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j_h_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Everyone is out to kill Michael. Is there anyone he can trust? It appears not, going back to Ireland was a bad idea. But he cannot resist the siren call of Bridget. Bridget is desperate to get her daughter back from kidnappers and calls an uneasy ceasefire on Michael as he tries to navigate the changed scenery of an Ireland he no longer knows - and the changing paybacks and loyalties to past relationships. This book reads at a rapid pace, and all the action happens in just 24 hours.
emckeon1002's review against another edition
4.0
Read it in two bleary-eyed nights. Okay, Forsythe is a poor-man's James Bond, but the plotting is death-defying making me read, a typical plodding reader, as if I spent some time in the advanced class of the speed-reading course.
I'm glad I have a few more McKinty's to read, but I'm still immersed in Irish crime with Gene Kerrigan.
I'm glad I have a few more McKinty's to read, but I'm still immersed in Irish crime with Gene Kerrigan.
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
4.0
THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD is the third book in the Michael Forsythe "Dead" Trilogy - [b:DEAD I WELL MAY BE|21282|Dead I Well May Be A Novel|Adrian McKinty|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167321280s/21282.jpg|22463] and THE DEAD YARD are the earlier books. There's an awful lot to really like in THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD.
Firstly, it is the third book in a trilogy but I've been very remiss and haven't yet read the first two (which failing I vow to rectify). Didn't matter. You can follow the story, you can glean the back story of Michael and how he got himself into the mess that he's trying to resolve in THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD. And it is a big mess. Michael Forsythe has been in a Witness Protection Program - hidden in Lima, Peru trying to stay off arch-enemy Bridget Callaghan's radar. He had killed her fiancée Darkey years before, and after taking over Darkey's criminal empire, Bridget vowed revenge. She'd had quite a few attempts, but as one assassin puts it - Michael's 'un-fucking-killable'. But hostilities are temporarily shelved when two assassins in Michael's bedroom "suggest" a chat on the phone with Bridget is in order. Michael's somewhat confused to find she's not wanting to gloat over his final hour - instead she's asking for his help. Bridget's daughter has been kidnapped - and Michael has a deal on his hands. Get back to Belfast and find Siobhan in 24 hours - much will be forgiven.
Secondly, it is written in a wonderful voice. Whilst the book is dark and the violence is overt and extreme, it's balanced with a lovely touch of gallows humour. Not put on, the tone of the book fits with the world that the story inhabits. There are little observations of how much Ireland has changed since Michael had to run - small glimpses into Michael's mind and out through Michael's eye. The style of writing is compelling - lyrical - quintessentially Irish, at least to this reader. The story rips along at a rapid pace, but all the time you're allowed to feel you know Michael, you can understand him. He's a blunt, brutal man on one level - prepared, willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive, but on another level, he's a bit of softie. He's got a history with Bridget and for what it's worth - that means a lot to him.
Finally, it's just a darn good story. Perhaps this is where reading the first two books might, just might, give the reader the edge. There's obviously some threads being tied off in THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD. Knowing the full extent of the back story may just heighten the sense of finality - it certainly didn't make this book any less enjoyable. Really the only thing that wasn't enjoyable about THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD is that it looks like this is meant to be a trilogy and it's now over. And that's just flat out disappointing.
Firstly, it is the third book in a trilogy but I've been very remiss and haven't yet read the first two (which failing I vow to rectify). Didn't matter. You can follow the story, you can glean the back story of Michael and how he got himself into the mess that he's trying to resolve in THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD. And it is a big mess. Michael Forsythe has been in a Witness Protection Program - hidden in Lima, Peru trying to stay off arch-enemy Bridget Callaghan's radar. He had killed her fiancée Darkey years before, and after taking over Darkey's criminal empire, Bridget vowed revenge. She'd had quite a few attempts, but as one assassin puts it - Michael's 'un-fucking-killable'. But hostilities are temporarily shelved when two assassins in Michael's bedroom "suggest" a chat on the phone with Bridget is in order. Michael's somewhat confused to find she's not wanting to gloat over his final hour - instead she's asking for his help. Bridget's daughter has been kidnapped - and Michael has a deal on his hands. Get back to Belfast and find Siobhan in 24 hours - much will be forgiven.
Secondly, it is written in a wonderful voice. Whilst the book is dark and the violence is overt and extreme, it's balanced with a lovely touch of gallows humour. Not put on, the tone of the book fits with the world that the story inhabits. There are little observations of how much Ireland has changed since Michael had to run - small glimpses into Michael's mind and out through Michael's eye. The style of writing is compelling - lyrical - quintessentially Irish, at least to this reader. The story rips along at a rapid pace, but all the time you're allowed to feel you know Michael, you can understand him. He's a blunt, brutal man on one level - prepared, willing and able to do whatever it takes to stay alive, but on another level, he's a bit of softie. He's got a history with Bridget and for what it's worth - that means a lot to him.
Finally, it's just a darn good story. Perhaps this is where reading the first two books might, just might, give the reader the edge. There's obviously some threads being tied off in THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD. Knowing the full extent of the back story may just heighten the sense of finality - it certainly didn't make this book any less enjoyable. Really the only thing that wasn't enjoyable about THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD is that it looks like this is meant to be a trilogy and it's now over. And that's just flat out disappointing.
sandin954's review against another edition
5.0
The final book in the Michael Forsythe trilogy and just as good as the previous two. Totally engrossing from the first with excellent action/violence and a well described Belfast setting. Listened to the audio version narrated by Gerard Doyle who really brings Michael to life.
bgg616's review against another edition
4.0
Love this guy Michael Forsyth. These books would make great action films. Too bad Liam Neeson is too old for the role. Cliffhanger to the end and Michael is a one-man tour de force who gets out of impossible situation after impossible situation. The Belfast setting is a big plus, and at the end you wonder what's next. Want to see if there has been a follow up to this because I have to know....
dustin_o's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
jlmb's review against another edition
3.0
This would be great to read on a long journey, it's quite the page turner. You need to really amp up your willing suspension of disbelief, though. Michael, the protagonist of the trilogy, is at this point like a superhero or Wile E. Coyote, no matter what he keeps going. The majority of the book takes place on one very long day in Ireland. A day where Michael does not need to really eat or drink, other than a bit of tea at a whorehouse, some slugs of booze & a handful of morphine pills taken from the pocket of an elderly terrorist commander he has kidnapped. The morphine pills come in handy because over the course of that day he is in a serious carwreck - it flips and rolls, killing the majority of the car occupants(convenient!) - his stomach is gashed open by a knife(never fear, he sews up the wound while he's drinking tea at that whorehouse), he is beaten with a baseball bat, possibly breaking several ribs, is kicked repeatedly in the chest, he is hit with shrapnel from a rocket launcher, he possibly detaches a retina during the carwreck (he mentions once that is eye is messed up but then never mentions it again) and of course he is constantly running - literally running throughout the city - either being chased or chasing someone. Whew! Oh, and he kills a bunch of people too. It's an exhausting day.
oakleighirish's review against another edition
3.0
Another enjoyable yarn in the action packed Michael Forsythe series. The whole story takes place with the span of a day - Bloomsday - and doesn't let up from beginning to end. Whatever The Bloomsday Dead lacks in subtlety and character development, it makes up for by delivering a wild, delirious ride.....
cdcsmith's review against another edition
5.0
I "read" the first 2 books in the trilogy as audio books. The way the 2nd book left off, I needed to know how the trilogy ends. I read faster than I can listen to audio books (little ears should NOT listen to this series - even in passing). I started the book this morning at the gym, stared at it at work, read a little more at lunch, couldn't pick it up again until after supper. I could not have wished for a more fitting end. There were some things I guessed right, there were somethings I did by default just because I ran out of other possibilities, but the characters were true to the end and I'm as happy as I could expect to be. Might not be a full on 5 stars, but it was a solid finish to the trilogy and better than 4 stars.
Now about the writing. What I love about McKinty's writing is how he manages to work in such beautifully written prose surrounded by all the blood and voiolence. Love it.
Now about the writing. What I love about McKinty's writing is how he manages to work in such beautifully written prose surrounded by all the blood and voiolence. Love it.