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Dead Trilogy #2
The Dead Yard
In this breathtaking sequel to Dead I Well May Be , which The Philadelphia Inquirer called "the most captivating crime novel" of the year, mercenary bad boy Michael Forsythe is forced to infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell on behalf of the FBI, and thus confront murder, mayhem, and the prospect of his own execution. With the same poetic lilt and heart-stopping suspense that made Dead I Well May Be a critical favorite, the saga continues with The Dead Yard -- a thriller in which Michael Forsythe must insinuate himself into the good graces of a band of calculating political terrorists. As the novel opens, he's on vacation in Spain, but when a soccer riot between Irish and English fans escalates out of control, Michael is suddenly arrested and thrown into a Spanish prison. Enter Samantha, a British intelligence agent as cunning as she is voluptuous. She makes Michael an offer he cannot instead of being extradited to Mexico to serve time for a prison break, he can help her by infiltrating an IRA sleeper cell in the United States, and she'll see to it that the Spaniards and Mexicans forget all about him. Filled with apprehension about the dangers of the assignment, Michael reluctantly agrees. Within hours he is flown to New York City and thrust into the nightmare world of men known for their distinctive brands of torture and revenge. Michael crosses and double-crosses key players, escapes his own lies by a hairsbreadth, loses his only ally, and falls for the daughter of his enemy -- a most inadvisable development. Boasting spot-on dialogue, crackling wit, and one of the most memorable heroes in all of crime fiction, Adrian McKinty's dazzling new novel confirms his reputation as a brilliant storyteller and writer on the rise.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
107 people are currently reading
1113 people want to read
About the author
Adrian McKinty
49 books4,387 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 206 reviews
March 12, 2018
"The fact is you were in the army, which is good, and you were also a low-level gangster in Belfast, which is even better. And you worked for the Irish mob in America, which is best of all. You could be the ideal person to infiltrate the Sons of Cuchulainn for us."
Michael is cooling his heels in a Spanish jail when M16 agents show up with an offer he definitely can't refuse - infiltrate a fledgling I.R.A. sleeper cell in the U.S., or be sent back to the Mexican prison he escaped from years before. You can probably guess which offer he accepts, and what follows is a bloody thrill ride that goes to some very dark, unpleasant places.
I don't want to give away anything else, although I will mention that one of the characters is nicknamed Touched - as in "touched in the head." And he is. Most certainly.
I highly recommend this to crime fiction fans who don't mind excessive violence and gore. Start with the first book in the series - Dead I Well May Be.
Michael is cooling his heels in a Spanish jail when M16 agents show up with an offer he definitely can't refuse - infiltrate a fledgling I.R.A. sleeper cell in the U.S., or be sent back to the Mexican prison he escaped from years before. You can probably guess which offer he accepts, and what follows is a bloody thrill ride that goes to some very dark, unpleasant places.
I don't want to give away anything else, although I will mention that one of the characters is nicknamed Touched - as in "touched in the head." And he is. Most certainly.
I highly recommend this to crime fiction fans who don't mind excessive violence and gore. Start with the first book in the series - Dead I Well May Be.
January 20, 2020
I am really enjoying this trilogy, with its crisp dialogue, an engaging protagonist and a high body count. I’m sorry that there is only one more book for me to read, because I haven’t been that crazy about his police procedural series.
July 16, 2016
Wow, again. Best listened to as the lilting Irish brogue of Gerard Doyle brings the wonderfully complex character of Michael Forsythe to life. Basically, he's a good lad, but he winds up in the worst situations & won't do anyone the courtesy of dying. Embarrassment, avenger, lover, savior, criminal, or cop - he's all those things & more. He's the meanest fly in the ointment any of them will ever have to deal with. No good deed goes unpunished.
McKinty has basically turned the myth of Cú Chulainn into a modern thriller & done it very well.
Read about Cú Chulainn here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA...
There's an inevitability about it all that's fantastic. It's violent, dark, & occasionally wordy - only occasionally, though. I didn't care much for the dream-like sequences & particularly detested a couple of times when Forsythe mentioned what would happen later on. They didn't really ruin anything nor were they surprising. As I wrote above, there's an inevitability to the story - everything will go balls up & the only question is who will survive & how. The rest of the characters were great. Each was a distinct individual with understandable motivations & personalities that set them apart from the rest.
Great action scenes, usually very realistic. He pushed my boundaries a couple of times in this one toward the end, but I could roll with them. Still, I hope he doesn't push any further. One almost ruined it. Two would have.
This is the second in this series & is fairly well self-contained. It would be best to read them in order. I'll definitely read more by this author.
McKinty has basically turned the myth of Cú Chulainn into a modern thriller & done it very well.
Read about Cú Chulainn here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA...
There's an inevitability about it all that's fantastic. It's violent, dark, & occasionally wordy - only occasionally, though. I didn't care much for the dream-like sequences & particularly detested a couple of times when Forsythe mentioned what would happen later on. They didn't really ruin anything nor were they surprising. As I wrote above, there's an inevitability to the story - everything will go balls up & the only question is who will survive & how. The rest of the characters were great. Each was a distinct individual with understandable motivations & personalities that set them apart from the rest.
Great action scenes, usually very realistic. He pushed my boundaries a couple of times in this one toward the end, but I could roll with them. Still, I hope he doesn't push any further. One almost ruined it. Two would have.
This is the second in this series & is fairly well self-contained. It would be best to read them in order. I'll definitely read more by this author.
June 24, 2022
This crime thriller hummed along at a steady pace before bumrushing the exit, leaving bodies strewn everywhere.
Belfast bad boy Michael Forsythe, in witness protection since he took out a gang in NYC, sneaks out of the country for a well-deserved holiday. He flies to Tenerife for a football match and when some rioting fans are rounded up, Michael gets scooped up, too. MI-6 seizes the opportunity to give him a choice: go undercover in an IRA cell in the States, or get extradited to a Mexican prison for the rest of his life. Some choice! He infiltrates the group via the leader's 19yo daughter, using all the Irish charm he can muster. Unfortunately, one of the cell operatives is a man called Touched, a sadistic sociopath with a taste for torturing enemies, and there's something about Michael he just doesn't trust...
Adrian McKinty has published one more in this series, The Bloomsday Dead, and I've got it all queued up!
Belfast bad boy Michael Forsythe, in witness protection since he took out a gang in NYC, sneaks out of the country for a well-deserved holiday. He flies to Tenerife for a football match and when some rioting fans are rounded up, Michael gets scooped up, too. MI-6 seizes the opportunity to give him a choice: go undercover in an IRA cell in the States, or get extradited to a Mexican prison for the rest of his life. Some choice! He infiltrates the group via the leader's 19yo daughter, using all the Irish charm he can muster. Unfortunately, one of the cell operatives is a man called Touched, a sadistic sociopath with a taste for torturing enemies, and there's something about Michael he just doesn't trust...
Adrian McKinty has published one more in this series, The Bloomsday Dead, and I've got it all queued up!
December 29, 2018
3.5 stars, rounded up
Michael Forsythe is back, the charismatic, good-looking tough guy from the noir revenge thriller 'Dead I May Well Be' in this second instalment of the 'Dead Trilogy'. 5 years have passed since the events of the first book, and Michael has spent them in FBI witness protection. He goes on holiday and gets arrested in Spain as part of some soccer riots, leading him to be recruited by MI6 to infiltrate an IRA splinter group based in Boston. Set in the mid-90s, McKinty creates a great, noirish atmosphere. Some great characters, including the IRA hardman who is suspicious of Michael, the sexy MI6 agent handler, the attractive teenage daughter of the main target, and of course Michael himself.
Very violent book, with the main character dishing out a fair bit of it, which may turn off some. Also, these books have a habit of brief 'flash-forwards' to key moments in the plot earlier in the book, which would usually spoil those moments for me, but doesn't - partly because its told in the first person, so I guess makes sense that the narrater knows what happens!
Overall recommended. Definitely read this trilogy in order.
I am looking forward to the last in the series - 'The Bloomsday Dead'
Michael Forsythe is back, the charismatic, good-looking tough guy from the noir revenge thriller 'Dead I May Well Be' in this second instalment of the 'Dead Trilogy'. 5 years have passed since the events of the first book, and Michael has spent them in FBI witness protection. He goes on holiday and gets arrested in Spain as part of some soccer riots, leading him to be recruited by MI6 to infiltrate an IRA splinter group based in Boston. Set in the mid-90s, McKinty creates a great, noirish atmosphere. Some great characters, including the IRA hardman who is suspicious of Michael, the sexy MI6 agent handler, the attractive teenage daughter of the main target, and of course Michael himself.
Very violent book, with the main character dishing out a fair bit of it, which may turn off some. Also, these books have a habit of brief 'flash-forwards' to key moments in the plot earlier in the book, which would usually spoil those moments for me, but doesn't - partly because its told in the first person, so I guess makes sense that the narrater knows what happens!
Overall recommended. Definitely read this trilogy in order.
I am looking forward to the last in the series - 'The Bloomsday Dead'
June 10, 2011
Damn! I was avoiding reading the second part, because I liked the first so much and I couldn't see how the same dynamics could be dragged into a series. Now I'm a McKinty fangirl I guess. I'll just hop onto the third and last one without delay.
Once again the darkness inside the main character is enormous. And keeps on growing. But this time it is overrun by the darkness of the terrorist cell's members he infiltrates. A different kind, fed on hate, ignorance and sociopathy. Each one of them find their motor in different things: Touched in vengeance, Sonja in ideas of socialist utopias, Gerry in archaeolatry, young Kit in something as simple as believing in her parents. Their favorite quote is that ending justifies the means. Into this soup, Michael enters, interacts and exits in a "successful" ending. One person's successful ending is not necessarily the same for the others. It is the same quote, the ending that justifies the means, viewed from the opposite side.
That's what I like most in these books, there's no good or evil, everybody swims in the grey sea within, the FBI, the terrorists, the agents, the ideas.
If I was a writer I would be jealous of this man's prose. I'd also be jealous he thought and wrote books with the Michael Forsythe character first.
Once again the darkness inside the main character is enormous. And keeps on growing. But this time it is overrun by the darkness of the terrorist cell's members he infiltrates. A different kind, fed on hate, ignorance and sociopathy. Each one of them find their motor in different things: Touched in vengeance, Sonja in ideas of socialist utopias, Gerry in archaeolatry, young Kit in something as simple as believing in her parents. Their favorite quote is that ending justifies the means. Into this soup, Michael enters, interacts and exits in a "successful" ending. One person's successful ending is not necessarily the same for the others. It is the same quote, the ending that justifies the means, viewed from the opposite side.
That's what I like most in these books, there's no good or evil, everybody swims in the grey sea within, the FBI, the terrorists, the agents, the ideas.
If I was a writer I would be jealous of this man's prose. I'd also be jealous he thought and wrote books with the Michael Forsythe character first.
May 23, 2020
I’ve seen this with Adrian McKinty before.
The man can write, and I’m willing to read anything he puts out. He has a great feel for language, and he can explore noir seemingly in whatever direction he goes. I’ve now read the first and second of two of his series – this Michael Forsythe and, earlier his Sean Duffy – and the same thing happened in each. That is, once he established his character, he turned to plot tropes to continue the series. (That’s especially clear in the third Duffy, In the Morning I’ll Be Gone, where he runs with the locked room trope for much of the story.)
In this one, Forsythe has survived his run-in with the Irish mob of book one (and is set up for a final confrontation in book three). In a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time accident, he comes to the attention of MI-5 who are looking for someone to plant in an American sleeper IRA cell intent on foiling the Irish peace process.
The particulars look a lot like the second Duffy. His handler is a woman he’s attracted to, and one of the targets is a beautiful young woman who wants to sleep with him. The hero as sex magnet should get old, but McKinty’s point in using it seems to be a reminder that he’s playing by familiar rules. We’ve seen this before, but he wants us to know we’ve seen it before. As he told us all about locked-room plots in the Duffy, here he tells us about other undercover cops and their challenges.
This one is a step down from the one before it, but I still recommend it – as I recommend all McKinty. For one, he keeps things moving. Even when I know what’s about to happen (it’s hard not to when you know there’s a third novel and when, if you’ve read the first, you know he survives long enough to survive an assassination attempt that takes place five years later) there’s a terrific narrative tension.
As a wannabe writer in the genre, I read McKinty in part for that particular skill. He’s simply good at it, and the more I see of it, the more I think I might be able to guess his skills.
For another, McKinty gets noir. He’s not Chandler, and he’s not Dennis Lehane. (To be fair, though, second rate McKinty is better than second rate Lehane.) But he does have a handle on how some people carry themselves when there no longer seems to be a universal moral code.
I got a nice deal on this entire trilogy, and I’ll be starting the last of the Forsythe’s right away. McKinty’s a pro, and I’ll be startled if he lets me down here.
The man can write, and I’m willing to read anything he puts out. He has a great feel for language, and he can explore noir seemingly in whatever direction he goes. I’ve now read the first and second of two of his series – this Michael Forsythe and, earlier his Sean Duffy – and the same thing happened in each. That is, once he established his character, he turned to plot tropes to continue the series. (That’s especially clear in the third Duffy, In the Morning I’ll Be Gone, where he runs with the locked room trope for much of the story.)
In this one, Forsythe has survived his run-in with the Irish mob of book one (and is set up for a final confrontation in book three). In a wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time accident, he comes to the attention of MI-5 who are looking for someone to plant in an American sleeper IRA cell intent on foiling the Irish peace process.
The particulars look a lot like the second Duffy. His handler is a woman he’s attracted to, and one of the targets is a beautiful young woman who wants to sleep with him. The hero as sex magnet should get old, but McKinty’s point in using it seems to be a reminder that he’s playing by familiar rules. We’ve seen this before, but he wants us to know we’ve seen it before. As he told us all about locked-room plots in the Duffy, here he tells us about other undercover cops and their challenges.
This one is a step down from the one before it, but I still recommend it – as I recommend all McKinty. For one, he keeps things moving. Even when I know what’s about to happen (it’s hard not to when you know there’s a third novel and when, if you’ve read the first, you know he survives long enough to survive an assassination attempt that takes place five years later) there’s a terrific narrative tension.
As a wannabe writer in the genre, I read McKinty in part for that particular skill. He’s simply good at it, and the more I see of it, the more I think I might be able to guess his skills.
For another, McKinty gets noir. He’s not Chandler, and he’s not Dennis Lehane. (To be fair, though, second rate McKinty is better than second rate Lehane.) But he does have a handle on how some people carry themselves when there no longer seems to be a universal moral code.
I got a nice deal on this entire trilogy, and I’ll be starting the last of the Forsythe’s right away. McKinty’s a pro, and I’ll be startled if he lets me down here.
September 29, 2014
Adrian Mc Kinty writes very good thrillers, though this character isn't my favorite of his, he promises a lot of action. This book is set in and around Boston - The North Shore. Despite the geographical, and cultural gaffs, I found this an enjoyable and entertaining listen. Michael Forsythe is working undercover for British Intelligence and the FBI trying to infiltrate a small American group that supports IRA splinter groups.
I was annoyed by some gaffs which revealed ignorance of the local culture - always a risk for anyone writing a book set in a specific place. Three come to mind - when in Revere, miles north of Boston, a reference is made to the Back Bay as if it's close by (it's not). One character talking about baseball probably makes the biggest gaffs from the perspective of a Red Sox fan. A true Red Sox fan would find it hard to talk about the team from NY, as anything but the MF Yankees (this book is set in the 90's not after the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004). I still often refer to them as "the team that shall not be named" (references to Harry Potter) or the team from NY. The third gaff was a language error. For some reason, when the characters are on their way to rob a bank they have to stop and buy ice cream cones. The one buying the ice cream insists they must have sprinkles on them. Pleezzzz - these are NEVER called sprinkles anywhere in eastern Massachusetts at least not in the 1990's. They are JIMMIES:
http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/v...
I am editing this to add in my research on the term, I discovered, they character gets chocolate 'sprinkles' which are jimmies, and was asked to get sprinkles which are multi-colored. This may have been the author's point though it'd help to include that if he's going to have the whole ice cream episode.
I was annoyed by some gaffs which revealed ignorance of the local culture - always a risk for anyone writing a book set in a specific place. Three come to mind - when in Revere, miles north of Boston, a reference is made to the Back Bay as if it's close by (it's not). One character talking about baseball probably makes the biggest gaffs from the perspective of a Red Sox fan. A true Red Sox fan would find it hard to talk about the team from NY, as anything but the MF Yankees (this book is set in the 90's not after the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004). I still often refer to them as "the team that shall not be named" (references to Harry Potter) or the team from NY. The third gaff was a language error. For some reason, when the characters are on their way to rob a bank they have to stop and buy ice cream cones. The one buying the ice cream insists they must have sprinkles on them. Pleezzzz - these are NEVER called sprinkles anywhere in eastern Massachusetts at least not in the 1990's. They are JIMMIES:
http://www.thedialectdictionary.com/v...
I am editing this to add in my research on the term, I discovered, they character gets chocolate 'sprinkles' which are jimmies, and was asked to get sprinkles which are multi-colored. This may have been the author's point though it'd help to include that if he's going to have the whole ice cream episode.
March 8, 2015
I've read all three of the Michael Forsythe books, and I think this the best one. Forsythe is a great character, funny, smart, surprisingly literate (on this front, he's nearly a prodigy), missing one foot (see the first book in the series), and a stone cold killer. Dead Yard starts a little slow, with a story line involving a rogue IRA group. Going into it I was only so-so on the set up, but then the characters got established and Murder began. It contains one of the best "mission of vengeance" end scenes I've read in all of fiction. Do not mess with this dude! As he tells a character earlier in the book (and he's not bragging), you probably need, as a start, some kryptonite to bring him down.
March 5, 2022
This is the second in the series by Adrian McKinty, and it is a true, high octane thriller, like Dead I Well May Be, which precedes it in the Dead Trilogy. I didn't get the galley, and have never been able to get one by this author, but he's good enough to send me rooting through the virtual stacks at Seattle Bibliocommons. Once more, it's Gerard Doyle that performs the audio version, and oh, he is excellent!
In the first of the series, Michael Forsyth, our protagonist, is set up to land in a Mexican prison forever, and he escapes because he is BAD. Here we find him in a witness protection program in the US, and his FBI handler comes a-calling. They need him to infiltrate an IRA support organization, terrorists all, named The Sons of Cuchulainn. Of course he doesn't want to, but they play their largest, ugliest card: he is still wanted in Mexico, and they'll extradite him if he doesn't take the job. And so he does.
This book is riveting. My spouse, who still works from home for a living, generally wants me to turn my audio book off or go to earbuds when he comes down to the kitchen for lunch, but he's decided he wants me to leave Adrian McKinty's books on. This is the only author to win this distinction in over four years.
My only word of caution is that unless you are an unusually phlegmatic, unexcitable type, don't read this book at bedtime. You may also not enjoy some passages while eating; it's violent as heck, though not gratuitously so.
I recommend it wholeheartedly, but I do recommend reading the trilogy in order, so don't start here.
In the first of the series, Michael Forsyth, our protagonist, is set up to land in a Mexican prison forever, and he escapes because he is BAD. Here we find him in a witness protection program in the US, and his FBI handler comes a-calling. They need him to infiltrate an IRA support organization, terrorists all, named The Sons of Cuchulainn. Of course he doesn't want to, but they play their largest, ugliest card: he is still wanted in Mexico, and they'll extradite him if he doesn't take the job. And so he does.
This book is riveting. My spouse, who still works from home for a living, generally wants me to turn my audio book off or go to earbuds when he comes down to the kitchen for lunch, but he's decided he wants me to leave Adrian McKinty's books on. This is the only author to win this distinction in over four years.
My only word of caution is that unless you are an unusually phlegmatic, unexcitable type, don't read this book at bedtime. You may also not enjoy some passages while eating; it's violent as heck, though not gratuitously so.
I recommend it wholeheartedly, but I do recommend reading the trilogy in order, so don't start here.
July 27, 2020
There is one more instalment in the series for me to go, but unlike with Sean Duffy series that I rushed through in one sitting, I need a break between the books here. I enjoyed the first book, but probably it was a mistake to dive into the second book immediately after I had finished the first one.
If you are bored with a police procedural but want to try Adrian McKinty - and I don't consider his last work, The Chain,as an exemplary example for his writing - you should read this series: you'll get deliciously sardonic humour that the author well known for, his lyrical reflections, a masterful first person POV and...a lot of actions that gave me personally a headache
The Dead Yard is a skilled created exaggeration of an action packed thriller. I won't comment the twists, I don't want to give anything away and spoil you numerous WTF - moments
I have to confess, I stayed awake the half of the night to finish this book, I just wanted to find out what would happen on the next page, and the page after, and after and after...but the whole story and the ending, in the best Tarantino manners, left me emotionally exhausted and gave me the worst headache since weeks. What I really need now - a quiet story with no actions at all.
July 25, 2019
Not as keen on the Michael Forsythe character co-opted by MI6 and the FBI into helping to take down a US IRA rogue splinter cell. I think Forsythe was a better, more original character when he was kind of random and shiftless, operating on instinct. Still, the writing is fine and the story is exciting until its slightly rushed conclusion.
August 5, 2017
The best part of Mckinty's books are:dialogue,history humour,tension,and philosophical speculation.There are elements of mythology,fantasy,and surprises at every turn.What am I going to do when I've finished all his books?Get cracking Adrian!
August 16, 2018
The blood and guts are a little too much for me at times but Adrian McKinty is a fantastic story teller. You cannot but help be engaged and sympathetic to the main character Michael Forsythe.
December 11, 2020
Adrian McKinty's 'The Dead Yard' begins with a bang as Northern Irishman Michael Forsythe, on the run from a prison break down Mexico way, finds himself in the middle of a soccer riot and ends up in a Spanish prison. He's approached by British Intelligence with an offer he can't refuse: to avoid extradition to Mexico, he will need to work with them and the FBI to infiltrate an IRA-lite cell in the Boston area. Note that this is in the days prior to the end of The Troubles. Before you know it, he's on his way to Massachusetts with a cockamamie plan to get himself embedded in the IRA splinter group. The plan works, he's soon inside, and the fun begins....
The group is a small, family-dominated operation that's attempting to endear itself to the main IRA group in the mother country by striking targets in America. Michael, undercover name Sean, is 'controlled' by a lovely English intelligence operator with a slight drinking problem. His 'in' with the group was through his connection to its leader's daughter, a beautiful teenager to whom he becomes quite close. Sean is tested early by the group's leaders and is deemed a terrorist-in-good-standing. However, their big project, breaking into a National Guard warehouse and stealing some C4, goes awry and all hell breaks loose. The conclusion is pretty much of an unbelievable mess.
I began reading this author with his Belfast trilogy, which was written a few years after 'The Dead Yard' and is far superior. By comparison, the writing and dialogue in The Dead Yard are both miles behind his later work. I also had problems with some of the basic assumptions introduced throughout the story, particularly the ease at which an outsider was accepted into a small, insular terrorist clique. There were a few more as well, but that was the one that forced me to question a lot of the subsequent action.
The Dead Yard is a decent crime novel, but McKinty's best work comes in his Belfast trilogy. I'd recommend starting there.
The group is a small, family-dominated operation that's attempting to endear itself to the main IRA group in the mother country by striking targets in America. Michael, undercover name Sean, is 'controlled' by a lovely English intelligence operator with a slight drinking problem. His 'in' with the group was through his connection to its leader's daughter, a beautiful teenager to whom he becomes quite close. Sean is tested early by the group's leaders and is deemed a terrorist-in-good-standing. However, their big project, breaking into a National Guard warehouse and stealing some C4, goes awry and all hell breaks loose. The conclusion is pretty much of an unbelievable mess.
I began reading this author with his Belfast trilogy, which was written a few years after 'The Dead Yard' and is far superior. By comparison, the writing and dialogue in The Dead Yard are both miles behind his later work. I also had problems with some of the basic assumptions introduced throughout the story, particularly the ease at which an outsider was accepted into a small, insular terrorist clique. There were a few more as well, but that was the one that forced me to question a lot of the subsequent action.
The Dead Yard is a decent crime novel, but McKinty's best work comes in his Belfast trilogy. I'd recommend starting there.
April 11, 2019
One of the Writer Unboxed regular contributors said Adrian McKinty was his favorite writer so I had to check him out. From time to time his exposition seemed over-written, and yet somehow it’s appropriate to his Irish character, Michael Forsythe. Throughout the book, without a hint of dialect, I heard the Irish brogue ring through based on word choice. It added a level of entertainment to the fast-paced and brutal story of a skilled mercenary-type hero who is assigned by British Intelligence to infiltrate an IRA cell in New York. Aside from the romances, which did not ring true to me, I found Forsythe to be a compelling character, with his mix of faults and skills. I want to read more books by this writer.
September 1, 2023
This is a pretty good book even for its faults. You can’t help but like the guy. There are very few slow spots with too much thinking/talking. A few problems bothered me more though. Why does he keep missing opportunities? He’s in a life or death situation and he still wants to, tries to have and has sex? He’s had two amputations to his lower leg, but he can still walk around on it without his prosthesis. Oh, there are lots of little things that bugged me. He’d say so and so was not as smart as he thinks he is, extremely smart, and very dangerous, and also that he was experienced, was doing things wrong, or unprofessionally… all in the same chapter. But on the whole, it was entertaining.
August 19, 2017
This was a highly entertaining thriller. I really enjoy Adrian McKinty's writing and I'm slowly eeeking out the books in this series (I think this was the second in a trilogy)
This is the first book of McKinty's that I've read rather than listened to and I was a bit worried because the audio guy is fantastic. All good... it worked just as well for me :-D
This is the first book of McKinty's that I've read rather than listened to and I was a bit worried because the audio guy is fantastic. All good... it worked just as well for me :-D
September 28, 2020
Adrian McKinty is a great crime writer. The Dead Yard is a poor entry from him. All the usual pyrotechnics are there but a bunch of haples terrorists having a histrionic nut case unleashed on them makes little sense and the whole thing tips over into unwitting satire.
December 18, 2021
Great narration. Hilarious smart-ass dialogue. I don't especially like gruesomely violent criminal protagonists, but for the genre this is very good.
February 6, 2023
Ready for the next one!
April 14, 2024
Really good series.
October 13, 2024
McKinty always a good easy read. Ending too far fetched for the rest of the book though
August 7, 2024
A book read by Gerard Doyle is a good book. If it’s written by Adrian McKinty, it’s thrilling to be sure, full of nasty criminals, and probably a little gruesome. Very entertaining.
I read this series out of order, something I don’t generally recommend.
I read this series out of order, something I don’t generally recommend.
November 5, 2019
Gorey but so compelling. McKinty's characters make you need to keep reading!
January 2, 2017
Once again we meet Michael living his life the best he can, what we also find out is it is 5 years after the last book and he is employed by the FBI.
He has an assignment to infiltrate a small IRA cell in the US and find out what they are planning. When he finally makes contact with them it turns out it is a very small cell with only 5 members (2 have recently run away or died) One member is the daughter of the leader a 19 y.o. but the most dangerous of the five is Touched, a vicious killer.
Michael does manage to attach himself to the gang starting off as a labourer and eventually earning the right to be a sort of intern, on probation, to prove himself.
Mr McKinty certainly know how to push the limit on pain and endurance and Michael witnesses the most horrific aftermath of one of Touched interrogation sessions.
It seems that he has managed to gain their confidence though all is not well and Michael soon ends up fighting for his life.
There is a very tender moment when he and Kit (the daughter)have a romantic interlude and Michael realises he is in love with her and tries to protect her to the very last.
Also have to mention the fantastic narration by Gerard Doyle, both his men and women have the perfect accents and tones. He also has a beautiful Irish lilt.
He has an assignment to infiltrate a small IRA cell in the US and find out what they are planning. When he finally makes contact with them it turns out it is a very small cell with only 5 members (2 have recently run away or died) One member is the daughter of the leader a 19 y.o. but the most dangerous of the five is Touched, a vicious killer.
Michael does manage to attach himself to the gang starting off as a labourer and eventually earning the right to be a sort of intern, on probation, to prove himself.
Mr McKinty certainly know how to push the limit on pain and endurance and Michael witnesses the most horrific aftermath of one of Touched interrogation sessions.
It seems that he has managed to gain their confidence though all is not well and Michael soon ends up fighting for his life.
There is a very tender moment when he and Kit (the daughter)have a romantic interlude and Michael realises he is in love with her and tries to protect her to the very last.
Also have to mention the fantastic narration by Gerard Doyle, both his men and women have the perfect accents and tones. He also has a beautiful Irish lilt.
January 12, 2016
I know. I'm a terrible person for rating such a great writer so low. Clearly this book was written before his incredible troubles trilogy. The troubles books are truly perfection. Back to this one. Since I do know what he can do, I wasn't capable of judging it without reference to that. I had two major objections. 1. He had a plot twist that I can only call a rookie mistake. It totally undermined my belief in the protagonist's abilities. 2. Several places in the book and especially at the end, I felt he seriously overwrote. To me that's trying for the dramatic and profound and missing it. I know he had conquered #2 by the troubles. I haven't caught him in a rookie mistake since this book. So the truth is, by any other author, this book would probably be 4 stars. Don't be afraid to read it or anything else by McKinty.
March 7, 2011
The second book in the Dead Trilogy sees Michael Forsythe faced with a tough decision; join a terror cell or return to the infamous Mexican prison that almost took his life. After having enjoyed 5 years peace thanks to Witness Protection, Forsythe is ready to enter a world of violence, torture, and terror plots. In 'The Dead Yard' we gain more of an appreciation of the complex character that is Michael Forsythe and an insight into the world of IRA terror plots and MI6. The torture scenes, while not overtly graphic did enough to make me squirm and flinch with each piece of freshly cut flesh. I was captivated from start to finish and particularly liked how McKinty added subtle linkages to the first book while maintaining a fully functional stand-alone. 4 stars.
January 26, 2016
Not up to the standard of The Cold, Cold Ground in my opinion. I prefer it when the hero's exploits don't stretch the bounds of belief and bleed into fantasy. Towards the end, Michael (Sean) was performing super-human feats that were just not consistent with somebody who had undergone the injuries he had allegedly sustained.
Just a comment on the audiobook versions of McKinty's books, read by Gerard Doyle, are definitely more enjoyable. Not only is he an excellent narrator, but the Irish accent adds an extra enjoyment for me.
Just a comment on the audiobook versions of McKinty's books, read by Gerard Doyle, are definitely more enjoyable. Not only is he an excellent narrator, but the Irish accent adds an extra enjoyment for me.
July 28, 2017
Giving it three stars on credit for McKinty's past work but it's all a bit ramshackle and patched together. Not sure the Forsyth books work as a series. The plot is very catch as catch can. It's hard to believe the English intelligence handler would be so slack. The bad guys are too buffoonish and I could have done without the romance with the daughter- bit too much. Leaner would have been better. Cut down on the mystical ruminations as well. Also, if you can just shoot the bad guy take a tip from these books and the Bond movies and do it: avoid clever plans.
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