Black Irish

A Novel

By: Stephan Talty

Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this explosive debut thriller by the author of Empire of Blue Water, a brilliant homicide detective returns home, where she confronts a city’s dark demons and her own past while pursuing a brutal serial killer on a vengeful rampage.

“The captivating start of a brilliant thriller series.”—Tess Gerritsen

Absalom “Abbie” Kearney grew up an outsider in her own hometown. Even being the adopted daughter of a revered cop couldn’t keep Abbie’s troubled past from making her a misfit in the working-class Irish American enclave of South Buffalo. And now, despite a Harvard degree and a police detective’s badge, she still struggles to earn the respect and trust of those she’s sworn to protect. But all that may change, once the killing starts.

When Jimmy Ryan’s mangled corpse is found in a local church basement, this sadistic sacrilege sends a bone-deep chill through the winter-whipped city. It also seems to send a message—one that Abbie believes only the fiercely secretive citizens of the neighborhood known as “the County” understand. But in a town ruled by an old-world code of silence and secrecy, her search for answers is stonewalled at every turn, even by fellow cops. Only when Abbie finds a lead at the Gaelic Club, where war stories, gossip, and confidences flow as freely as the drink, do tongues begin to wag—with desperate warnings and dire threats. And when the killer’s mysterious calling card appears on her own doorstep, the hunt takes a shocking twist into her own family’s past. As the grisly murders and grim revelations multiply, Abbie wages a chilling battle of wits with a maniac who sees into her soul, and she swears to expose the County’s hidden history—one bloody body at a time.

With Black Irish, Stephen Talty stakes a place beside Jo Nesbø, John Sandford, and Tana French on the cutting edge of psychological crime thrillers.

Critic reviews

“Abbie Kearney is one of the most intriguing new suspense protagonists in memory, and Black Irish marks the captivating start of a brilliant thriller series.”—Tess Gerritsen

“Luxuriantly cinematic . . . a compulsively readable crime thriller . . . Move over V. I. Warshawski; Buffalo gets its own crime novel heroine.”—The Buffalo News

“A suspenseful debut novel with a circuitous plot . . . Black Irish is simply a riveting read.”—Booklist (starred review)

“Talty shows his chops when recounting [Buffalo’s] Irish roots.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Talty does a fine job portraying the cohesiveness of the Irish, their loyalty to one another, and their obsession with their history. . . . A memorable story of betrayal and vengeance.”—Publishers Weekly

Excellent First Mystery

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Certainly, to someone from Buffalo or someone with a love for cities. Talty captured the "feel" of the city but some of the plot, particularly the ending, felt a bit contrived. I hope that Talty will continue this as a series, I look forward to learning more about Buffalo and Abby.

Interesting Story with a Local, Buffalo Slant

I enjoyed the story, particularly the Buffalo and IRA connection. A narration was good, except for the fact that the volume level was way too low.

The narration is great!

I really love the narration! Good storyline. Kept me interested and wanting to know what will happen next.

Suspenseful

I liked all of it. The descriptions, the look inside the IRA and it kept me captivated.

VERY GOOD first effort!

This was a can't put it down read. Great writing, great performance, and a real whodunnit. The author kept it clean and tight throughout, but the ending is a bit convoluted. I usually don't like an author having to summarize the action at the end but it was helpful in this instance. So much story! There was a lot of beautiful writing and original and creative metaphors as well.

I won't summarize the story since the Publisher Summary does that, but I will say Talty has written a humdinger.

I want to say something about narrators. Though the main character is female, David Lawrence XVII was perfect. I find that men can do women characters much better than women can do male characters. I just finished Did You Miss Me by Karen Rose. The female narrator was awful with male characters of which there were many. I almost decided to return it and buy it on Kindle. Authors...the right narrator can make or break a book.

Anyway, I can't wait to read Talty's next, and I hope Absalom has her own series.