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Hidden River
Disgraced after succumbing to a drug addiction, former Northern Ireland detective Alexander Lawson learns that his high-school sweetheart has been murdered and finds himself on the run after witnessing a second killing, a situation that is complicated by a corruption scandal. By the author of Dead I Well May Be. Reprint.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
About the author
Adrian McKinty
47 books3,923 followersAdrian McKinty is an Irish novelist. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Victoria Council Estate, Carrickfergus, County Antrim. He read law at the University of Warwick and politics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He moved to the United States in the early 1990s, living first in Harlem, New York and from 2001 on, in Denver, Colorado, where he taught high school English and began writing fiction. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
March 12, 2016
Audiobook: Ex-DCDS (Detective Constable Drug Squad), Alec Lawson, is unemployed, living with his Dad, and hooked on heroin when they learn of the death of Victoria Patawaski, his first girlfriend, who had ostensibly been killed during a mugging in the United States (we know from the beginning that’s not the case.) The story unfolds like the peeling of an onion with multiple layers and the reason for Lawson’s addiction comes to the fore along with revelations of the corruption higher in the police force.
Lawson is paid by the girl’s father to travel to Denver and find out what happened to his daughter. He had received an anonymous letter from someone in Denver suggesting that the mugging was not that at all, but rather a deliberate killing. Alex and his friend John are soon sought by the Denver police for an accidental killing and Alex has been warned that if he returns to Belfast he’ll be killed by those in the police wishing to hide their involvement in illegal activities. It’s no wonder he seeks refuge in smack. The killing is related to Victoria's involvement with an environmental organization run by a couple of brothers with political ambitions.
But therein lay one of the problems with the story. I had trouble believing that anyone who had become so dependent on heroin could function quite as brilliantly and covertly as Alex does. Hidden River is one of McKinty's early books, and while it reveals some of the really wonderful plotting and writing of the Sean Duffy series (which I really like - all of them), it had a tendency to be unfocused in spots and overly long (that's hard for me to admit since I generally like long books.) Perhaps it’s the locale, McKinty really shines when his stories are situated in Ireland.
Here’s a nice metaphor: “She had a smile like a sun-drenched cornfield over a missile silo.”
Gerard Doyle does his usual outstanding narration.
Lawson is paid by the girl’s father to travel to Denver and find out what happened to his daughter. He had received an anonymous letter from someone in Denver suggesting that the mugging was not that at all, but rather a deliberate killing. Alex and his friend John are soon sought by the Denver police for an accidental killing and Alex has been warned that if he returns to Belfast he’ll be killed by those in the police wishing to hide their involvement in illegal activities. It’s no wonder he seeks refuge in smack. The killing is related to Victoria's involvement with an environmental organization run by a couple of brothers with political ambitions.
But therein lay one of the problems with the story. I had trouble believing that anyone who had become so dependent on heroin could function quite as brilliantly and covertly as Alex does. Hidden River is one of McKinty's early books, and while it reveals some of the really wonderful plotting and writing of the Sean Duffy series (which I really like - all of them), it had a tendency to be unfocused in spots and overly long (that's hard for me to admit since I generally like long books.) Perhaps it’s the locale, McKinty really shines when his stories are situated in Ireland.
Here’s a nice metaphor: “She had a smile like a sun-drenched cornfield over a missile silo.”
Gerard Doyle does his usual outstanding narration.
May 27, 2019
A solid thriller from Adrian McKinty, best known for his Sean Duffy detective series and 'Dead Series' with Michael Forsythe. This covered similar ground, with our protagonist an ex-RUC cop who is asked by an old ex-girlfriend's family to investigate her murder, which happened in America. Not as smart, funny, action-packed or stylish as his other books mentioned, but still enjoyable. McKinty's heroes are always flawed, with drug-taking/heavy drinking a common theme, as well as sexual entanglement with a femme fatale, and in this book they are even more prominent. One of the things that all of his books have in common is a retrospective first person narrative, with occasional 'flash-forwards' to major plot points (such as a character's death) - in my opinion this takes away from the story a little, as they function as 'built in spoilers'. Still, overall a good read from McKinty, one of my favourite action/thriller authors.
May 2, 2021
4.5 stars.
I’m running out of McKinty books, and that is a very sad fact!
I loved every book of his that I read, and this one is no exception.
Another anti-hero that I rooted for, another flawed character that you want to scream at, slap and hug.
Doyle, the narrator, dear god, I can listen to him forever!!!
Well done Adrian McKinty!
I’m running out of McKinty books, and that is a very sad fact!
I loved every book of his that I read, and this one is no exception.
Another anti-hero that I rooted for, another flawed character that you want to scream at, slap and hug.
Doyle, the narrator, dear god, I can listen to him forever!!!
Well done Adrian McKinty!
May 23, 2019
I've read most of Adrian McKinty's novels and he's one of my favourite authors. Which means he has set a high standard. Hidden River is a decent story and you can feel McKinty developing his style but it's not one of his best. The main character can be annoying and for a former detective is pretty dumb, even considering his drug addiction. He has a tendency to ramble off and although sometimes it is for sharp observations it is often distracting. The best thing about Hidden River is the excellent audio narration (as always) by Gerard Doyle. Worth a read, and definitely a listen, but McKinty has written much better.
January 19, 2015
A gritty suspense tale featuring a young man from Northern Ireland who comes to the United States to look into the death of a former girlfriend. Dark and violent but not without a bit of humor. Listened to the audio read by Gerard Doyle who is the perfect match for the author's work.
March 22, 2017
Beautifully written story of a former Irish police officer investigating a murder in the US. The plot is intricate, but the writing is excellent and provides details as they are needed. This is more of an adventure than a mystery.
September 9, 2022
I thought the Chain was better.
June 7, 2017
A friend introduced me to Adrian McKinty late last year, particularly his detective hero Sean Duffy. Hidden River is the first of McKinty’s books I’ve read without Duffy and takes quite a few interesting directions. The principal character in the book is Alexander Lawson, a very young ex-detective who is addicted (though he doesn’t see it himself) to heroin. Lawson was a brilliant and rising star in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) of North Ireland.
Lawson’s first love Victoria Patawasti has been murdered by an intruder after immigrating to Denver, Colorado. The police in Denver believe they have arrested the suspect but Victoria’s family has received a letter saying that the real murderer is still at large. They pay Lawson to travel to the US to follow a lead that local law enforcement is trying to get them to ignore. Lawson also has extra motivation to exit North Ireland after a run in with a former English paratrooper who is now investigating corruption in the RUC and believes Lawson knows something about it. (As context for those not intimate with all the problems within North Ireland the past several hundred years, English paratroopers were held responsible for Bloody Sunday in 1972 in which over a dozen unarmed protesters were shot dead.)
In the US Lawson faces a whole new world of challenges, not the least of these scoring heroin (he thought it best not to smuggle it in) and not having any official standing to investigate. He begins to suspect a rising politician that was Victoria’s employer at the time of her death.
The book was published in 2005 and the actions in it take place in 1996. Victoria’s employer is a Republican. Bob Dole is running for president and the Jean Benet Ramsey murder case is a short time in the future. There is a lot of realistic local color from Colorado with well-described locations. The true killer is telegraphed fairly early and Lawson’s only excuse for not seeing it earlier is his addiction. It nearly seems like the killers will get away free after a terrific shootout scene but justice is complete near the end. Then, in a very surprising ending, Lawson ends up travelling to India and staying with Victoria’s grandparents and going through a really touching spiritual journey of his own.
This was McKinty’s third published book in the US. The writing style is a bit different. At moments when the action tenses up McKinty’s writing changes. Sentences shorten. One. Or two. Perhaps three word sentences. Or syllables. It works in a way but it was a bad habit and one he blessedly gave up in later books.
There is no shortage of violence in McKinty. In that way he may be as much a victim of North Ireland as his characters. There are very nasty people in his books and they do very ugly things to each other. Not everyone will have the stomach for it but for those who can take it he’s a writer to hang with.
Lawson’s first love Victoria Patawasti has been murdered by an intruder after immigrating to Denver, Colorado. The police in Denver believe they have arrested the suspect but Victoria’s family has received a letter saying that the real murderer is still at large. They pay Lawson to travel to the US to follow a lead that local law enforcement is trying to get them to ignore. Lawson also has extra motivation to exit North Ireland after a run in with a former English paratrooper who is now investigating corruption in the RUC and believes Lawson knows something about it. (As context for those not intimate with all the problems within North Ireland the past several hundred years, English paratroopers were held responsible for Bloody Sunday in 1972 in which over a dozen unarmed protesters were shot dead.)
In the US Lawson faces a whole new world of challenges, not the least of these scoring heroin (he thought it best not to smuggle it in) and not having any official standing to investigate. He begins to suspect a rising politician that was Victoria’s employer at the time of her death.
The book was published in 2005 and the actions in it take place in 1996. Victoria’s employer is a Republican. Bob Dole is running for president and the Jean Benet Ramsey murder case is a short time in the future. There is a lot of realistic local color from Colorado with well-described locations. The true killer is telegraphed fairly early and Lawson’s only excuse for not seeing it earlier is his addiction. It nearly seems like the killers will get away free after a terrific shootout scene but justice is complete near the end. Then, in a very surprising ending, Lawson ends up travelling to India and staying with Victoria’s grandparents and going through a really touching spiritual journey of his own.
This was McKinty’s third published book in the US. The writing style is a bit different. At moments when the action tenses up McKinty’s writing changes. Sentences shorten. One. Or two. Perhaps three word sentences. Or syllables. It works in a way but it was a bad habit and one he blessedly gave up in later books.
There is no shortage of violence in McKinty. In that way he may be as much a victim of North Ireland as his characters. There are very nasty people in his books and they do very ugly things to each other. Not everyone will have the stomach for it but for those who can take it he’s a writer to hang with.
November 22, 2019
I hardly know what to say about this audible book or the author. It appears the author has written quite a few books although unknown to me until this. I probably got this on sale. At this moment I have no intention of looking for additional books by this author. I see that I have concluded on giving this three stars although I strongly leaned in the direction of two stars on more than one occasion. One reason for giving it three stars is that it is relatively mercifully short.
This book had a few moments of reasonable enjoyment where that attempted to display some philosophy and some reasonably good writing. But it fell far short in being even close to believable. It had so much improbability that one cannot help but smile at the Gile of the author. Hard to believe over and over!
Thank goodness I have given up trying to explain the storyline in my reviews as I begin my septuagenerian years. If there was a way that I could replay for you the last 10 or 15 minutes of the book I would recommend listening to them for their combination of humor and pathos. One of the highlights in the writing of the book was the few seconds when our hero barged into the ballroom with a gun and pointed it at the Premier couple of the book. His thoughts during those three seconds when all things became finally clear to him and he came to realize that the bad guy was really the bad girl are a bit of a surreal bit of writing. The internal conversations of our Premier 24-year-old detective are continuously impressive and occasionally amusing. There are enough stellar moments in the book to force me from two stars to three.
But the highlight of the book had to be in the early minutes when I realized I was going to be listening to a narrator with an Irish accent! This was the first time I’ve had that experience and I have to say that it was delightful!
This book had a few moments of reasonable enjoyment where that attempted to display some philosophy and some reasonably good writing. But it fell far short in being even close to believable. It had so much improbability that one cannot help but smile at the Gile of the author. Hard to believe over and over!
Thank goodness I have given up trying to explain the storyline in my reviews as I begin my septuagenerian years. If there was a way that I could replay for you the last 10 or 15 minutes of the book I would recommend listening to them for their combination of humor and pathos. One of the highlights in the writing of the book was the few seconds when our hero barged into the ballroom with a gun and pointed it at the Premier couple of the book. His thoughts during those three seconds when all things became finally clear to him and he came to realize that the bad guy was really the bad girl are a bit of a surreal bit of writing. The internal conversations of our Premier 24-year-old detective are continuously impressive and occasionally amusing. There are enough stellar moments in the book to force me from two stars to three.
But the highlight of the book had to be in the early minutes when I realized I was going to be listening to a narrator with an Irish accent! This was the first time I’ve had that experience and I have to say that it was delightful!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2021
I’m ashamed to say that it took me nearly 2 years to finish Hidden River. My wonderful sister gave me her copy after she read it. It’s been in my to-read shelf for ages. I am a huge fan of the Sean Duffy series and hoped there might be some mention of Duffy but no dice. I guess maybe McKinty came up with the Lawson character before Duffy.
I don’t know why it took me so long to really get into it. But over the last 5 days I’ve been working 12 hour traffic control shifts with the police in New Orleans post-hurricane Ida. Hidden River has been welcome distraction from the lines of hot, grouchy people waiting to pick up MREs and the stench of rotten garbage in the blazing sun. Once I finally got into it, it went really fast. There are some nice McKinty moments. I’m curious to go back and reread (for the umpteenth time) the last couple of Duffy mysteries that feature Lawson & refresh my memory of what he was like early in his career. I should have brought one of them with me today, I don’t have anything else to read.
I don’t know why it took me so long to really get into it. But over the last 5 days I’ve been working 12 hour traffic control shifts with the police in New Orleans post-hurricane Ida. Hidden River has been welcome distraction from the lines of hot, grouchy people waiting to pick up MREs and the stench of rotten garbage in the blazing sun. Once I finally got into it, it went really fast. There are some nice McKinty moments. I’m curious to go back and reread (for the umpteenth time) the last couple of Duffy mysteries that feature Lawson & refresh my memory of what he was like early in his career. I should have brought one of them with me today, I don’t have anything else to read.
December 31, 2021
Generally I enjoy McKinty's books and I especially enjoyed Hidden River. It is not without its faults however. One fault is that the author describes the protagonist, Alexander, as being clever, but time and again he shows that he is naive, gullible and incapable of seeing what is directly in front of him. Being a heroin addict has dulled Alex's detective abilities, but even so, I could see the things that were happening, but he could not. It is fun to watch Alexander get played so thoroughly. One other thing that irked me was it felt like there wasn't going to be any resolution or justice in this novel. McKinty throws in some justice at the very end of Hidden River, but it is meted out meagerly. Still this is a very entertaining, suspenseful novel.
January 14, 2022
I love the Sean Duffy series by McKinley, so was keen for something similar. This one didn't quite do the trick, and dragged in some parts. The 'flash forward' technique used in parts was distracting and lessened the suspense. The final concluding events weren't what I was expecting but overall an enjoyable audiobook read.
August 28, 2008
Love it.. especially the local Colorado aspect of this book. It is fun to connect with the the people/places/weather in this book that takes place in Denver.
September 25, 2019
I liked this book. It simply doesn't seem as strong, however, when reading it after The Chain, The Sean Duffy series, The Michael Forsythe series, and the superb Falling Glass, and I often found myself thinking about how parts or themes in Hidden River were more fully fleshed out and realized in some of those later books.
Trying to put that comparison aside, this novel is very much about things not going right, for the characters or for usual reader expectations, and the sort of mindset that puts you in when it happens again and again. The main character is a heroin user who is convinced he's not an addict: Alexander Lawson.
Lawson will be familiar to readers from the Sean Duffy books, although he's quite different here. I had to spend some time letting that tie go, as, with this book preceding actual writing of the Duffy books but set in time after them, we don't get any mention of Duffy or Crabbie from Lawson when he thinks about his past, and it just made it feel like an altered timeline rather than part of the same universe.
There are also some actions that Lawson performs, involving heroin and someone sleeping, that are much harder to take in 2019 than they likely were at the time of writing, and that add a villainy to the character that just doesn't quite seem right.
It has, of course, well-rendered action and a delightful section where Lawson is working door to door for a greenwashing firm. It also has a delightful community of characters in Lawson, his friend John, and ex-fireman with AIDs, and an immigrant Somali family all living in a derelict building.
I'm glad I read it. It just doesn't feel as strong as the rest of McKinty's work that I've read. It should also be noted that the sort of "narrative of disappointment" McKinty is trying to pull off here, which includes Hindu religion, Irish politics, US politics, and drug addiction is a fucking high-difficulty challenge to attempt on a second novel. I don't think it quite pulls it off--never meshing all these element into perfect coherence -- but that may well be just my sense of character dislocation, in this Alexander Lawson not matching the one written later. Had the character had a different name, I might not have had that reaction at all. It was still a very enjoyable read.
Trying to put that comparison aside, this novel is very much about things not going right, for the characters or for usual reader expectations, and the sort of mindset that puts you in when it happens again and again. The main character is a heroin user who is convinced he's not an addict: Alexander Lawson.
Lawson will be familiar to readers from the Sean Duffy books, although he's quite different here. I had to spend some time letting that tie go, as, with this book preceding actual writing of the Duffy books but set in time after them, we don't get any mention of Duffy or Crabbie from Lawson when he thinks about his past, and it just made it feel like an altered timeline rather than part of the same universe.
There are also some actions that Lawson performs, involving heroin and someone sleeping, that are much harder to take in 2019 than they likely were at the time of writing, and that add a villainy to the character that just doesn't quite seem right.
It has, of course, well-rendered action and a delightful section where Lawson is working door to door for a greenwashing firm. It also has a delightful community of characters in Lawson, his friend John, and ex-fireman with AIDs, and an immigrant Somali family all living in a derelict building.
I'm glad I read it. It just doesn't feel as strong as the rest of McKinty's work that I've read. It should also be noted that the sort of "narrative of disappointment" McKinty is trying to pull off here, which includes Hindu religion, Irish politics, US politics, and drug addiction is a fucking high-difficulty challenge to attempt on a second novel. I don't think it quite pulls it off--never meshing all these element into perfect coherence -- but that may well be just my sense of character dislocation, in this Alexander Lawson not matching the one written later. Had the character had a different name, I might not have had that reaction at all. It was still a very enjoyable read.
March 29, 2020
A young ex-detective in the RUC finds himself on the around side of a number of organisations. He thinks he is a casual heroin user and skulks around Carrickfergus with a couple of his ex-colleagues. His first girlfriend is murdered in Denver and in order to escape the closing net on him he goes to America to attempt to solve the crime. The author then throws the kitchen sink at the story, AIDS, illegal immigration, American environmentalists, would be politicians, people reinventing themselves, how to access drugs, more murder, music, urban decay, friendship, sex... and so it goes on. The story was punchy in parts but felt the author was trying out a number of storylines and decided to include as many as he could.
December 10, 2017
After Alexander Lawson -- a rising star on Northern Ireland's police force at twenty-four -- is assigned to the corruption-ridden drug squad, he becomes addicted to heroin under unusual circumstances. Forced to resign in disgrace, he is still an addict when he learns that his high school girlfriend, Victoria, has been murdered in drought-scorched Denver, Colorado. Victoria's family begs Alex to investigate.Against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, bodies begin to pile up, and soon Alex is wanted both by Colorado cops and the British police. On the run and with the murderer closing in, Alex must fight not only to solve the terrifying case and seize his last chance at redemption...but also to stay alive.
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Cphe
Mar 28, 2015
Cphe rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: mystery-thriller, dark-very-dark, irish-thriller, 2015
I normally love this author's work and find his books riveting reading but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I couldn't "gel" with the main character Alex Lawson, primarily because I didn't like him as a character This was a bit too cliche laden and there were some slow moving parts to the story. I could see who the "bad guy" was going to be well before the final denouement. I know it is an earlier work by a very talented author but I couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelmed by it. The ...more
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Eric_W
Oct 18, 2014
Eric_W rated it liked it
Audiobook: Ex-DCDS (Detective Constable Drug Squad), Alec Lawson, is unemployed, living with his Dad, and hooked on heroin when they learn of the death of Victoria Patawaski, his first girlfriend, who had ostensibly been killed during a mugging in the United States (we know from the beginning that’s not the case.) The story unfolds like the peeling of an onion with multiple layers and the reason for Lawson’s addiction comes to the fore along with revelations of the corruption higher in the police force.
Lawson is paid by the girl’s father to travel to Denver and find out what happened to his daughter. He had received an anonymous letter from someone in Denver suggesting that the mugging was not that at all, but rather a deliberate killing. Alex and his friend John are soon sought by the Denver police for an accidental killing and Alex has been warned that if he returns to Belfast he’ll be killed by those in the police wishing to hide their involvement in illegal activities. It’s no wonder he seeks refuge in smack. The killing is related to Victoria's involvement with an environmental organization run by a couple of brothers with political ambitions.
But therein lay one of the problems with the story. I had trouble believing that anyone who had become so dependent on heroin could function quite as brilliantly and covertly as Alex does. Hidden River is one of McKinty's early books, and while it reveals some of the really wonderful plotting and writing of the Sean Duffy series (which I really like - all of them), it had a tendency to be unfocused in spots and overly long (that's hard for me to admit since I generally like long books.) Perhaps it’s the locale, McKinty really shines when his stories are situated in Ireland.
Here’s a nice metaphor: “She had a smile like a sun-drenched cornfield over a missile silo.”
Gerard Doyle does his usual outstanding narration. (less)
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6 likes · Like · comment · see review
Sandi
May 27, 2013
Sandi rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audio, crime-mystery-thriller-suspense, read-2013, library-express
A gritty suspense tale featuring a young man from Northern Ireland who comes to the United States to look into the death of a former girlfriend. Dark and violent but not without a bit of humor. Listened to the audio read by Gerard Doyle who is the perfect match for the author's work.
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2 likes · Like · 3 comments · see review
Jeff
Mar 21, 2017
Jeff rated it really liked it
Beautifully written story of a former Irish police officer investigating a murder in the US. The plot is intricate, but the writing is excellent and provides details as they are needed. This is more of an adventure than a mystery.
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Rose
Aug 28, 2008
Rose rated it it was amazing
Love it.. especially the local Colorado aspect of this book. It is fun to connect with the the people/places/weather in this book that takes place in Denver.
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Kim
Jun 07, 2017
Kim rated it really liked it
A friend introduced me to Adrian McKinty late last year, particularly his detective hero Sean Duffy. Hidden River is the first of McKinty’s books I’ve read without Duffy and takes quite a few interesting directions. The principal character in the book is Alexander Lawson, a very young ex-detective who is addicted (though he doesn’t see it himself) to heroin. Lawson was a brilliant and rising star in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) of North Ireland.
Lawson’s first love Victoria Patawasti has b ...more
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Joe Kraus
Mar 22, 2017
Joe Kraus rated it liked it
Shelves: hardboiled-noir
This one isn’t great art, but, oh, is it a lot of fun.
Check your skepticism at the door if you feel like giving this a shot. It turns on several hard-to-believe coincidences – something that ordinarily bothers me a great deal. [SPOILER] To start with, what are the odds that our hero would escape injury so often, that he’d never be suspected in the range of killings and set-ups he’s behind, that he’d get hired at the one environmental group that he wanted to investigate in the first place, that ...more
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David
Mar 14, 2017
David rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: Irish-Indian girls, heroin addict ex-cops, Republican environmentalists with hot wives
Shelves: mystery, thriller, audiobook, crime, ireland, noir
All of Adrian McKinty's novels are set in the 80s and 90s and contain copious references to the pop culture of the era, as if McKinty can't get over reliving his teenage years vicariously. But his books are gritty Irish noir, usually involving compromised cops, crooked politicians, the Troubles, and femme fatales.
Hidden River was one of his earlier books, written before the Sean Duffy series. It shows a slightly different style, occasionally jumping between different POVs and using heavy-handed ...more
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Tammy
May 28, 2017
Tammy rated it really liked it
This author has had defective main characters in the two I have read. This is Alex who is an ex police officer who has heroin issues as well as more complicated issues with the police. His friend who he used to date is killed and her parents want to know who did it. Alex cannot think straight sometimes and other times he is quite intelligent. He has people after him in Ireland and when he and his friend John come to America they get in trouble too. I enjoyed this book but it is very different wi ...more
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Maylin
Jun 17, 2017
Maylin rated it really liked it
Shelves: audiobooks, crime
No body does dubious Irish cops like Adrian McKinty and this is no exception. Wanna be survivors who are doing the right thing almost despite themselves. There were some great characters in this one - I especially liked the landlord.
I am steadily working my way through AM's backlist and this is one of my faves.
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comfort
Oct 21, 2017
comfort rated it really liked it
Shelves: crime, standalone, brilliant-narrator, uk-usa, favourite-author-must-read, favourite-narrator-must-listen, 2017-audio-finished
Alex, a disgraced cop, a heroin addict, though he denies it, hears that an old flame has been killed in Colorado. He has to flee Ireland where he is going to be forced to be a snitch (which will get him killed), so goes to the USA with his oldest friend to see if they can discover what happened to his old girlfriend.
Very graphic in the violence and when you think he cannot endure any more beatings, he gets beaten again both mentally and physically. A very gripping who-dun-it.
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Andy
Mar 20, 2017
Andy rated it liked it · review of another edition
Not as good as McKinty's subsequent books. Still entertaining, but the writing is a bit clunkier.
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Ann Rieth
Nov 11, 2017
Ann Rieth rated it liked it
On Audible, this was another riveting story by McKinty, beautifully narrated by Gerard Doyle.
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Alex Norton
Mar 17, 2017
Alex Norton rated it liked it
Confused by this one. Loved the writing, strong prose, interesting extremely flawed main character. Enjoyed the setting both temporal and location (Ulster, and AIDS/OJ USA). Felt a little bit too much "Deus Ex Machina" plot twists and lost opportunities with some characters (understandable in a First Person novel). I was even settling in and being OK by the fizzle out ending. I will definitely give the author another go.
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Grace Stamper
Mar 17, 2017
Grace Stamper rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Great ending, but it was more about heroin addiction than the murder. I'm really glad it ended the way it did though.
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Bruce Humbert
Mar 14, 2017
Bruce Humbert rated it liked it
A big fan of McCinty's Sean Duffy books. Thought this was a bit of a step down...
Gerard Doyle's read gets it at least another half star
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Carolyn Rose
Mar 03, 2017
Carolyn Rose rated it really liked it
Alex isn't easy to like and it seems that he gets it all wrong - until he manages to get it right.
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L.M. Krier
Oct 15, 2016
L.M. Krier rated it liked it
I read this in the French translation, in case that is relevant.
There's a tendency in some crime fiction to treat the reader as an idiot and spell out everything for them in words of half a syllable, several times over. It's something this book does in spades, hence only 3 stars.
The central character, Alex Lawson, is a former Royal Ulster Constabulary detective, now a heroin addict, who left the force under a cloud. When his childhood sweetheart is murdered in Denver, Colorado, Alex flies out a ...more
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Daniel
Jul 04, 2012
Daniel rated it liked it
Heroin addict & Pub quizz whizz, Alexander Lawson. Lawsons habit controls his exsistance and the pace of life in the bay town Carrickfergus. At 24 Lawson is washed up, a failed stint as a dectective in Belfasts drugs squad (for obivious reasons) has left the erstwhile coppers once brightly burning star in descent. Lawson believes he's now a marked man, neck deep in debt and trouble with local unsavouries it would appear Lawsons copy book is blotted beyond all salvation.
Salavation however arr ...more
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Eric Cunningham
Aug 18, 2014
Eric Cunningham rated it really liked it
Alexander Lawson is a former police detective for one of Ireland's police force. As a young copper with an IQ off the charts Alexander soon finds himself losing everything as he resigns as a detective and becomes a "ketch" addict. Although this decision may cost him the rest of his life, as he was threatened multiple times. To escape death young Alexander Lawson takes a private case investigating the murder of his teenage love Victoria Patawasti in America. Once in America he is faced with a var ...more
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Kathleen Hagen
Nov 28, 2009
Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition
Shelves: 2009-mysteries, 2009-audio-books
Hidden River, by Adrian McKinty, A. narrated by Gerard Doyle, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
Alexander Lawson is a cop in Northern Ireland who is placed in the vice squad to uncover drugs. He gets hooked on heroin himself and ultimately is drummed out of the department. His high school girlfriend, Victoria, who left Ireland to live in the United States in Denver, is murdered. The Denver police pick up someone for the murder, but Victoria’s father doesn’t trust them to ...more
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Felix Zilich
Jul 17, 2014
Felix Zilich rated it liked it
Shelves: crime, irish-luck
Он мог стать самым молодым инспектором в Северной Ирландии. Для блестящей карьеры в органах у Алекса Лоусона были все необходимые навыки и таланты, но парень затеял дело против коррумпированных копов и вскоре понял, что подписал себе этим смертный приговор.
Выход был один - как можно быстрее слить себя и своё будущее, показав врагам, что ты не представляешь ни малейшей угрозы. Именно поэтому Лоусон стал героиновым наркоманом, которого уволили со службы за хищение порошка со склада по хранению ул ...more
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Seana
Nov 25, 2012
Seana rated it really liked it
I really enjoyed this earlier work of one of my favorite crime novelists. Part of the reason was somewhat nostalgic, as I spent several years of my childhood in Denver, where much of the story takes place. I remember the name of Colfax Avenue, though apparently we never stopped there long enough for me to get a sense of its seedy reality. The book is actually a fairly distopian take on what in my more innocent experience was a pretty cool place to grow up.
Two Irish men, both sometime policemen, ...more
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Cheryl
Sep 07, 2014
Cheryl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: just-because-i-like-it, 2014-65-books
I think I was technically reading three of McKinty's books at the same time. I had ordered The Sun is God. I had been on a waiting list for Orange Rhymes with Everything for weeks, and The River, I actually had as a free audio book (loved it from the start and immediately had to buy a used print edition - the only way it can be purchased as it is out of print). Everything showed up at once.
This was one of his early books and I have to say, overall I really liked it. There were a couple of scenes ...more
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Aoife62
Sep 16, 2014
Aoife62 rated it it was amazing
I am usually not a crime fiction reader but I make an exception for everything Adrian McKinty writes and "Hidden River" proved again that this was a good decision. There are all the ingedients to make a very good book: a sympathetic, slightly troubled protagonist - who is kind of famous Sean Duffy's younger image - a gripping case, unexpected turns, excellent use of language - from Irish Slang to Denver upper class strewn in with poetic pasages -, philosophical insights and a highly satisfying e ...more
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Catherine
May 06, 2012
Catherine rated it it was amazing
Shelves: read-in-2012
HIDDEN RIVER by Adrian McKinty is a complex story of a good man, Alex Lawson, living a life on the edge. Once a rising star in the Northern Ireland police force, unusual circumstances lead him down a road that would take him away from his promising career and into a dark existence of heroin addiction. When an ex-girlfriend is murdered in Denver, Colorado he escapes his Irish tormentors and heads to the Rocky Mountains to uncover the truth of Victoria's murder and hopefully find her killer. This ...more
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Ryan
May 28, 2008
Ryan rated it liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: adults murder mystery fans
Shelves: thinker, drama, suspense, irish, crime
I finally managed to get through this book. It was a long, long read for me. 278 pages, but it read like a 400 pager. Not that it wasn't enjoyable. It just took me a long time to get through it.
I picked this book up because I'd read some of McKinty's other books and enjoyed them a great deal. This book isn't far off the line from the others I'd read/heard. You've got a guy that is the flawed hero, genius, invincible. And eventually he fights through some of his demons and wins. I suspected the ' ...more
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Cindy
Feb 03, 2014
Cindy rated it did not like it
Shelves: mystery, crime
This book could not have been more frustrating. There are few primary characters that I have disliked more than Alex. He started out being self absorbed/selfish and finished the same way. He used every single person he met, to their detriment. Why did I waste my time with this book you might ask - I kept thinking it would get better--that he would prove himself worthy of the sacrifices others had made on his behalf. He never tried to improve anyone's life, just took advantage of them all, right ...more
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Monica
Jun 19, 2015
Monica rated it liked it
Shelves: crime-and-or-evil, irish
It's a standalone with elements which McKinty uses with much more finesse and impact in the Sean Duffy books. Alex Lawson was a misfit RUC officer, bright, promoted quickly, then out of the force, a heroin addict. Needing to escape from dangerous enemies in Belfast, he goes to Denver to investigate the murder of his high school sweetheart at the request of her grieving father.
It's mostly well written, gritty and violent but somewhat predictable. McKinty obviously knows Denver and that's an unusu ...more
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Cheap and Lazy
Nov 10, 2013
Cheap and Lazy rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audio-book, contemporary, mystery-thriller
Beautifully written DARK GRITTY mystery/thriller, fabulously narrated, and ultimately satisfying. A bit less beauty/noir would have moved the story along faster, but whether that would have made it better or not is a fine line only individual taste can determine (I'm less a fan of literature than one of good story-telling and have consequently graded on that preference). I would think this book has enough of both to satisfy most. A first read (listen) for me by either the author or the narrator, ...more
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Cphe
Mar 28, 2015
Cphe rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Shelves: mystery-thriller, dark-very-dark, irish-thriller, 2015
I normally love this author's work and find his books riveting reading but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I couldn't "gel" with the main character Alex Lawson, primarily because I didn't like him as a character This was a bit too cliche laden and there were some slow moving parts to the story. I could see who the "bad guy" was going to be well before the final denouement. I know it is an earlier work by a very talented author but I couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelmed by it. The ...more
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Eric_W
Oct 18, 2014
Eric_W rated it liked it
Audiobook: Ex-DCDS (Detective Constable Drug Squad), Alec Lawson, is unemployed, living with his Dad, and hooked on heroin when they learn of the death of Victoria Patawaski, his first girlfriend, who had ostensibly been killed during a mugging in the United States (we know from the beginning that’s not the case.) The story unfolds like the peeling of an onion with multiple layers and the reason for Lawson’s addiction comes to the fore along with revelations of the corruption higher in the police force.
Lawson is paid by the girl’s father to travel to Denver and find out what happened to his daughter. He had received an anonymous letter from someone in Denver suggesting that the mugging was not that at all, but rather a deliberate killing. Alex and his friend John are soon sought by the Denver police for an accidental killing and Alex has been warned that if he returns to Belfast he’ll be killed by those in the police wishing to hide their involvement in illegal activities. It’s no wonder he seeks refuge in smack. The killing is related to Victoria's involvement with an environmental organization run by a couple of brothers with political ambitions.
But therein lay one of the problems with the story. I had trouble believing that anyone who had become so dependent on heroin could function quite as brilliantly and covertly as Alex does. Hidden River is one of McKinty's early books, and while it reveals some of the really wonderful plotting and writing of the Sean Duffy series (which I really like - all of them), it had a tendency to be unfocused in spots and overly long (that's hard for me to admit since I generally like long books.) Perhaps it’s the locale, McKinty really shines when his stories are situated in Ireland.
Here’s a nice metaphor: “She had a smile like a sun-drenched cornfield over a missile silo.”
Gerard Doyle does his usual outstanding narration. (less)
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Sandi
May 27, 2013
Sandi rated it liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audio, crime-mystery-thriller-suspense, read-2013, library-express
A gritty suspense tale featuring a young man from Northern Ireland who comes to the United States to look into the death of a former girlfriend. Dark and violent but not without a bit of humor. Listened to the audio read by Gerard Doyle who is the perfect match for the author's work.
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Jeff
Mar 21, 2017
Jeff rated it really liked it
Beautifully written story of a former Irish police officer investigating a murder in the US. The plot is intricate, but the writing is excellent and provides details as they are needed. This is more of an adventure than a mystery.
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Rose
Aug 28, 2008
Rose rated it it was amazing
Love it.. especially the local Colorado aspect of this book. It is fun to connect with the the people/places/weather in this book that takes place in Denver.
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Kim
Jun 07, 2017
Kim rated it really liked it
A friend introduced me to Adrian McKinty late last year, particularly his detective hero Sean Duffy. Hidden River is the first of McKinty’s books I’ve read without Duffy and takes quite a few interesting directions. The principal character in the book is Alexander Lawson, a very young ex-detective who is addicted (though he doesn’t see it himself) to heroin. Lawson was a brilliant and rising star in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) of North Ireland.
Lawson’s first love Victoria Patawasti has b ...more
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Joe Kraus
Mar 22, 2017
Joe Kraus rated it liked it
Shelves: hardboiled-noir
This one isn’t great art, but, oh, is it a lot of fun.
Check your skepticism at the door if you feel like giving this a shot. It turns on several hard-to-believe coincidences – something that ordinarily bothers me a great deal. [SPOILER] To start with, what are the odds that our hero would escape injury so often, that he’d never be suspected in the range of killings and set-ups he’s behind, that he’d get hired at the one environmental group that he wanted to investigate in the first place, that ...more
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David
Mar 14, 2017
David rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: Irish-Indian girls, heroin addict ex-cops, Republican environmentalists with hot wives
Shelves: mystery, thriller, audiobook, crime, ireland, noir
All of Adrian McKinty's novels are set in the 80s and 90s and contain copious references to the pop culture of the era, as if McKinty can't get over reliving his teenage years vicariously. But his books are gritty Irish noir, usually involving compromised cops, crooked politicians, the Troubles, and femme fatales.
Hidden River was one of his earlier books, written before the Sean Duffy series. It shows a slightly different style, occasionally jumping between different POVs and using heavy-handed ...more
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Tammy
May 28, 2017
Tammy rated it really liked it
This author has had defective main characters in the two I have read. This is Alex who is an ex police officer who has heroin issues as well as more complicated issues with the police. His friend who he used to date is killed and her parents want to know who did it. Alex cannot think straight sometimes and other times he is quite intelligent. He has people after him in Ireland and when he and his friend John come to America they get in trouble too. I enjoyed this book but it is very different wi ...more
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Maylin
Jun 17, 2017
Maylin rated it really liked it
Shelves: audiobooks, crime
No body does dubious Irish cops like Adrian McKinty and this is no exception. Wanna be survivors who are doing the right thing almost despite themselves. There were some great characters in this one - I especially liked the landlord.
I am steadily working my way through AM's backlist and this is one of my faves.
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comfort
Oct 21, 2017
comfort rated it really liked it
Shelves: crime, standalone, brilliant-narrator, uk-usa, favourite-author-must-read, favourite-narrator-must-listen, 2017-audio-finished
Alex, a disgraced cop, a heroin addict, though he denies it, hears that an old flame has been killed in Colorado. He has to flee Ireland where he is going to be forced to be a snitch (which will get him killed), so goes to the USA with his oldest friend to see if they can discover what happened to his old girlfriend.
Very graphic in the violence and when you think he cannot endure any more beatings, he gets beaten again both mentally and physically. A very gripping who-dun-it.
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Andy
Mar 20, 2017
Andy rated it liked it · review of another edition
Not as good as McKinty's subsequent books. Still entertaining, but the writing is a bit clunkier.
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Ann Rieth
Nov 11, 2017
Ann Rieth rated it liked it
On Audible, this was another riveting story by McKinty, beautifully narrated by Gerard Doyle.
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Alex Norton
Mar 17, 2017
Alex Norton rated it liked it
Confused by this one. Loved the writing, strong prose, interesting extremely flawed main character. Enjoyed the setting both temporal and location (Ulster, and AIDS/OJ USA). Felt a little bit too much "Deus Ex Machina" plot twists and lost opportunities with some characters (understandable in a First Person novel). I was even settling in and being OK by the fizzle out ending. I will definitely give the author another go.
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Grace Stamper
Mar 17, 2017
Grace Stamper rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Great ending, but it was more about heroin addiction than the murder. I'm really glad it ended the way it did though.
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Bruce Humbert
Mar 14, 2017
Bruce Humbert rated it liked it
A big fan of McCinty's Sean Duffy books. Thought this was a bit of a step down...
Gerard Doyle's read gets it at least another half star
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Carolyn Rose
Mar 03, 2017
Carolyn Rose rated it really liked it
Alex isn't easy to like and it seems that he gets it all wrong - until he manages to get it right.
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L.M. Krier
Oct 15, 2016
L.M. Krier rated it liked it
I read this in the French translation, in case that is relevant.
There's a tendency in some crime fiction to treat the reader as an idiot and spell out everything for them in words of half a syllable, several times over. It's something this book does in spades, hence only 3 stars.
The central character, Alex Lawson, is a former Royal Ulster Constabulary detective, now a heroin addict, who left the force under a cloud. When his childhood sweetheart is murdered in Denver, Colorado, Alex flies out a ...more
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Daniel
Jul 04, 2012
Daniel rated it liked it
Heroin addict & Pub quizz whizz, Alexander Lawson. Lawsons habit controls his exsistance and the pace of life in the bay town Carrickfergus. At 24 Lawson is washed up, a failed stint as a dectective in Belfasts drugs squad (for obivious reasons) has left the erstwhile coppers once brightly burning star in descent. Lawson believes he's now a marked man, neck deep in debt and trouble with local unsavouries it would appear Lawsons copy book is blotted beyond all salvation.
Salavation however arr ...more
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Eric Cunningham
Aug 18, 2014
Eric Cunningham rated it really liked it
Alexander Lawson is a former police detective for one of Ireland's police force. As a young copper with an IQ off the charts Alexander soon finds himself losing everything as he resigns as a detective and becomes a "ketch" addict. Although this decision may cost him the rest of his life, as he was threatened multiple times. To escape death young Alexander Lawson takes a private case investigating the murder of his teenage love Victoria Patawasti in America. Once in America he is faced with a var ...more
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Kathleen Hagen
Nov 28, 2009
Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition
Shelves: 2009-mysteries, 2009-audio-books
Hidden River, by Adrian McKinty, A. narrated by Gerard Doyle, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
Alexander Lawson is a cop in Northern Ireland who is placed in the vice squad to uncover drugs. He gets hooked on heroin himself and ultimately is drummed out of the department. His high school girlfriend, Victoria, who left Ireland to live in the United States in Denver, is murdered. The Denver police pick up someone for the murder, but Victoria’s father doesn’t trust them to ...more
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Felix Zilich
Jul 17, 2014
Felix Zilich rated it liked it
Shelves: crime, irish-luck
Он мог стать самым молодым инспектором в Северной Ирландии. Для блестящей карьеры в органах у Алекса Лоусона были все необходимые навыки и таланты, но парень затеял дело против коррумпированных копов и вскоре понял, что подписал себе этим смертный приговор.
Выход был один - как можно быстрее слить себя и своё будущее, показав врагам, что ты не представляешь ни малейшей угрозы. Именно поэтому Лоусон стал героиновым наркоманом, которого уволили со службы за хищение порошка со склада по хранению ул ...more
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Seana
Nov 25, 2012
Seana rated it really liked it
I really enjoyed this earlier work of one of my favorite crime novelists. Part of the reason was somewhat nostalgic, as I spent several years of my childhood in Denver, where much of the story takes place. I remember the name of Colfax Avenue, though apparently we never stopped there long enough for me to get a sense of its seedy reality. The book is actually a fairly distopian take on what in my more innocent experience was a pretty cool place to grow up.
Two Irish men, both sometime policemen, ...more
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Cheryl
Sep 07, 2014
Cheryl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: just-because-i-like-it, 2014-65-books
I think I was technically reading three of McKinty's books at the same time. I had ordered The Sun is God. I had been on a waiting list for Orange Rhymes with Everything for weeks, and The River, I actually had as a free audio book (loved it from the start and immediately had to buy a used print edition - the only way it can be purchased as it is out of print). Everything showed up at once.
This was one of his early books and I have to say, overall I really liked it. There were a couple of scenes ...more
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Aoife62
Sep 16, 2014
Aoife62 rated it it was amazing
I am usually not a crime fiction reader but I make an exception for everything Adrian McKinty writes and "Hidden River" proved again that this was a good decision. There are all the ingedients to make a very good book: a sympathetic, slightly troubled protagonist - who is kind of famous Sean Duffy's younger image - a gripping case, unexpected turns, excellent use of language - from Irish Slang to Denver upper class strewn in with poetic pasages -, philosophical insights and a highly satisfying e ...more
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Catherine
May 06, 2012
Catherine rated it it was amazing
Shelves: read-in-2012
HIDDEN RIVER by Adrian McKinty is a complex story of a good man, Alex Lawson, living a life on the edge. Once a rising star in the Northern Ireland police force, unusual circumstances lead him down a road that would take him away from his promising career and into a dark existence of heroin addiction. When an ex-girlfriend is murdered in Denver, Colorado he escapes his Irish tormentors and heads to the Rocky Mountains to uncover the truth of Victoria's murder and hopefully find her killer. This ...more
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Ryan
May 28, 2008
Ryan rated it liked it · review of another edition
Recommends it for: adults murder mystery fans
Shelves: thinker, drama, suspense, irish, crime
I finally managed to get through this book. It was a long, long read for me. 278 pages, but it read like a 400 pager. Not that it wasn't enjoyable. It just took me a long time to get through it.
I picked this book up because I'd read some of McKinty's other books and enjoyed them a great deal. This book isn't far off the line from the others I'd read/heard. You've got a guy that is the flawed hero, genius, invincible. And eventually he fights through some of his demons and wins. I suspected the ' ...more
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Cindy
Feb 03, 2014
Cindy rated it did not like it
Shelves: mystery, crime
This book could not have been more frustrating. There are few primary characters that I have disliked more than Alex. He started out being self absorbed/selfish and finished the same way. He used every single person he met, to their detriment. Why did I waste my time with this book you might ask - I kept thinking it would get better--that he would prove himself worthy of the sacrifices others had made on his behalf. He never tried to improve anyone's life, just took advantage of them all, right ...more
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Monica
Jun 19, 2015
Monica rated it liked it
Shelves: crime-and-or-evil, irish
It's a standalone with elements which McKinty uses with much more finesse and impact in the Sean Duffy books. Alex Lawson was a misfit RUC officer, bright, promoted quickly, then out of the force, a heroin addict. Needing to escape from dangerous enemies in Belfast, he goes to Denver to investigate the murder of his high school sweetheart at the request of her grieving father.
It's mostly well written, gritty and violent but somewhat predictable. McKinty obviously knows Denver and that's an unusu ...more
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Cheap and Lazy
Nov 10, 2013
Cheap and Lazy rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: audio-book, contemporary, mystery-thriller
Beautifully written DARK GRITTY mystery/thriller, fabulously narrated, and ultimately satisfying. A bit less beauty/noir would have moved the story along faster, but whether that would have made it better or not is a fine line only individual taste can determine (I'm less a fan of literature than one of good story-telling and have consequently graded on that preference). I would think this book has enough of both to satisfy most. A first read (listen) for me by either the author or the narrator, ...more
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2022
Nothing like I expected - I'm still unsure if I like the main character, but if nothing else he's fascinating.
December 12, 2021
"Hidden River" is fairly early Adrian McKinty, not quite as fully formed as his great Sean Duffy series but interesting nonetheless. Its protagonist, Alex Lawson, is a very young ex-detective from Belfast whose career ended when he was caught swiping a little heroin from the evidence hold to feed his habit while assigned to the drug detail. He receives word that his first love, Victoria, a beautiful south Asian Irish lass who'd been living in America, has been murdered in Denver. The local police feel they've already solved the crime since the supposed murdered conveniently dropped his driver's license at the scene. Victoria's father is skeptical and proposes that Sean travel to the US to conduct an off-the-record independent investigation. Sean has nothing better to do other than feeding his dope habit, so he accepts the challenge and flies west along with John, a friend. Thus begins the quest for justice.
Alex and John hole up in a sketchy part of Denver, traveling to Boulder, where Victoria's job with an environmental lobby organization was based, just in time to find out the group is moving to bigger quarters in Denver. Alex decides his best chance to learn about Victoria's life is to get involved with the organization, so he finds a job with them under a false name. He soon finds himself rubbing elbows with the executives in the group, a Denver big-shooter who may be a future Senate candidate, his beautiful wife, and the big guy's brother. Alex and John learn an earth-shattering piece of information from an insider who agrees the murderer is still on the loose. The insider dies in a tragic accident that John is involved in, the boys go on the lam, but the truth eventually surfaces in shocking fashion.
McKinty's a really good crime writer with a talent for dialogue. He keeps the story moving along smartly, though it seems to drag a bit in the middle section. Although the solution to the crime came as a huge surprise to Alex, it wasn't to me (and probably to most readers). It was telegraphed pretty early, but perhaps his sexual exploits and all the heroin he was using clouded his judgment. Alex was a very flawed character, which often makes for good stories, but in this case his flaws almost resulted in his death in a couple situations and impeded his investigatory progress. Hidden River is a worthwhile read that to me provides a good data point to compare against McKinty's later work.
Alex and John hole up in a sketchy part of Denver, traveling to Boulder, where Victoria's job with an environmental lobby organization was based, just in time to find out the group is moving to bigger quarters in Denver. Alex decides his best chance to learn about Victoria's life is to get involved with the organization, so he finds a job with them under a false name. He soon finds himself rubbing elbows with the executives in the group, a Denver big-shooter who may be a future Senate candidate, his beautiful wife, and the big guy's brother. Alex and John learn an earth-shattering piece of information from an insider who agrees the murderer is still on the loose. The insider dies in a tragic accident that John is involved in, the boys go on the lam, but the truth eventually surfaces in shocking fashion.
McKinty's a really good crime writer with a talent for dialogue. He keeps the story moving along smartly, though it seems to drag a bit in the middle section. Although the solution to the crime came as a huge surprise to Alex, it wasn't to me (and probably to most readers). It was telegraphed pretty early, but perhaps his sexual exploits and all the heroin he was using clouded his judgment. Alex was a very flawed character, which often makes for good stories, but in this case his flaws almost resulted in his death in a couple situations and impeded his investigatory progress. Hidden River is a worthwhile read that to me provides a good data point to compare against McKinty's later work.
March 24, 2022
UGH I love McKinty's characters. I can't help it.
June 14, 2021
I listened to the audio book and was impressed with the Irish speech which was the overall narrative in the story and swithched from time to time to American dialogue. The story itself was a mystery and a self discovery of the main character. I Love, love Adrian McKinty novels. He may not be everyone's taste but his realism strikes me every time I read his books. A few of his books are only available as audible in my library and wishing there were more actual reading options.
August 26, 2021
It would be rather refreshing if McKinty could write a character that isn’t a sex obsessed, a pseudo polymath, and a ‘bit of a rogue.’ It’s getting tired. And they are really irritating.
Sean Duffy is a great character and series, but McKinty’s poor other work is making me think maybe he’s not the writer I once thought he was.
Also, having ‘sex’ with someone while they are asleep AND in a heroine coma is not cool.
Sean Duffy is a great character and series, but McKinty’s poor other work is making me think maybe he’s not the writer I once thought he was.
Also, having ‘sex’ with someone while they are asleep AND in a heroine coma is not cool.
July 5, 2021
Raw. Although I like Adrian McKinty's descriptive writing, this one got extremely R rated with extensive foul language. The Eastern mysticism lent itself to his plot in an interesting way.
In my estimation, Gerard Doyle's narration is what sets the book apart
In my estimation, Gerard Doyle's narration is what sets the book apart
October 8, 2012
A little drawn out, good none the less,
October 7, 2020
Good book. Interesting insight into heroin use. Learned to love and hate the protagonist. There were some very suspenseful chapters in the book.
April 6, 2021
Truth be told, I liked the Sean Duffy books better than this one. Alex wasn't as likable as Sean.
March 22, 2017
This one isn’t great art, but, oh, is it a lot of fun.
Check your skepticism at the door if you feel like giving this a shot. It turns on several hard-to-believe coincidences – something that ordinarily bothers me a great deal. [SPOILER] To start with, what are the odds that our hero would escape injury so often, that he’d never be suspected in the range of killings and set-ups he’s behind, that he’d get hired at the one environmental group that he wanted to investigate in the first place, that he’d find two guys loyal to him to the death, or that no one would ever bother to ask him what happened to John once he returned to Ireland without him.
Those are, in most cases, the sorts of holes I’d feel a truck driving through. They’d distract me to the point of not caring about anything else.
Oddly, though, McKinty pulls off the opposite trick here. I find myself – for reasons I can’t fully identify –drawn to the character and the situation. Alex is a Jewish cop in the middle of Belfast’s Catholic/Protestant wars. He’s a too-good-for-his-own-good cop, and he’s a heroin addict. He has a mysterious history from the end of his police career, and now he’s a wit’s end.
It’s fun to get McKinty’s hardboiled take on Belfast – I read his The Cold, Cold Ground which I liked at least as much and admired more – and then it’s fun to see him grapple with the different world of Denver. He has a tone and a way with character that grips you �� or grips me at least.
It’s fun as well to feel him manipulating you throughout. In this case, he’s even somewhat clumsy. [SPOILER: I knew from early on that Amber was the real threat.] But so what? Most of the fun is in seeing the oh-so-clever Alex get confused in the midst of his sex-and-heroin lust.
I don’t want to lean too heavily on this because I suspect my enjoyment of it would come tumbling down if I worried too much about things like how it morphs from a confession from someone who seems already dead (in classic noir-like feel) to a feel-good self-transformation instead. Or about how seriously to take the Hindu theology thread that runs throughout, even giving the novel its name.
No, bottom line, this is a guilty pleasure that I can recommend to others only with mixed feelings. But I promise you that I’ll be snatching up the next McKinty I come across, and I bet it will make it from the to-read pile into my hands pretty quickly.
Check your skepticism at the door if you feel like giving this a shot. It turns on several hard-to-believe coincidences – something that ordinarily bothers me a great deal. [SPOILER] To start with, what are the odds that our hero would escape injury so often, that he’d never be suspected in the range of killings and set-ups he’s behind, that he’d get hired at the one environmental group that he wanted to investigate in the first place, that he’d find two guys loyal to him to the death, or that no one would ever bother to ask him what happened to John once he returned to Ireland without him.
Those are, in most cases, the sorts of holes I’d feel a truck driving through. They’d distract me to the point of not caring about anything else.
Oddly, though, McKinty pulls off the opposite trick here. I find myself – for reasons I can’t fully identify –drawn to the character and the situation. Alex is a Jewish cop in the middle of Belfast’s Catholic/Protestant wars. He’s a too-good-for-his-own-good cop, and he’s a heroin addict. He has a mysterious history from the end of his police career, and now he’s a wit’s end.
It’s fun to get McKinty’s hardboiled take on Belfast – I read his The Cold, Cold Ground which I liked at least as much and admired more – and then it’s fun to see him grapple with the different world of Denver. He has a tone and a way with character that grips you �� or grips me at least.
It’s fun as well to feel him manipulating you throughout. In this case, he’s even somewhat clumsy. [SPOILER: I knew from early on that Amber was the real threat.] But so what? Most of the fun is in seeing the oh-so-clever Alex get confused in the midst of his sex-and-heroin lust.
I don’t want to lean too heavily on this because I suspect my enjoyment of it would come tumbling down if I worried too much about things like how it morphs from a confession from someone who seems already dead (in classic noir-like feel) to a feel-good self-transformation instead. Or about how seriously to take the Hindu theology thread that runs throughout, even giving the novel its name.
No, bottom line, this is a guilty pleasure that I can recommend to others only with mixed feelings. But I promise you that I’ll be snatching up the next McKinty I come across, and I bet it will make it from the to-read pile into my hands pretty quickly.
December 5, 2019
If this book was a boyfriend, we'd be having an on-off relationship. It's a dark thriller and McKinty adopts the trope of literary thrillers, that taut, clipped style, all short sentences with no verbs. Taut. Clipped. No verbs.
He's got good reason for doing this - his protagonist is a heroin addict and McKinty writes his inner dialogue in this way when he's in need. When he's flowing, so is the prose, and it's easier on the eye. I just felt it to be a bit tired and cliched. Just saying.
When the dialogue started in the first chapter, it fell apart a bit more, as the dialogue is fairly mundane and realistically written, and didn't sit well within the literary framework at all. My opinion - he's a best seller, so clearly others feel differently! And I think this is an early book - from what others are saying, maybe he got better.
At the end of the first chapter things were looking up. There was an incredible paragraph, metaphysical, which I took to be an indication of the protagonist's inner turmoil and the workings of his mind. I was all fired up. The rest of the book didn't deliver on it!
It's well plotted and well paced and the story's pretty good. I didn't have any problem reading to the end as it kept me hooked. But it was inconsistent.
I'd hate to spoil him for other readers, and as someone whose family is from Northern Ireland where many of his books are set (apart from this one, which is set largely in the USA), I'm keen to give him another go. But perhaps better to start with a later title.
He's got good reason for doing this - his protagonist is a heroin addict and McKinty writes his inner dialogue in this way when he's in need. When he's flowing, so is the prose, and it's easier on the eye. I just felt it to be a bit tired and cliched. Just saying.
When the dialogue started in the first chapter, it fell apart a bit more, as the dialogue is fairly mundane and realistically written, and didn't sit well within the literary framework at all. My opinion - he's a best seller, so clearly others feel differently! And I think this is an early book - from what others are saying, maybe he got better.
At the end of the first chapter things were looking up. There was an incredible paragraph, metaphysical, which I took to be an indication of the protagonist's inner turmoil and the workings of his mind. I was all fired up. The rest of the book didn't deliver on it!
It's well plotted and well paced and the story's pretty good. I didn't have any problem reading to the end as it kept me hooked. But it was inconsistent.
I'd hate to spoil him for other readers, and as someone whose family is from Northern Ireland where many of his books are set (apart from this one, which is set largely in the USA), I'm keen to give him another go. But perhaps better to start with a later title.
June 15, 2022
This is one of Adrian McKinty’s first books. It’s a stand alone, written before the Sean Duffy series, but still has its main character living in Ulster and a former RUC detective. Alex had been a rising star in the RUC, before he became addicted to heroin.
When a former girlfriend of his is killed in Denver, he heads west to the US. Part of the reason he’s so willing to help is a need to get out of Northern Ireland, as he’s in trouble with his former bosses. The kind of trouble that could end in his death.
I will admit that the use of Alex talking to the reader at times was distracting. He also refers freely to what is coming, as he retells his story. The story starts off strong but drags in the middle. Having just traveled to Denver, it was easy to envision the different places Alex finds himself. This is one of his earlier books, but McKinty had already developed his ability to firmly establish time and place. I hadn’t realized that McKinty actually lived in Denver for several years before writing this.
While interesting, the story could have benefitted from a tighter storyline. I was wondering how McKinty would bring it all to a close, but he does in an admirable, satisfying fashion. It was interesting to listen to this as it highlights his development as a writer once he writes the Sean McDuffy series. His humor shines more in his later books. This one suffers a bit from being dark without any humor to break it up.
Gerard Doyle was the narrator and does a great job, as always.
When a former girlfriend of his is killed in Denver, he heads west to the US. Part of the reason he’s so willing to help is a need to get out of Northern Ireland, as he’s in trouble with his former bosses. The kind of trouble that could end in his death.
I will admit that the use of Alex talking to the reader at times was distracting. He also refers freely to what is coming, as he retells his story. The story starts off strong but drags in the middle. Having just traveled to Denver, it was easy to envision the different places Alex finds himself. This is one of his earlier books, but McKinty had already developed his ability to firmly establish time and place. I hadn’t realized that McKinty actually lived in Denver for several years before writing this.
While interesting, the story could have benefitted from a tighter storyline. I was wondering how McKinty would bring it all to a close, but he does in an admirable, satisfying fashion. It was interesting to listen to this as it highlights his development as a writer once he writes the Sean McDuffy series. His humor shines more in his later books. This one suffers a bit from being dark without any humor to break it up.
Gerard Doyle was the narrator and does a great job, as always.
March 14, 2017
All of Adrian McKinty's novels are set in the 80s and 90s and contain copious references to the pop culture of the era, as if McKinty can't get over reliving his teenage years vicariously. But his books are gritty Irish noir, usually involving compromised cops, crooked politicians, the Troubles, and femme fatales.
Hidden River was one of his earlier books, written before the Sean Duffy series. It shows a slightly different style, occasionally jumping between different POVs and using heavy-handed foreshadowing as a literary device, but it's otherwise as solid as his later books.
Alexander Lawson is a genius, former wunderkind of the Northern Ireland police force with the highest clearance and promotion rate on record, being groomed for great things. Coming from an agnostic Jewish family, the sectarian troubles of Belfast leave him mostly untouched personally. His fall comes in the form of heroin - he is that great cliche, a cop on the drug squad who becomes a druggie. Caught stealing evidence, he is kicked off the force and is now an addict on the dole, when he gets caught between his dealer and a vengeful Special Branch agent who wants information from him that will cost him his life.
Conveniently, this is when Alex's old high school girlfriend, the lovely Victoria Patawasti, who went off to America to do great things, is found murdered. Victoria's family is not satisfied with the "killed by an illegal Mexican immigrant in her apartment" story, and so sends Alex to investigate. Alex is no longer a cop, but he does need to get the hell out of Ireland. His still-a-cop buddy John goes with him, eager to see the great big US of A.
Naturally, everything goes to shit. Alex infiltrates the conservative environmental PAC Victoria was working for, finds a suspect and a motive almost immediately, gets seduced by the main suspect's beautiful socialite wife, and then has to go on the run after another suspicious death.
The plot winds around a bit, taking Alex on detours that probably weren't necessary for the story, and it is pretty obvious right away who the real murderer is despite all the red herrings the author tries to drop. The real twist is the real story behind how Alex got hooked on heroin (it was, again, fairly obvious that the story he gives in the beginning of the book is just too pat).
This was a nicely executed bit of Irish noir mixed with pop culture and early 90s American politics.
Hidden River was one of his earlier books, written before the Sean Duffy series. It shows a slightly different style, occasionally jumping between different POVs and using heavy-handed foreshadowing as a literary device, but it's otherwise as solid as his later books.
Alexander Lawson is a genius, former wunderkind of the Northern Ireland police force with the highest clearance and promotion rate on record, being groomed for great things. Coming from an agnostic Jewish family, the sectarian troubles of Belfast leave him mostly untouched personally. His fall comes in the form of heroin - he is that great cliche, a cop on the drug squad who becomes a druggie. Caught stealing evidence, he is kicked off the force and is now an addict on the dole, when he gets caught between his dealer and a vengeful Special Branch agent who wants information from him that will cost him his life.
Conveniently, this is when Alex's old high school girlfriend, the lovely Victoria Patawasti, who went off to America to do great things, is found murdered. Victoria's family is not satisfied with the "killed by an illegal Mexican immigrant in her apartment" story, and so sends Alex to investigate. Alex is no longer a cop, but he does need to get the hell out of Ireland. His still-a-cop buddy John goes with him, eager to see the great big US of A.
Naturally, everything goes to shit. Alex infiltrates the conservative environmental PAC Victoria was working for, finds a suspect and a motive almost immediately, gets seduced by the main suspect's beautiful socialite wife, and then has to go on the run after another suspicious death.
The plot winds around a bit, taking Alex on detours that probably weren't necessary for the story, and it is pretty obvious right away who the real murderer is despite all the red herrings the author tries to drop. The real twist is the real story behind how Alex got hooked on heroin (it was, again, fairly obvious that the story he gives in the beginning of the book is just too pat).
This was a nicely executed bit of Irish noir mixed with pop culture and early 90s American politics.
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