Adrian McKinty

This Irish bad-boy thriller -- set in the hardest streets of New York City -- brims with violence, greed, and sexual betrayal."I didn't want to go to America, I didn't want to work for Darkey White. I had my reasons. But I went." So admits Michael Forsythe, an illegal immigrant escaping the Troubles in Belfast. But young Michael is strong and fearless and clever -- just the fellow to be tapped by Darkey, a crime boss, to join a gang of Irish thugs struggling against the rising Dominican powers in Harlem and the Bronx. The time is pre-Giuliani New York, when crack rules the city, squatters live furtively in ruined buildings, and hundreds are murdered each month. Michael and his lads tumble through the streets, shaking down victims, drinking hard, and fighting for turf, block by bloody block. Dodgy and observant, not to mention handy with a pistol, Michael is soon anointed by Darkey as his rising star. Meanwhile Michael has very inadvisably seduced Darkey's girl, Bridget -- saucy, fickle, and irresistible. Michael worries that he's being followed, that his affair with Bridget will be revealed. He's right to be anxious; when Darkey discovers the affair, he plans a very hard fall for young Michael, a gambit devilish in its guile, murderous in its intent. But Darkey fails to account for Michael's toughness and ingenuity or the possibility that he might wreak terrible vengeance upon those who would betray him. A natural storyteller with a gift for dialogue, McKinty introduces to readers a stunning new noir voice, dark and stylish, mythic and violent -- complete with an Irish lilt.

Het is een ochtend als alle andere. Rachel Klein zet haar dochter af bij de bushalte en begint aan haar dag. Maar een telefoontje van een onbekend nummer verandert alles. De beller vertelt Rachel dat haar dochter vastgebonden en gekneveld op de achterbank van zijn auto ligt. Als ze haar ooit weer wil zien, moet ze losgeld betalen en een ander kind ontvoeren. Dit is geen gewone kidnapping: de beller is zelf een moeder wier zoon is ontvoerd en als Rachel niet doet wat haar wordt gezegd, zullen beide kinderen sterven. Rachel maakt nu deel uit van De Ketting, een oneindig en ingenieus plan dat ouders verandert in criminelen – en iemand heel rijk maakt. De regels zijn eenvoudig, de morele keuzes onmogelijk: vind snel geld, zoek een eigen slachtoffer en bega een vreselijke daad waarvan je 24 uur geleden nog dacht dat je er nooit toe in staat zou zijn. De genieën achter De Ketting weten dat ouders alles voor hun kinderen overhebben. Wat ze niet weten is dat zelfs de sterkste ketting maar zoveel druk kan verdragen... tot hij breekt.

Danny Lopez is new in town. He made a mistake back home in Las Vegas, and now he has landed at an experimental school in Colorado for “tough cases.” At the Cobalt Charter School, everything is scripted—what the teachers say, what the students reply—and no other speaking is allowed. This supercontrolled environment gives kids a second chance to make something of themselves. But with few freedoms, the students become sitting ducks for a killer determined to “clean up” Colorado Springs.

Belfast, 1985, amidst the “Troubles”:  Detective Sean Duffy, a Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), struggles with burn-out as he investigates a brutal double murder and suicide. Did Michael Kelly really shoot his parents at point blank and then jump off a nearby cliff? A suicide note points to this conclusion, but Duffy suspects even more sinister circumstances. He soon discovers that Kelly was present at a decadent Oxford party where a cabinet minister’s daughter died of a heroin overdose.  This may or may not have something to do with Kelly’s subsequent death. New evidence leads elsewhere: gun runners, arms dealers, the British government, and a rogue American agent with a fake identity. Duffy thinks he’s getting somewhere when agents from MI5 show up at his doorstep and try to recruit him, thus taking him off the investigation.Duffy is in it up to his neck, doggedly pursuing a case that may finally prove his undoing.

Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It's July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to "Shortbread Land". Duffy's a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It's an easy gig, if he can keep his head down. But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protege is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something's not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hitman and why? This is Duffy's most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning "peace process" may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5 and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one. [b]New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award-winning Sean Duffy series with Hang on St. Christopher.[/b]

Sean Duffy knows there's no such thing as a perfect crime. But a torso in a suitcase is pretty close. Still, one tiny clue is all it takes, and there it is. A tattoo. So Duffy, fully fit and back at work after the severe trauma of his last case, is ready to follow the trail of blood-however faint-that always, always connects a body to its killer. A legendarily stubborn man, Duffy becomes obsessed with this mystery as a distraction from the ruins of his love life, and to push down the seed of self-doubt that he seems to have traded for his youthful arrogance. So from country lanes to city streets, Duffy works every angle. And wherever he goes, he smells a rat...

Belfast, 1982. The city is still in recovery from the riots and hunger strikes of the previous year. Newly promoted Detective Inspector Sean Duffy finds a torso in a suitcase. It seems like the perfect no fingerprints, no head. But as Duffy beginsto uncover the truth, he discovers that he's not the only one trying to figure out what happened to this dead American "tourist." Somehow the FBI is involved, as is British Intelligence, and it's all connected to a failing car factory just up the road--afactory run by the slick and shady John DeLorean. As Duffy peels back the layers on the case, he realizes that both his job and his life are once again on the line.

A Catholic cop tracks an IRA master bomber amidst the sectarian violence of the conflict in Northern Ireland It s the early 1980s in Belfast. Sean Duffy, a conflicted Catholic cop in the Protestant RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), is recruited by MI5 to hunt down Dermot McCann, an IRA master bomber who has made a daring escape from the notorious Maze Prison. In the course of his investigations Sean discovers a woman who may hold the key to Dermot s whereabouts; she herself wants justice for her daughter who died in mysterious circumstances in a pub locked from the inside. Sean knows that if he can crack the locked room mystery, the bigger mystery of Dermot s whereabouts might be revealed to him as a reward. Meanwhile the clock is ticking down to the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton in 1984, where Mrs. Thatcher is due to give a keynote speech.

Hvor langt ville du gått for å redde barnet ditt? Reglene i Kjeden er enkle: skaff pengene, finn et offer og begå en forbrytelse Denne morgenen begynner som vanlig. Rachel Klein slipper av datteren Kylie ved busstoppet. Kort tid etter kommer telefonen som forandrer alt. En kvinnestemme sier at Kylie er kidnappet, og den eneste muligheten Rachel har for å få se henne igjen, er mot å betale løsepenger – og at hun kidnapper et annet barn. Kvinnen som ringer er selv mor, og hennes sønn har også blitt bortført. Hvis ikke Rachel gjør nøyaktig som hun sier, vil barna deres bli drept. Rachel er nå et ledd i Kjeden. Reglene er enkle: skaff pengene, finn et offer og begå en forbrytelse du ville anse som umulig for 24 timer siden. Rachel er en helt vanlig kvinne, men i løpet av de neste dagene vil hun gå over alle grenser for å redde datteren sin. For hjernene bak Kjeden vet at foreldrene vil gjøre alt for barna sine. Men det de ikke vet, er at de nå kanskje har møtt sin likemann. Kan Rachel være den som endelig klarer å bryte Kjeden?

Como una mañana cualquiera, Rachel deja a su hija en la parada del autobus. Pero una llamada de un numero desconocido lo cambia todo: una mujer le informa que tiene a Kylie secuestrada y que, si quiere verla de nuevo, debera seguir sus instrucciones al pie de la letra: primero, pagar un rescate; segundo, secuestrar a otro nino. Quien llama es tambien una madre cuyo hijo ha sido secuestrado, y si Rachel no cumple con las reglas, el níño morirá, y su hija tambien. Rachel ya forma parte de La Cadena, un mecanismo que convierte a padres de familia en victimas y a su vez en criminales, y que esta haciendo a alguien muy rico en el proceso. Ella es una mujer corriente, pero en pocas horas los acontecimientos la llevaran hasta limites impensables y la obligaran a hacer algo terrible. Los creadores de La Cadena saben que unos padres haran todo lo que esta en sus manos por sus hijos. Pero no contaban con cruzarse en el camino de una mujer decidida, valiente y superviviente como Rachel. Porque, si alguien puede romperla,esa es ella.

Zwyczajny dzień. Rachel podrzuca córkę na przystanek i pędzi do swoich spraw. Chwilę później ktoś dzwoni z zastrzeżonego numeru. Trzynastoletnia Kylie została uprowadzona. "Jeśli chcesz odzyskać córkę, musisz zapłacić okup… oraz porwać kolejne dziecko" – informuje zniekształcony kobiecy głos. Porywaczka okazuje się matką, której syna uprowadzono wcześniej. Jeśli Rachel nie spełni żądań porwane dzieci zginą. Oboje. Tak działa Łańcuch, przerażające organizacja, która ofiary zmienia w przestępców, a nieznanych sprawców wzbogaca o miliony. Gdy stajesz się ogniwem Łańcucha, nigdy już się od niego nie uwolnisz. Rachel jest zwykłą kobietą, będzie jednak musiała przeobrazić się w kryminalistkę, dokonywać dramatycznych wyborów moralnych i zrobić straszne rzeczy. Łańcuch jest bezlitosny i nieuchwytny. Zasady są proste: załatw pieniądze, wybierz ofiarę, a potem dokonaj okrutnego czynu, który jeszcze wczoraj wydawałby ci się zupełnie niedopuszczalny. Twórcy Łańcucha wiedzą, że rodzice zrobią wszystko dla swoich dzieci. Skonstruowali go tak, by kolejne wciągane w niego osoby chroniły jego anonimową strukturę. Tym razem jednak trafili na równego przeciwnika. Rachel jest bystra, zdesperowana i nigdy się nie poddaje. Czy uda jej się uratować córkę i rozerwać Łańcuch?

Singurul mod în care îți poți recupera copilul este să răpești un alt copil Îți sună telefonul. Un străin ți-a răpit copilul. Ca să-l eliberezi, trebuie să răpești copilul altcuiva. Copilul tău va fi eliberat când părinții victimei tale răpesc un alt copil. Dacă oricare dintre aceste lucruri nu se întâmplă, copilul tău va fi ucis. Acum faci parte din lanț.

Belfast 1988: A man is found dead, killed with a bolt from a crossbow in front of his house. This is no hunting accident. But uncovering who is responsible for the murder will take Detective Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on a high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave. Hunted by forces unknown, threatened by Internal Affairs, and with his relationship on the rocks, Duffy will need all his wits to get out of this investigation in one piece

Rain Dogs, a stunning installment in the Sean Duffy thriller series, following the Edgar Award-nominated Gun Street Girl, is "another standout in a superior series" (Booklist).It's just the same things over and again for Sean Duffy: riot duty, heartbreak, cases he can solve but never get to court. But what detective gets two locked-room mysteries in one career? When journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus Castle, it looks like a suicide. Yet there are a few things that bother Duffy just enough to keep the case file open, which is how he finds out that Bigelow was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond.And so Duffy has two impossible problems on his desk: Who killed Lily Bigelow? And what were they trying to hide?

It's something parents do every morning: Rachel Klein drops her daughter at the bus stop and heads into her day. But a cell phone call from an unknown number changes everything: it's a woman on the line, informing her that she has Kylie bound and gagged in her back seat, and the only way Rachel will see her again is to follow her instructions exactly: pay a ransom, and find another child to abduct. This is no ordinary kidnapping: the caller is a mother herself, whose son has been taken, and if Rachel doesn't do as she's told, the boy will die. "You are not the first. And you will certainly not be the last." Rachel is now part of The Chain, an unending and ingenious scheme that turns victims into criminals—and is making someone else very rich in the process. The rules are simple, the moral challenges impossible; find the money fast, find your victim, and then commit a horrible act you'd have thought yourself incapable of just twenty-four hours ago. But what the masterminds behind The Chain know is that parents will do anything for their children. It turns out that kidnapping is only the beginning.

Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman's suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things--and people--aren't always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It's no easy job--especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn't matter which side he's on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation. Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles--and of a cop treading a thin, thin line. Audio CD is 10 hours and 3 minutes long.

It was just supposed to be a family vacation. A terrible accident changed everything. You don't know what you're capable of until they come for your family. After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom. When they discover remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram. But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare. When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers. Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead. Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.