This Irish bad-boy thriller, set in the hardest streets of New York City, introduces us to Michael Forsythe, an illegal immigrant escaping from the Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Clever, fearless, and handy with a pistol, young Michael is just the fellow to be tapped by Darkey, a New York crime boss, to join his gang of thugs fighting for their turf. But just as Michael is being anointed Darkey’s rising star, he inadvisably seduces Darkey’s girl. Suddenly the tables are turned, and Darkey plans a very hard fall for young Michael. But Darkey fails to account for Michael’s toughness—or his determination to wreak vengeance upon those who betray him.
A natural storyteller with a gift for dialogue, McKinty delivers us a stunning new noir voice, dark and stylish, mythic and violent—complete with an Irish lilt.
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied philosophy at Oxford University before moving to Australia and to New York. He is the author of more than a dozen crime novels, including the award-winning standalone thriller The Chain, which was a New York Times and #1 international bestseller. McKinty’s books have been translated into over forty languages, and he has won the Edgar Award, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Ned Kelly Award (three times), the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Macavity Award, and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. His novel The Island was an instant New York Times bestseller and made their “Best Thrillers of 2022” list.
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.