Hear "Cold Ground" First, Then Audlble This!

Sean Duffy’s back in both the 80s and in Belfast… A double dosing of intriguing melancholia. Please…. Please…. Please listen first to “The Cold Cold Ground”, Adrian McKinty’s introduction to Sean Duffy’s police work in the heart of the Irish “Troubles”. It’s important to avoid spoilers for that introductory book you’ll surely want to visit after you’ve finished this one.

But more importantly, Sean Duffy is bending in the fury of the cultural maelstrom raging about him. And the way the nature of all of this is shaping his development is deeply moving. Duffy of “Sirens in the Streets” is not the young man who we first met in “Cold Cold Ground”. This isn’t as much a series as it is an epic psychological evolution cut into sort of stand-alone hunks with “I Hear Sirens” as the second.

The sense of place in time hot-welds you inside of Ulster and its non-normal normalcy. Apparently McKinty means to write a trilogy but the detective puzzle this time is powerfully different from the fist and the ensemble cast adds and loses characters with the frequency of Ireland’s emigration rates.

Gerard Doyle’s mouth is filled with Irish and he speaks the story through a lilt that’s got to make this a finer experience than you’d hope for from the printed page. I’ll be among the first to buy the next installment in this Sean Duffy series.

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43 people found this helpful

Utterly brilliant

I love Adrian's Sean Duffy. What a story about the Troubles of Northern Ireland and specifically the fascinating tale of John DeLorean's car manufacturing plant just outside of Belfast. Although the story takes place during the dark days of Northern Ireland,it abounds with tales of love and heartbreak as well as a good dose of Irish humor..
The book starts with a torso in a suitcase and from there it takes Duffy and his police mates McCrabbon (Crabby) and McBride on a hunt that leads them to an end no one, including the reader, expects.
I can't wait for Book3. This is McKinty at his best.

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14 people found this helpful

Pitch Perfect Voice and Words

The narrator's voice with a beautiful Irish lilt is perfectly matched to the words that are so well-written by McKinty. I want to compare the writing to soaring poetry, but I lack the skills to define how much this story -- this series -- moves me to listen so intently. I actually listened to some chapters a second time, not because I didn't understand, but because I wanted to hear it again. I am already looking forward to the day that I can re-listen to this series.

Don't even think of starting this book unless you have heard the first in the series "A Cold, Cold Ground". The background and place (1980's in Northern Ireland) have taught me a great deal about the "Troubles" near Ulster. It is fortunate that the first book is just as excellent as the second.

Sean Duffy is my hero. No need to explain, it will be readily apparent as you read this story, even though no one would claim Duffy is perfect. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I hope Adrian McKinty will not plan to take a break from writing now that he has completed this trilogy. I would read anything he puts out in the future.

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13 people found this helpful

Great mystery, Great Trilogy

This is a gritty series about a time when there was no good side of things. I love the fact that the hero, Sean Duffy, is Catholic working for the police. The conflicts this creates are as complicated and volatile as Belfast was in the troubles.

It's great police work mired in political intrigue. John DeLorian plays a central role in this one. I actually met him in 1984 or 5 after his fall. He was a broken man, but a good man.

The story flows and is fast moving. I'll never miss a McKinty novel and neither should you!

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12 people found this helpful

It doesn't get much better than this

Would you consider the audio edition of I Hear the Sirens in the Street to be better than the print version?

There's no doubt.

Gerard Doyle's reading takes you straight into Ireland, engulfs you and doesn't let go. McKinty seriously knows how to paint an environment even with the sparse language he uses but Doyle interprets his writing in a way that elevates it well beyond the words.

If there's a better writer/reader combination on Audible I have yet to find it.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

On the edge. That is a such dumb question.

This is not one of those Shots fired, dumb joke, flat remark, shots fired type of books. There is an interesting main plot, yes, but many others things are happening and if you weren't present during the "troubles" in Northern Ireland during that time (I certainly wasn't) this is your chance of getting a hint of what it could have felt like.

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

Someone desperately needs to edit these questions.

I liked the milk man a lot.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I mainly listen during commuting and so my daily listening time is limited. That's why I augmented by reading the print (ebook) version.

Any additional comments?

I you haven't come across Adrian McKinty before and can deal with tough violence go and read the Michael Forsythe trilogy (starts with "Dead I Well May Be"). Gerard Doyle reads these as well. It's unfortunate that McKinty is struggling to sell his books but this may relate to the fact that he doesn't follow the shoot-smug remark-shoot formula.

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11 people found this helpful

Make sure you're okay with Irish politics

I read the first book in this series first - and I think this is required. The story itself is separate from the first one, but this book will make much more sense if you do read book one first since it sets the stage, give the background for Duffy's world, and starts Duffy down the path he is taking in this book.

If you did not like the Irish politics of book one, it is as thick here as it was there. In fact, if this story were to be pulled out of that setting, it would be a much weaker story. A lot of the obstacles that Duffy has to deal with are direct results of the political turmoil during the "Troubles".

I'm not familiar with that era, but accepted it as the backdrop of Duffy's detecting (it is a detective novel, underneath all the politics), and think it made the novel dark (noir) and heavy (in a good way). It is a violent (but non-gory) novel and there are no sex scenes.

The narration is very good, but it is a heavy Irish accent that you might have to get used to. I got the next one in the series on Audible as soon as I finished this one. Ghosts of Belfast is a read-alike book here on Audible, read by the same narrator (and it has the same setting and same noir tone).

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9 people found this helpful

So entertaining

Adrian McKinty is one terrific writer. He.creates memorable characters, interesting mysteries and witty dialogue. I really love this series since I knew nothing about the Troubles prior to reading The Cold Cold Ground. It is bit of a history lesson wrapped up in a great story.

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9 people found this helpful

Book #2 of Trilogy

Story, writing, and narration excellent. Setting of this suspense novel featuring protagonist R.U.C. Detective Sean Duffy is Ulster/Northern Ireland during the infamous Troubles. Highly recommend reading in chronological order.

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4 people found this helpful

RIVETING DETECTIVE MYSTERY

Would you consider the audio edition of I Hear the Sirens in the Street to be better than the print version?

I can't compare since I didn't read the print version nor am I likely to do so.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not really. It was a good murder mystery but hardly "edge of the seat".

Which character – as performed by Gerard Doyle – was your favorite?

DCI Sean McDuffy. Gerald Doyle is a great narrator with his perfect Irish brogue.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I don't see this book making a good film. The Irish political issues just aren't as relevant as they were in the 1980s. Everything about Ireland was depressing and dangerous. Even the characters in the book hated living there.

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4 people found this helpful

Average Thriller but Great Narration

I love these books because they give you a sense of history of Northern Ireland. Called the "troubles" it is a history of the uprising in Northern Ireland against Britain. Listening to these books and reading history you realize that there was no winners in this struggle, To this day Northern Ireland has not recovered.

This book is interesting because one of the fictional characters is John DeLorean who started a car company in Northern Ireland to build DeLorean cars. As a fictional character, John DeLorean in this book is not much better than John DeLorean in real life,. He eventually got arrested in a drug sting in an attempt to save is car company.

This is a well narrated story which a deep sense of Irish "melancholy" of the major character, Inspector Duffy. It is a decent crime thriller and I would recommend all of these Sean Duffy novels, They grow on you. I would suggest you listen to them in order though.

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3 people found this helpful