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QuicK Investigations #4
Undertow
A missing boyfriend … a heavily pregnant girlfriend … just another ordinary case for QuicK Investigations. But the trail they follow suggests something far from ordinary.
Who is Orie Kavlar and why has he gone to ground? What is the connection to the body of a dead girl found on waste ground in Sandyford? And what is his relationship to Darren Wallace, ex-gangland criminal?
With their personal relationship at a new all-time low, Sarah and John are straining under the weight of their own problems: like the murder of Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Vic. Vic was a dangerous psychotic, but murder is murder. So why won’t she accept John’s help?
In no time John and Sarah’s investigations alert others to their search and as they dig deeper into Orie Kavlar’s life, one man decides he has too much to lose to allow them to continue.
Sarah and John are about to be caught up in an undertow of violence that will suck them into their most perilous case yet.
Who is Orie Kavlar and why has he gone to ground? What is the connection to the body of a dead girl found on waste ground in Sandyford? And what is his relationship to Darren Wallace, ex-gangland criminal?
With their personal relationship at a new all-time low, Sarah and John are straining under the weight of their own problems: like the murder of Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Vic. Vic was a dangerous psychotic, but murder is murder. So why won’t she accept John’s help?
In no time John and Sarah’s investigations alert others to their search and as they dig deeper into Orie Kavlar’s life, one man decides he has too much to lose to allow them to continue.
Sarah and John are about to be caught up in an undertow of violence that will suck them into their most perilous case yet.
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2004
3 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 22, 2024
This is a very good read. I liked the fact that it is set in Dublin so I knew most of the places. It is a tough read at times but I liked the central characters John and Sarah. The plot was good with the story unwinding in a predictable but interesting way. I will read more by this author.
December 20, 2009
Undertow is the fourth Quigley/Kenny mystery, and its references to the sea follow with the certainty of waves. Misdeeds in the painful past- presumably in the previous installment, Missing Presumed Dead- take hold of Sarah Kenny, of reformed burglar Darren Wallace, of pregnant teenager Stacy Power- and drag them back into treacherous deep water.
Stacy Power visits QuicK's offices (in the same run-down Georgian house as a pirate radio station and a hospitalized lawyer) because her Slovak boyfriend, Orie Kavlar, has gone missing. It's only a few weeks until the baby arrives, and Orie would not have left her side unless something terrible had happened to him. In hopes that all will soon be sunny days again, she hands over the pension money her grandma had provided for a pram. As readers already know from the novel's gripping opening scenes, her Orie is not a friendly dolphin but a shark.
When not lying to Stacy about his nation of origin, Orie Kavlar serves as muscle for local gangster Anthony "Mink" Dunlop's human trafficking operation. Undertow, like Bleed a River Deep, explores the hidden laborers beneath Celtic Tiger Ireland's recently-popped prosperity. Without a passport or a friend, those who have been smuggled across the water in the backs of furniture vans find themselves shipwrecked on this island of Ireland- stranded, helpless, and watched over by strange native predators.
Sarah Kenny has troubles of her own. She lives in daily dread of a body washing ashore. John Quigley harbors tender feelings for Sarah, but cannot help but notice how hot a young redhead, Caoimhe Wallace, would look in a bikini. Other characters and crimes bob around like bathtoys in a drain's whirlpool. Steadily the current picks up speed and they all start to collide and spin in the race toward blackness.
Full review on criticalmick.com
Stacy Power visits QuicK's offices (in the same run-down Georgian house as a pirate radio station and a hospitalized lawyer) because her Slovak boyfriend, Orie Kavlar, has gone missing. It's only a few weeks until the baby arrives, and Orie would not have left her side unless something terrible had happened to him. In hopes that all will soon be sunny days again, she hands over the pension money her grandma had provided for a pram. As readers already know from the novel's gripping opening scenes, her Orie is not a friendly dolphin but a shark.
When not lying to Stacy about his nation of origin, Orie Kavlar serves as muscle for local gangster Anthony "Mink" Dunlop's human trafficking operation. Undertow, like Bleed a River Deep, explores the hidden laborers beneath Celtic Tiger Ireland's recently-popped prosperity. Without a passport or a friend, those who have been smuggled across the water in the backs of furniture vans find themselves shipwrecked on this island of Ireland- stranded, helpless, and watched over by strange native predators.
Sarah Kenny has troubles of her own. She lives in daily dread of a body washing ashore. John Quigley harbors tender feelings for Sarah, but cannot help but notice how hot a young redhead, Caoimhe Wallace, would look in a bikini. Other characters and crimes bob around like bathtoys in a drain's whirlpool. Steadily the current picks up speed and they all start to collide and spin in the race toward blackness.
Full review on criticalmick.com
September 13, 2011
I really am beginning to think of Arlene Hunt as one of my favourite authors and this instalment in the QuicK Investigations Series didn't change my opinion one little bit. It was another great crime story with a very original plotline and the same interesting characters. This book centers around trafficking of women into Ireland and two young men who get caught up in the whole world and have to pay the price.
I really love the way Hunt narrates her books, one minute from Sarah or Johns point of view and the next from the thug, bad guy and the next from the poor pregnant victim and so on. It really gives you a better insight into the whole plot as you're not just seeing it from one or two points of view but up to ten or twelve! And as it seems is the norm for Hunt her extra non-important characters becoming so interesting you feel you will actually miss them in the next book.
Another great novel by a really brilliant Irish author. I would recommend her books to anyone who enjoys the crime or thriller genre.
I really love the way Hunt narrates her books, one minute from Sarah or Johns point of view and the next from the thug, bad guy and the next from the poor pregnant victim and so on. It really gives you a better insight into the whole plot as you're not just seeing it from one or two points of view but up to ten or twelve! And as it seems is the norm for Hunt her extra non-important characters becoming so interesting you feel you will actually miss them in the next book.
Another great novel by a really brilliant Irish author. I would recommend her books to anyone who enjoys the crime or thriller genre.
August 12, 2009
Hunt's narrative is sharp and well paced. The story in a nut shell is a heavily pregnant young Irish girl hires two Dublin based PIs to find her less than reliable boyfriend, who appears to have dropped off the face of the earth. Its a whodunit set against the back drop of Dublin city's seedy underbelly. I enjoyed it immensely!
Part of a series around the 2 PIs who make up Quick Investigations, their personal stories run parallel but you don't need to have read the others to read this, although they are equally as much fun.
Part of a series around the 2 PIs who make up Quick Investigations, their personal stories run parallel but you don't need to have read the others to read this, although they are equally as much fun.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews