The Midnight Choir

by Gene Kerrigan (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.28

  Sometimes, getting away with it is all that matters. Dixie Peyton, widow of a petty criminal, is struggling to regain custody of her son. In desperation she seeks the help of controversial detective Harry Synnott, a man obsessed by his own interpretation of justice. But Synnott has other priorities. As he finds himself getting deeper into trouble, Dixie risks becoming a sacrifice on the altar of Synnott's career. Meanwhile the police have arrested a blood-stained man. They seem to have chanced upon a murderer - now they need to find out who he killed. Ruthless gangland leader Lar Mackendrick is hunting an informer. And armed thief Joshua Boyce is about to rob a jeweller's shop. For all of them, as the pressure mounts and the choices become stark, getting away with it is all that matters.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $3.28

  Tense and expertly plotted, The Midnight Choir is a stunning portrayal of life on the edge of society. Joshua Boyce watches a jewelers from a rented flat across the road, noting the comings and goings as he plans a job; Dixie Peyton, desperate for cash, attempts to mug an American tourist, threatening him with a syringe purporting to contain HIV-infected blood; Detective Inspector Synott calls on an alleged rape suspect, already convinced of the boy's guilt; gangland leader Lar MacKendrick is working out, getting back in shape after brother Jo-Jo was viciously murdered. Meanwhile in Galway, Garda Joe Mills apprehends a jumper from a pub roof and discovers that the man is covered in dried blood. In Little Criminals , Kerrigan gave a small insight into a previously unseen underworld. In The Midnight Choir , that world explodes. We enter a gritty landscape of characters with questionable and contrary ideals; all struggling to survive in a time and place that's constantly knocking them back. Everyone has an axe to grind; criminals and police alike live by their own code, with both sides resorting to desperate measures as a means to an end. Law enforcement is often murky, and getting away with it is everything, no matter which side you're on. The Midnight Choir is a magnificent accomplishment, a powerful and intricate novel, driven to the last page at a tremendous pace by an original voice.