Black Irish

David Lawrence shines in this intense thriller. When police detective Absalom "Abbie" Kearney returns to her hometown to care for her ailing father, she soon finds herself hunting for a gruesome serial killer while confronting secrets about her own dark past. Although the main character is female, Lawrence doesn't shy away from the smooth, deep tones of his voice, a practice that not only works but is refreshing. He keeps to a relatively steady pace throughout, even as the action picks up. It's another technique that works surprising well, serving to create more tension as this suspenseful mystery reaches its surprising ending. M.D. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

December 10, 2012
Talty’s first foray into crime fiction, a memorable story of betrayal and vengeance, centers on a working-class Irish enclave in contemporary Buffalo, N.Y. The macabre killing of gas-meter reader Jimmy Ryan brings Det. Absalom “Abbie” Kearney to South Buffalo (aka “the County,” as in the 27th county of Ireland), where “ancestry was everything.” As the adopted daughter of legendary cop John Kearney, Abbie is both an insider and an outsider. More gruesome, carefully staged deaths occur, pointing to members of the secretive, powerful Clan na Gael as targets. Hampered by community distrust, Abbie must dig deeply into long-buried secrets that could endanger her father’s life and reputation as well as her own life. Talty (Agent Garbo: The Brilliant, Eccentric Secret Agent Who Tricked Hitler and Saved D-Day) does a fine job portraying the cohesiveness of the Irish, their loyalty to one another, and their obsession with their history. Agent: Scott Waxman, Waxman Leavell Literary.