Hidden River [Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Adrian McKinty (Author), Gerard Doyle (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

In this electrifying noir thriller, Alexander Lawson is a former detective for Northern Ireland’s police force who, after a disastrous stint in the drug squad, became addicted to heroin and resigned in disgrace. Now twenty-four, sickly, and on the dole, Alex learns that his high-school love, Victoria Patawasti, has been murdered in America. Victoria’s wealthy family sends Alex to Colorado to investigate the case, and he seizes the opportunity for a chance at redemption.

But things don’t go as planned. Plagued by a heroin habit, forced to go on the run after the only credible witness to Victoria’s murder is accidentally killed, wanted by both the Colorado cops and the Ulster police, Alex struggles just to stay alive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Doyle's reading of McKinty's third novel (after Dead I May Well Be) seems awkward initially. The Irish-brogued narrator reads the text the way a poet would for a public reading: in short spurts, withholding emotion and allowing the words to have their own weight. Needless to say, this is an odd approach for a crime thriller. However, listeners soon learn that the narrator is the protagonist—junkie Alexander Lawson, a former detective for Northern Ireland's police force—and somehow, Doyle's narrative stylings start to make sense. Intelligent and wry, Lawson is a junkie for practical reasons. As a detective, he discovered corruption in the force at a level so high that his life was endangered, so he decided to become an unreliable source, an addict whose word counted for nothing. His plan seems to be working, until an outside investigator threatens to throw him in jail if he doesn't give up the names of his corrupt superiors. With pressure building on both sides, he jumps at the opportunity to go to Colorado to solve an old girlfriend's murder. By the time listeners reach disc two, they'll be hooked by both McKinty's skillfully woven suspense and Doyle's almost endearing interpretation of this memorable protagonist. Simultaneous release with the Scribner hardcover (Forecasts, Dec. 6, 2004).(Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

It would be a tall order indeed for McKinty to match the brilliance of his last Irish-boy-done-bad novel, so the fact that this solid, sordid crime story fails to hit the heights of Dead I Well May Be (2003) should not be held against it. Once again, the author plucks a troubled young man from mid-nineties Northern Ireland, bringing him this time to Colorado to investigate the murder of a high-school sweetheart. Alexander Lawson doesn't travel to America just to find Victoria Patawasti's killer, however. He's also on the run from the Ulster police force and a brutal English investigator. Hooked on junk and hindered by a dim-witted tagalong friend, Alexander proceeds to make an even bigger hash of his life in the States. The plot is a bit flabby, and too many of its punches are telegraphed, but McKinty still knows how to write elegantly horrifying death scenes--"He landed on his feet but his femurs burst out through his knees"--and spot-on endings that make the journey worthwhile. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786182911
• ISBN-13: 978-0786182916
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,823,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seductive, Tough, Risque and Revealing, February 11, 2005

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Hidden River: A Novel (Hardcover)

Adrian McKinty comes from a small town near Belfast and was brought up during what the Irish call "The Troubles". He has written a novel that sings of the Irish tradition, the Irish Culture and the Irish addiction. How he has come to know all of this is a little bit of a mystery, and in the telling of this story we gain a little bit of knowledge of what is in his head.

Alex, Alexander Lawson, is a junkie, a heroin addict and an ex-detective for the Northern Ireland police force. At a young age he joined the force and was promoted rapidly in to the detective division, until he was asked to resign for stealing the junk he was hired to protect. What is behind this"? Why would such an intelligent young man allow this to happen? Slowly, ever so slowly we come to learn a few of the reasons. Alex is wanted by the MI5- something is fishy in the drug world of Belfast, and the MI5 wants to know more and Alex is their boy. The MI5 frightens Alex; he can't be imprisoned and he needs to flee. Alex finds a ticket to the US in the guise of discovering just how his first girlfriend, Victoria Patawasti was murdered. The murder took place in Denver, Colorado and Alex and his friend, John are off to solve this murder.

One thing after another happens, and Alex becomes involved in an environmental group that Victoria had worked for. There are several interesting people in this group and among them is Amber, the beautiful, blonde wife of one of the owners. But, also, something isn't right in this group, and Alex finds out exactly what the problem is. Within this mess he leaves several dead bodies behind, but makes a friend of Pat, an ex-firefighter who has HIV. Quite a collection of friends has this Alex- some kind, but most of them are dark and well, murderous. Alex is led throughout Colorado and starts to gather evidence that will convict one of the owners of the murder of his friend Victoria. But then something interesting happens, and the killer turns into someone we would never expect. Except we knew this was too black and white- we suspected something was not ok. The drug mess he left in Ireland is explained in several flashbacks and that is how we come to understand. And, yes, well, never mind, read this fast paced, brilliant book for yourself.

Adrian McKinty has found a fan. He writes an intelligent mystery full of little bits of this and that, brilliantly executed and then just when you have it all figured out, BAM- you are wrong. Recommended for everyone who loves a mystery, who loves a sexy, violent novel. Enter at your own risk. prisrob

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, Smart, Literary Thiller, April 19, 2005

By 

Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hidden River: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this one. There are so many thrillers that I love from the start, but at about the halfway point start worry me. Will the ending live up to the promise of the great beginning? So many never do. So many have endings that are obvious, contrived or just silly. Well, Hidden River has a great ending to go with its terrific beginning. The characters are excellent. Young Irishman Alex Lawson is a former star detective, current junkie who left the force under murky circumstances. He is somehow involved in a big investigation and needs to escape for a while. What gets him out of Ireland is the mysterious murder of an old girlfriend many time zones away in Colorado. Alex is a terrific and charming hero, human, not too macho, funny and endearing. I really enjoyed this well-written thriller, which, as thrillers go, is one of the best I have read in a while. Enjoy this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best audio books of the decade, November 25, 2009

By 

Segev Tsfati - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hidden River (Mass Market Paperback)

Adrian McKinty is a fantastic writer - - to truly get it, you must listen to the audio book version of Hidden River, it is one of the best audio performance I have ever heard. This one will stay with you long after the first listen.