Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.

Title: The Rage

Author: Gene Kerrigan

Narrator: John Cormack

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-04-13

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Mysteries & Thrillers, Suspense

Publisher's Summary:

Vincent Naylor is a professional thief; just 10 days out of jail and he's preparing his next robbery. But his plan is already unraveling. Maura Coady, a retired nun, calls Detective Sergeant Bob Tidey believing there's something suspicious happening in her Dublin backstreet.

Maura's call inadvertently unleashes a storm of violence that will engulf Naylor and force Tidey to make a deadly choice.

Members Reviews:

Dirty Old Town

I loved Kerrigan's two previous crime books (Little Criminals, The Midnight Choir), so I picked this up with great anticipation. Set amidst the aftermath of Ireland's real estate bust, the story follows two main storylines. One protagonist is Vincent Taylor, just out of jail for having beaten someone on the street over some childish name calling. Determined to never again take any stupid risks with the law without adequate reward, he's busy planning an intricate armored car heist. Meanwhile, on the other side of the law is D.S. Tidey, who's been assigned to assist with investigating the murder of a wealthy Dublin property developer. As one would expect, the course of the book leads the to the paths of the two protagonists crossing (if not quite literally) via a retired nun. The story flits back and forth between the two men in a way that maintains a brisk pace, but at the expense of a little choppiness. The chapters are only 5-6 pages long, so no sooner have you settled in with one situation than you are teleported to a another.

My favorite part of the book was the heist plotline, which is packed with fascinating details (like GPS chips in shirt-collars). However, after it goes somewhat south, it all gets a bit messy in a somewhat predictable way. Similarly, the investigation into the murdered property developer leads to some very connected people who have the power to shut the investigation down once a semi-plausible culprit has been identified. D.S. Tidey faces the classic dilemma of disobeying his orders or walking away to fight crime another day. The social justice aspect of the book (crooked developers, and even the nun has a dark backstory) probably strays a touch over the line into being heavy-handed, but it's a well-crafted and well-told book stocked with fully-realized characters. Definitely worth reading if you like crime with a procedural bent, or have a particular interest in Ireland.

Takes awhile to get going

But once all the pieces are in place, almost impossible to put down. As the title says, The Rage is very noir. No one, from the cops to the nuns to the murderers, is altogether a good person or a bad one: just human, trying to assemble the pieces of the picture in a way that illustrates their own worldview. Once the puzzle is finished, it will keep you thinking about which pieces fit your own, a good takeaway from any book.

The Rage

I have too long limited myself to women mystery writers and to writers of the United States. I tried several suggestions from NPR but am drawn to the complexity that is Ireland and the life of the Irish especially in dealing with all the complexities of pro-Irish and pro-English. This is not a plot driven, dialogue driven story. I need something this complex to help me build my own skills.

Appealing lead character, engrossing plot

What drew me to this book initially was the Dublin setting. We'd just been there, and I enjoy fiction set in places I know first-hand.