason, his ex-wife Rachel doesn’t keep her side of the custody agreement and vanishes off the face of the earth with Richard’s two daughters. Richard hires Killian, a formidable ex-enforcer for the IRA, to track her down before Rachel, a recovering drug addict, harms herself or the girls. As Killian follows Rachel’s trail, he begins to see that there is a lot more to this case than first meets the eye and that a thirty-year-old secret is going to put all of them in terrible danger.
McKinty is at his continent-hopping, well-paced, evocative best in this thriller, moving between his native Ireland and distant cities within a skin-of-his-teeth timeframe.
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Quotes
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“Another winner, with pathos, insight, sardonic humor, and lyrical descriptions that counterpoint the red-hot sequences to superb effect.”
— Guardian (London) -
“McKinty is a streetwise, energetic gunslinger of a writer, firing off volleys of sassy dialogue and explosive action that always delivers what it has promised the reader. The story is skillfully constructed, and the pace is always full throttle forwards…McKinty zaps the story across countries and continents and, either through detailed research or personal experience, renders the locations convincingly. But the bulk of the story’s setting springs from his intimately observed landscape of the North. In the strongest and most impressive part of the novel McKinty blends the landscape of an island in Upper Lough Erne, insightful characterization, and narrative in a particularly creative way. Despite the genre’s frequent reliance on resolution, McKinty’s teasing ending deliberately withholds that very thing from his reader, and you sense that Killian may have more stories unfolding ahead of him, and still more traveling across the world’s seas, before he’s finally allowed to disappear into retirement.”
— Irish Times -
“McKinty is a streetwise, energetic gunslinger of a writer, firing off volleys of sassy dialogue and explosive action that always delivers what it has promised the reader…Skillfully constructed and the pace is always full throttle forwards”
— Irish Times
Falling Glass Listener Reviews
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KJW, 1/31/2023
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" Listened to this on my iPod. I'm not usually a fan of mystery/suspense novels but this one caught my eye and I'm glad I bought it. It was a fast-moving story, never a dull moment. The narrator having the authentic Irish accent was great. Mild blood & guts but not too bad. "
— Yvette, 2/11/2014 -
" Adrian McKinty has a gift for setting, prose, and quick dialogue. It carried me through nearly half of this book. Unfortunately the characters are as cardboard as a ghost written Patterson "novel". I will give "Cold Cold Ground" a try based upon reviews...if I can get it for free. The insight into modern Irish setting was fun for awhile, but this story reads like it was converted from a screenplay. "
— Jason, 2/5/2014 -
" love his story telling ability and character development. "
— Boomerbabe, 1/29/2014 -
" I was mostly disappointed with this book. It felt bland and boring despite involving a hunter/hunted dynamic, a bit of violence, and even a little romance. My favorite part was learning more about Pavee culture, and that's what I honestly wish this book was actually about. "
— MISTRESS, 1/25/2014 -
" A more interesting thriller than many as it was poetic and ultimately unresolved. I liked the game of wits and evolving plot, but not the dubious morality of the book. I listened to this book, so another nice aspect was the narrator's very appropriate Irish accent. "
— Catherine, 12/25/2013 -
" an adventurous page turner about a hitman with a good heart. quite entertaining; not at all edifying nor uplifting. I walk away being sympathetic to murderers and numbed to the F word. "
— Asia, 11/26/2013 -
" Gerard Doyle is a fantastic narrator. Beautiful Irish accent, perfectly paced storytelling. Loved all of Adrian McKinty's books. I wonder if they would be as good without this narrator. Should try reading one instead of listening to see if they hold up well. "
— Elizabeth, 11/20/2013 -
" Probably closer to 3.5 than 4 for me, at this time...just could not get into the story. Great narration though! "
— Mischelle, 9/2/2013 -
" This book gave insight to the Tinker culture. It was well written and held my interest. "
— Joggingt, 7/18/2013 -
" For a thug, Killian is very lovable--especially as read by Doyle. I couldn't stop listening and am seeking more books by this reader. "
— Muff, 7/17/2013 -
" Vintage McKinty. Intense tone, focused writing, twisty story line sprinkled with humor and violence. Not for everyone but I enjoyed it "
— Kathy, 6/28/2013 -
" Took a bit to get into this book "
— Bette, 12/6/2012 -
" Audiobook. Good thriller. Even a week away, I can't say anything much. But I finished the book. Good audio read. Fun if you like thrillers. Post Ireland politics and web/ internet crash. "
— Susan, 11/25/2012 -
" Not as good as Forsythe #2, "The Dead Yard", but better than most other noir books. I loved the part about the tinkerers. It reminded me of the book by Bruen. "
— Robert, 10/22/2012 -
" It was a good story. It takes place in Ireland mainly and is an Irish thriller. Quite a good listen but there is a language warning on this one. "
— Scott, 5/7/2012 -
" I wasn't sure based on the reviews that I was really going to like it but I did... a lot. Great story in itself but love the back story of the "Tinkers". Poetic in places. "
— Keith, 12/1/2011 -
" My first Adrian McKinty book. I will be definately be reading more! "
— Tommy, 7/1/2011 -
" Probably closer to 3.5 than 4 for me, at this time...just could not get into the story. Great narration though! "
— Mischelle, 5/13/2011 -
" Not as good as Forsythe #2, "The Dead Yard", but better than most other noir books. I loved the part about the tinkerers. It reminded me of the book by Bruen. "
— Robert, 3/31/2011 -
" Vintage McKinty. Intense tone, focused writing, twisty story line sprinkled with humor and violence. Not for everyone but I enjoyed it "
— Kathy, 3/4/2011
About Adrian McKinty
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles. His father was a welder in Harland and Wolff—the shipyard where they built the Titanic; his mother was a school lunch lady and secretary. Adrian went to Oxford University on a full scholarship where he studied philosophy.
Emigrating first to America and then Australia he found work as a door-to-door salesman, a driver, a bookstore clerk, a barman, a high school English teacher, and a semipro rugby player.
His debut crime novel, Dead I Well May Be, was shortlisted for the 2004 Dagger Award and was optioned by Universal Pictures. He is the author of more than a dozen crime novels that have been translated into over forty languages. He has won the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Barry Award, the Macavity Award, the International Thriller Writers Award, and is a three-time winner of the Ned Kelly Award.
His 2020 novel The Chain was a New York Times bestseller and appeared on twenty-five best-of-the-year lists. His 2022 novel The Island was an instant New York Times bestseller and made five best-of-the-year lists including those of the London Times and the New York Times.
Adrian is a member of the Linnean Society and the National Audubon Society. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
About Gerard Doyle
Gerard Doyle, a seasoned audio narrator, he has been awarded dozens of AudioFile Earphones Awards, was named a Best Voice in Young Adult Fiction in 2008, and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He was born of Irish parents and raised and educated in England. In Great Britain he has enjoyed an extensive career in both television and repertory theater and toured nationally and internationally with the English Shakespeare Company. He has appeared in London’s West End in the gritty musical The Hired Man. In America he has appeared on Broadway in The Weir and on television in New York Undercover and Law & Order. He has taught drama at Ross School for the several years.