Listen free for 30 days
-
Say Nothing
- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
- Narrated by: Matthew Blaney
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Membership
$14.95 a month
Buy Now for $39.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
Empire of Pain
- The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The prize-winning and best-selling author of Say Nothing presents a grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.
-
-
It hurts to read this book.
- By Rosemarie Boll on 2021-05-10
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Rogues
- True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
-
-
Fantastical tales
- By Leah on 2022-07-10
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Armed Struggle
- The History of the IRA
- Written by: Richard English
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The IRA has been a much richer, more complexly layered, and more protean organization than is frequently recognized. It is also more open to balanced examination now - at the end of its long war in the north of Ireland - than it was even a few years ago. Richard English's brilliant audiobook offers a detailed history of the IRA, providing invaluable historical depth to our understanding of the modern-day Provisionals, the more militant wing formed in 1969 dedicated to the removal of the British Government from Northern Ireland and the reunification of Ireland.
-
-
Dry
- By Anastasia Beaverhausen on 2022-01-31
Written by: Richard English
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely international crime boss. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
-
-
Inlightening
- By Robert Hoskins on 2022-05-07
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Gangsters of Capitalism
- Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire
- Written by: Jonathan M. Katz
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time. Best-selling books were written about him. Hollywood adored him. Wherever the flag went, “The Fighting Quaker” went - serving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II.
-
-
Exceptional work of historical journalism.
- By John Clement on 2022-08-14
Written by: Jonathan M. Katz
-
Double Agent
- My Secret Life Undercover in the IRA
- Written by: Kevin Fulton
- Narrated by: Stephen Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kevin Fulton was one of the British Army's most successful intelligence agents. Having been recruited to infiltrate the Provisional IRA at the height of the Troubles, he rose its ranks to an unprecedented level. Living and working undercover, he had no option other than to take part in heinous criminal activities, including the production of bombs which he knew would later kill. So highly was he valued by IRA leaders that he was promoted to serve in its infamous internal police - ironically, his job was now to root out and kill informers.
Written by: Kevin Fulton
-
Empire of Pain
- The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The prize-winning and best-selling author of Say Nothing presents a grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.
-
-
It hurts to read this book.
- By Rosemarie Boll on 2021-05-10
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Rogues
- True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
-
-
Fantastical tales
- By Leah on 2022-07-10
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Armed Struggle
- The History of the IRA
- Written by: Richard English
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The IRA has been a much richer, more complexly layered, and more protean organization than is frequently recognized. It is also more open to balanced examination now - at the end of its long war in the north of Ireland - than it was even a few years ago. Richard English's brilliant audiobook offers a detailed history of the IRA, providing invaluable historical depth to our understanding of the modern-day Provisionals, the more militant wing formed in 1969 dedicated to the removal of the British Government from Northern Ireland and the reunification of Ireland.
-
-
Dry
- By Anastasia Beaverhausen on 2022-01-31
Written by: Richard English
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely international crime boss. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
-
-
Inlightening
- By Robert Hoskins on 2022-05-07
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Gangsters of Capitalism
- Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire
- Written by: Jonathan M. Katz
- Narrated by: Adam Barr
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Smedley Butler was the most celebrated warfighter of his time. Best-selling books were written about him. Hollywood adored him. Wherever the flag went, “The Fighting Quaker” went - serving in nearly every major overseas conflict from the Spanish War of 1898 until the eve of World War II.
-
-
Exceptional work of historical journalism.
- By John Clement on 2022-08-14
Written by: Jonathan M. Katz
-
Double Agent
- My Secret Life Undercover in the IRA
- Written by: Kevin Fulton
- Narrated by: Stephen Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kevin Fulton was one of the British Army's most successful intelligence agents. Having been recruited to infiltrate the Provisional IRA at the height of the Troubles, he rose its ranks to an unprecedented level. Living and working undercover, he had no option other than to take part in heinous criminal activities, including the production of bombs which he knew would later kill. So highly was he valued by IRA leaders that he was promoted to serve in its infamous internal police - ironically, his job was now to root out and kill informers.
Written by: Kevin Fulton
-
The Spy and the Traitor
- Written by: Ben MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Ben Macintyre
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.
-
-
excellent
- By ed mailhot on 2019-06-11
Written by: Ben MacIntyre
-
If You Tell
- A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
- Written by: Gregg Olsen
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined.
-
-
Good Narration, Terribly Depressing Story Arc
- By Kerissa Marie D on 2020-10-02
Written by: Gregg Olsen
-
Pain Killer
- An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic
- Written by: Barry Meier
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts crime thriller, medical detective story, and business exposé, Pain Killer takes a hard-hitting look at how a powerful drug touted as the salvation for millions triggered a national tragedy. At its inception, the legal narcotic OxyContin was seen as a pharmaceutical dream, a "wonder" drug that would herald a sea change in medical care while reaping vast profits for its maker. It did do that; but it also unleashed a public health crisis that cut a swath of despair and crime through unsuspecting small towns, suburbs, and cities across the country.
Written by: Barry Meier
-
Catch and Kill
- Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
- Written by: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2017, a routine network television investigation led to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move, and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family.
-
-
what an account told by Ronan
- By N. Garon on 2019-10-26
Written by: Ronan Farrow
-
The Billionaire Murders
- The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman
- Written by: Kevin Donovan
- Narrated by: Kevin Donovan
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billionaires, philanthropists, socialites...victims. Barry and Honey Sherman appeared to lead charmed lives. But the world was shocked in late 2017 when their bodies were found in a bizarre tableau in their elegant Toronto home. First described as murder-suicide - belts looped around their necks, they were found seated beside their basement swimming pool - police later ruled it a staged, targeted double murder. Nothing about the case made sense to friends of the founder of one of the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical firms and his wife....
-
-
Disappointing
- By Kindle Customer on 2020-05-02
Written by: Kevin Donovan
-
How the Irish Saved Civilization
- The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
- Written by: Thomas Cahill
- Narrated by: Liam Neeson
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization, they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated.
Written by: Thomas Cahill
-
West Cork
- Written by: Sam Bungey, Jennifer Forde
- Narrated by: Sam Bungey, Jennifer Forde
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two days before Christmas 1996, the broken, battered body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found outside her vacation home in West Cork, a serene region on Ireland’s idyllic southern coast. Decades later, no one has been charged with the murder, but the aggrieved inhabitants of West Cork are convinced they know who did it - and he still lives among them.
-
-
It was really good!
- By AmyLee on 2018-02-19
Written by: Sam Bungey, and others
-
The Snakehead
- An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream
- Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Snakehead is a panoramic tale of international intrigue and a dramatic portrait of the underground economy in which America's 12 million illegal immigrants live. Based on hundreds of interviews, Patrick Radden Keefe's sweeping narrative tells the story not only of Sister Ping, but of the gangland gunslingers who worked for her, the immigration and law enforcement officials who pursued her, and the generation of penniless immigrants who risked death and braved a 17,000 mile odyssey so that they could realize their own version of the American dream.
Written by: Patrick Radden Keefe
-
Unanswered Cries
- A True Story of Friends, Neighbors, and Murder in a Small Town
- Written by: Thomas French
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a warm Florida evening, Karen Gregory saw a familiar face at her door. What the beautiful young woman could not know was that she was staring into the eyes of her killer - a savage monster who would rape her, stab her to death, and leave her battered body on the floor outside the bedroom. Detectives frantically sifting through the evidence were tormented by one disturbing question after another....
-
-
very boring
- By Steven Singh on 2020-08-26
Written by: Thomas French
-
Bind, Torture, Kill
- The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door
- Written by: Roy Wenzl, Tim Potter, L. Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 31 years, a monster terrorized the residents of Wichita, Kansas. A bloodthirsty serial killer, self-named "BTK" - for "bind them, torture them, kill them" - he slaughtered men, women, and children alike, eluding the police for decades while bragging of his grisly exploits to the media. The nation was shocked when the fiend who was finally apprehended turned out to be Dennis Rader - a friendly neighbor...a devoted husband...a helpful Boy Scout dad...the respected president of his church. Written by four award-winning crime reporters who covered the story for more than 20 years, Bind, Torture, Kill is the most intimate and complete account of the BTK nightmare
-
-
Maybe read Wikipedia instead
- By Anonymous User on 2019-09-30
Written by: Roy Wenzl, and others
-
Thatcher's Spy
- My Life as an MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
- Written by: Willie Carlin
- Narrated by: Matthew Forsythe
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Thatcher's Spy, the Cold War meets Northern Ireland's Dirty War in the remarkable real-life story of a deep under-cover British intelligence agent, a man now doomed forever to look over his shoulder. In March 1985, as he climbed the six steps of Margaret Thatcher's prime-ministerial jet on the runway of RAF Aldergrove, little did Willie Carlin know the role Freddie Scappaticci played in saving his life.
Written by: Willie Carlin
-
Human Anatomy
- Medical School Crash Course
- Written by: AudioLearn Medical Content Team
- Narrated by: Kevin Charles
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written by experts and authorities in the field and professionally narrated for easy listening, this crash course is a valuable tool both during school and when preparing for the USMLE, or if you're simply interested in the subject. The audio is focused and high-yield, covering the most important topics you might expect to learn in a typical medical school Human Anatomy course. Included are both capsule and detailed explanations of critical issues and topics you must know to master the course.
Written by: AudioLearn Medical Content Team
Publisher's Summary
One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year
Best Nonfiction Book of the Year - Time Magazine
One of the Best 10 Books of the Year - Washington Post
New York Times best seller
National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Winner of the Orwell Prize
Longlisted for the National Book Award
"Masked intruders dragged Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, from her Belfast home in 1972. In this meticulously reported book - as finely paced as a novel - Keefe uses McConville's murder as a prism to tell the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Interviewing people on both sides of the conflict, he transforms the tragic damage and waste of the era into a searing, utterly gripping saga." (New York Times Book Review, 10 Best Books of the Year)
From award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions
In December 1972, Jean McConville, a 38-year-old mother of 10, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the IRA was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress - with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing audiobook on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also IRA members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders. From radical and impetuous IRA terrorists such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious IRA mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his hardcore comrades by denying his IRA past - Say Nothing conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish.
What the critics say
"If it seems as if I'm reviewing a novel, it is because Say Nothing has lots of the qualities of good fiction, to the extent that I'm worried I'll give too much away, and I'll also forget that Jean McConville was a real person, as were - are - her children. And her abductors and killers. Keefe is a terrific storyteller.... He brings his characters to real life. The book is cleverly structured. We follow people - victim, perpetrator, back to victim - leave them, forget about them, rejoin them decades later. It can be read as a detective story.... What Keefe captures best, though, is the tragedy, the damage and waste, and the idea of moral injury.... Say Nothing is an excellent account of the Troubles." (Roddy Doyle, The New York Times Book Review)
"An exceptional new book...explores this brittle landscape [of Northern Ireland] to devastating effect...fierce reporting.... The story of McConville's disappearance, its crushing effects on her children, the discovery of her remains in 2003, and the efforts of authorities to hold someone accountable for her murder occupy the bulk of Say Nothing. Along the way, Mr. Keefe navigates the flashpoints, figures and iconography of the Troubles: anti-Catholic discrimination, atrocities by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and occupation by the British Army, grisly IRA bombings in Belfast and London, the internment of Irish soldiers and the hunger strikes of Bobby Sands and others, the Falls Road and the Shankill Road, unionist paramilitaries, the 'real' IRA and the 'provisionals,' counter-intelligence, the Armalite rile and the balaclava. It is a dizzying panorama, yet Mr. Keefe presents it with clarity." (Michael O'Donnell, The Wall Street Journal)
"Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book Say Nothing investigates the mystery of a missing mother and reveals a still-raw violent past.... The book often reads like a novel, but as anyone familiar with his work for The New Yorker can attest, Keefe is an obsessive reporter and researcher, a master of narrative nonfiction.... An incredible story." (Rolling Stone)
Featured Article: 20 Best True Crime Audiobooks for Your Inner Detective
There is nothing more thrilling than the unfolding tale of a true crime story. Whether an unsolved mystery, a deep dive into a criminal mastermind, or a look at an infamous serial killer, true crime is gripping, captivating, and engrossing. The best true crime audiobooks will have you on the edge of your seat, anxious for more. Add to that an emphatic and powerful narrator, and you simply won't be able to stop listening. Here are the 20 best true crime audiobooks to satisfy your inner detective.
More from the same
Author:
What listeners say about Say Nothing
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MadameX
- 2019-10-26
Best book I’ve read in years
A wonderful book that reads like historical fiction, though clearly it’s not. Found it to be highly informative and entertaining. The narrator was flawless too. There was none of that theatrical imitation of people’s voices that can be so annoying with some narrators. It was just perfect, in my opinion.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lily
- 2020-05-04
Captivated and enthralled the entire time
This book is fascinating throughout. The story is about larger than life people and the author created such atmosphere and such an amazing sense of time and place while telling their story that I couldn’t stop listening. It’s also created a massive thirst for more information about the people in the story that I feel like I’m obsessed with the subject now. The performance is deft and lyrical and adds so much colour and soul to the experience. A remarkable story told in a masterful way. So yeah, I liked it.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John
- 2020-01-03
READ: VOICES FROM THE GRAVE"
Despite the glowing reviews from his own newspaper the book has numerous shortcomings. I encourage readers/listeners to continue to the end though as the writer attempts, in a couple paragraphs, to patch over many omissions. He has attempted to set out the investigation of one murder - one of many. Had he stuck to the EVIDENCE in this version it would have been compelling but he goes in several unrelated,editorial directions. At the end of Chapter 18 the narrative becomes "Get Jerry". It is an another example of a journalist's approach vs a Homicide investigator. The Homicide Investigator doesn't care what you "think" - but what do you "know". By assuming he has determined the identity of the shooter of Jean McConville the writer does a disservice to the victim. The tapes should be where the investigation starts , not where it ends. The "Troubles" were a failure in every aspect: Political, Military,Intelligence,Informant Development, the combatants themselves.Telling the story of any murder is of value if the reader knows the writer has stuck to the evidence.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cordless Iron Man
- 2020-06-29
Amazing book and fantastic narration
This book is fantastic and the performance of the narrator is amazing. With the perfect accent to enjoy the contents too!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- William Bunn
- 2020-05-04
Great read!
Very interesting. Great story, l learned about Ireland and the IRA. I enjoy books that have a good story but are based on facts.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gavin
- 2022-05-20
Great story and narration!
I was interested in the history of the troubles so I decided to pick up this book. First, I thought the narrator was excellent, he did a great job. Second, the story was very interesting to me but I wish there was some sort of organizational chart with a timeline because there are a lot of characters and organizations at play in this book and the story spans decades. Lastly, upon finishing the book, I felt like my curiosity for this subject was deeply satisfied, although at the end of the book there was mention of terrorist activity from the loyalist side which now has me interested in pursuing that side of the story.
This book was highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to my mother.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Cave
- 2022-02-04
quality
loved it, I couldn't stop listening. I felt like one of my uncles was telling me a really long detailed story
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen
- 2021-12-13
Exceptional Histry
It reads like a novel, except that the stories were real. Even though the author indicated that this is not a history book, but one cannot come away with a clearer and better understanding of Itish history.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Megan P
- 2021-12-03
A hundred people pushing a boat offshore...
this is a wonderful listen if you're into the history of the Irish Republican Army and The Troubles. It takes one particular crime committed during The Troubles and spirals out from there with the domino effect created by that crime. I cried at the end and I wish that the English just would have left the Irish alone.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2021-10-09
Incredible, but extremely tragic Irish history!
Incredible research and narration, and important history, and yet incredibly sad. Well worth the price!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Josh
- 2019-04-08
Spectacular
I have been an audible member for over twelve years. This is the first time I have felt compelled to offer a review.
This book is a masterpiece. As the author notes, this is not a comprehensive history. What it is is an incredible character study into several individuals connected to the IRA.
This book will stick with me for a long time.
80 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BallaghMan
- 2019-04-15
Gritty but essential
If you are interested at all in the N Ireland troubles then this is the book for you. Using some specific cases and IRA protagonists it travels much of the history of the North since the late 60s in a gritty non sparing way. The reading is excellent, and in the real deal NI vernacular.
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- oc_artist
- 2019-03-01
On a par with I'll Be Gone in the Dark, plus...
a tremendous portrait of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970's and 1980's. Even if you aren't particularly interested in Irish history, this reads in large part like a detective novel. What the McConville family went through after the widowed mother of ten is kidnapped and murdered by the IRA is harrowing, and I felt myself with a heavy heart at many points in the book. Various people characterize the man suspected by most as having ordered the hit (and the murders of many others) as a sociopath, Machiavellian, a man in complete denial, or a statesman. The book raises the painful questions throughout: are brutal acts forgivable in the creation of a new country/society? are they necessary? The people described so beautifully and so poignantly will stay with me for a long, long time. The experience of the hunger strikers and others imprisoned for IRA crimes, the PTSD and dark nights of the soul that never end...all combine to create a memorable book. Plus, the narrator is perfect. He speaks in a quiet, intimate tone as if giving you confidential information. He never over-dramatizes and in fact conveys a quiet reverence for the experiences of the people portrayed. I stayed up much too late for two nights, hating to put this excellent book down. PS If at first the Northern Ireland accent is hard, give it time.
82 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 2019-12-10
Not Unabridged!
The end of the book is missing. The last part is called ‘Notes’ and is where the citations are. This is also where the author tells you want part he ‘gave nonfiction narrative’ and that parts are known to be true.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miona
- 2019-02-27
A Well Researched and Hopeful Book
Took a while to get into the book. But once I did I was hooked! The book is a beautiful embroidering of time, politics, people and place. It is history and prediction. The stories are harrowing, uplifting, heartbreaking, and oh so maddening. It’s impossible to listen to this book without forming a deep respect for those directly affected. The road to peace fractured friendships, isolated and exposed the darker, murkier aspects of a struggle. It required extraordinary sacrifices. Many willingly paid the ultimate price.
It is a stinging indictment of whole communities and a sobering less of society’s cruelty towards the other. The treatment of the McConville children by neighbors, public institutions and the Catholic Church is particularly heartbreaking. This book is as much about Ireland as it is about the human condition: injustice breeds violence, violence begats violence, wrapping all. The book is a cautionary tale against oppression and denial of security, social, economic and political opportunities to ethnic minorities. Institutional injustice and terror has never stilled a martyr’s cause. Those who seek change by violent means are on a slippery slope. We know all this, but what this book does so well is highlighting the granular level at which this happens and the impact on individuals, groups, organizations, and the state.
A beautifully narrated well crafted and researched book. A hopeful book for those seeking closure and justice. It will take a while to part company with the characters. The education I got from this book will last a life time.
53 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- 6catz
- 2019-03-04
Brilliant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Outstanding, in-depth study of one of the great mysteries of The Troubles. The author describes the testimony, history and character of each participant in this epic tragedy with as clear an eye as possible, attempting to mine a defining truth from an era of passion and chaos. A brilliant true-crime story and history lesson at once, and the first 5 star rating I’ve given in ages.
23 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jordan Shea
- 2019-04-23
phenomenal
the research and explanation is so thorough; it's astounding. beautiful reading, as well. I'm amazed that this feels so distant yet so close in history.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K R D
- 2019-03-04
An excellent and compelling listen
Although at times appearing as an apologia of Republican terrorism, this is an excellent, compelling yet ultimately very depressing book.
What struck me the most were the intense feelings of betrayal that former IRA terrorists felt towards the political leadership of Sinn Fein. Following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, many of the IRA’s fighters ended up asking themselves whether the murder, torture and terrorism the were participants in, had even been worth it. Many of these former terrorists suffered from PTSD, and continue to do so today.
Finally, the book debunks Gerry Adams’ claims to have never been a member of the IRA. In fact, the book argues, he was its leader.
This
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 2019-05-11
The way all History books should be!
I can’t say enough good things about this book. I have read many nonfiction books that claimed to read like a novel but few have. This book brought the subject matter to life like few books ever have. Regardless of your knowledge or interest in NI history and The Troubles, you will be fascinated by this story. Need more stars to rank this fairly.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kari
- 2019-03-11
Enlightening
Like any Irish-American kid growing up in the 80's I was aware of the "Troubles" but it seemed so far removed from me that it didn't quite register on my radar. This gives a harrowing view into both sides of the conflict and how it's not so simple to say "so and so was a terrorist" or "zealot". They spread horror for sure but you also get the point of view here of the IRA members/former members regrets as time passes and they look back on what they had done and how the ideal they believed so strongly in, vanished. It just gives such a great insight into the complications of religious politics and culture clashes, while weaving in a murder mystery.
19 people found this helpful