Black Irish: A Novel (Abbie Kearney Book 1)

Black Irish: A Novel (Abbie Kearney Book 1)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this explosive debut thriller by theÂ author of Empire of Blue Water, a brilliant homicide detective returns home, where she confronts a cityâ€™s dark demons and her own past while pursuing a brutal serial killer on a vengeful rampage.

Absalom â€œAbbieâ€ Kearney grew up an outsider in her own hometown. Even being the adopted daughter of a revered cop couldnâ€™t keep Abbieâ€™s troubled past from making her a misfit in the working-class Irish American enclave of South Buffalo. And now, despite a Harvard degree and a police detectiveâ€™s badge, she still struggles to earn the respect and trust of those sheâ€™s sworn to protect. But all that may change, once the killing starts.

When Jimmy Ryanâ€™s mangled corpse is found in a local church basement, this sadistic sacrilege sends a bone-deep chill through the winter-whipped city. It also seems to send a messageâ€”one that Abbie believes only the fiercely secretive citizens of the neighborhood known as â€œthe Countyâ€ understand. But in a town ruled by an old-world code of silence and secrecy, her search for answers is stonewalled at every turn, even by fellow cops. Only when Abbie finds a lead at the Gaelic Club, where war stories, gossip, and confidences flow as freely as the drink, do tongues begin to wagâ€”with desperate warnings and dire threats. And when the killerâ€™s mysterious calling card appears on her own doorstep, the hunt takes a shocking twist into her own familyâ€™s past. As the grisly murders and grim revelations multiply, Abbie wages a chilling battle of wits with a maniac who sees into her soul, and she swears to expose the Countyâ€™s hidden historyâ€”one bloody body at a time.

With Black Irish, Stephen Talty stakes a place beside Jo NesbÃ¸, John Sandford, and Tana French on the cutting edge of psychological crime thrillers.

Praise for Black Irish
Â
â€œAbbie Kearney is one of the most intriguing new suspense protagonists in memory, and Black Irish marks the captivating start of a brilliant thriller series.â€â€”Tess Gerritsen
Â
â€œLuxuriantly cinematic . . . a compulsively readable crime thriller . . . Move over V. I. Warshawski; Buffalo gets its own crime novel heroine.â€â€”The Buffalo News
Â
â€œA suspenseful debut novel with a circuitous plot . . . Black Irish is simply a riveting read.â€â€”Booklist (starred review)
Â
â€œTalty shows his chops when recounting [Buffaloâ€™s] Irish roots.â€â€”Kirkus Reviews
Â
â€œTalty does a fine job portraying the cohesiveness of the Irish, their loyalty to one another, and their obsession with their history. . . . A memorable story of betrayal and vengeance.â€â€”Publishers Weekly

From the Hardcover edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer Ballantine Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-02-26
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Ballantine Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-02-26
Format	Kindle eBook

Black Irish: A Novel (Abbie Kearney Book 1)

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