The Stolen Coast

A Novel

By: Dwyer Murphy

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

“A perfect summer escape.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR Fresh Air

“A twisty, enthralling heist yarn . . . loaded with the threat of a double cross any time. . . . smart and satisfying.”—The New York Times, Editors' Choice

Adrift in a sleepy coastal Massachusetts town, a man who ferries fugitives by day gets twisted up in a plot to pilfer diamonds in this Casablanca-infused heist novel.

Jack might be a polished, Harvard-educated lawyer on paper, but everyone in the down-at-the-heels, if picturesque, village of Onset, Massachusetts, knows his real job: moving people on the run from powerful enemies. The family business—co-managed with his father, a retired spy—is smooth sailing, as they fill up Onset’s holiday homes during the town’s long, drowsy off-season and help clients shed their identities in preparation for fresh starts.

But when Elena, Jack’s former flame—a dedicated hustler who's no stranger to the fugitive life—makes an unexpected return to town, her arrival upends Jack’s routine existence. Elena, after all, doesn’t go anywhere without a scheme in mind, and it isn’t long before Jack finds himself enmeshed in her latest project: intercepting millions of dollars’ worth of raw diamonds before they’re shipped overseas.

Infusing a fast-paced plot with sharp wit and stylish prose, CrimeReads editor-in-chief Dwyer Murphy serves up an irresistible page-turner as full of heart as it is of drama.

Nothing Happens!!

This book rated a positive review in the NY Times, and I do not get it. The entirety of the book was a meandering narrative that went absolutely nowhere. I kept waiting for some kind of twist or action and it never came. It was like the author just decided to stop typing, left for lunch and never came back. VERY disappointing. Don't waste your credit on this one.

Boring, predictable

Nothing new here, the tone is well done and the reader carries it off well. Still you could see the plot twists coming a mile off.

Ditto: nothing happens at all!

This story was so well reviewed that I kept listening expecting something to occur to turn it around, but NOTHING DID! I feel bad for the town of Onset to be so depicted, accurately or not. It can’t be so dreary and crimes there can’t possibly be so boring. A fictional place might have been better? But it would not have bettered the tale. The whole heist never made sense. So it’s outcome never really mattered.

Title Misleading

Good narrator. Technically well written, but no special twists to storyline. Kind of an New England coast male version of a British village spinster cottage mystery - predictable and bland.

Snooze fest

The entire time you were reading, you were waiting for some thing of substance to happen and it never did. I feel like I missed 5 chapters, all the characters were so passive.