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Hang On St. Christopher
The Sean Duffy Series (Book 8)
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 4 March 2025
- Run Time
- 9 hours 56 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
What to expect
New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy series with Hang On St. Christopher.
Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to “Shortbread Land.” Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It’s an easy gig, if he can keep his head down.
But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protégé is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something’s not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hit man and why?
This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5, and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.
Critics Review
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“Duffy is never one to take the easy route…An outstanding new installment in the award-winning police procedural series featuring lone wolf Sean Duffy and set during the Troubles.”
Library Journal (starred review)
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“Enriched by McKinty’s brisk plotting, illuminating glimpses at a difficult period of Irish history, and poignant reflections on aging, this is a cracking good time.”
Publishers Weekly
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“McKinty is offering something special: a glorious reading experience. The novel is constant invention at a high level, in prose that blooms on the page. The staples of hard-boiled—chases, gunplay, capture, fist fights—are deployed in scenes that squirm with energy. And, yes, an abundance of dry humor.”
Booklist
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“[The Cold Cold Ground] is the best crime novel mystery that I’ve read in a long time…[McKinty is] a great writer.”
NPR, praise for the author
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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“McKinty’s Sean Duffy, policing the mean streets of 1985 Northern Ireland, tackles gun runners, arms dealers, MI5, and a mysterious double murder—or is it a triple?—in the fourth installment of this terrific series.”
The Boston Globe, praise for the series
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“McKinty continues to astound me…[His] novels are, in my mind, already elevated to canonical status…McKinty takes the time-tested conventions of the mystery genre and builds a narrative utterly unique and compelling over them…In short, McKinty has learned from the masters, and in my opinion, now is one.”
Mystery People, praise for the author
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“Mixes a mordant wit and casual, unpredictable violence that vividly portrays a turbulent time…McKinty is in full command of language, plot, and setting in a terrifying period of history that sometimes seems forgotten.”
Library Journal (starred review), praise for the series
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“Hang On St. Christopher is highly recommended for readers who enjoy complex police procedurals with a touch of historical accuracy and for fans of writers like Ian Rankin and William Shaw.”
Mystery & Suspense Magazine
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“Duffy is attentive to both the gritty appeal of the city [of Belfast] and green beauty of the countryside. He invokes Ireland’s ancient history as easily as recalling an anecdote…Hang On St. Christopher exceeds expectations in a full-throttle resolution…that is about more than just killing all the bad guys.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune
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“Golden Voice narrator Gerard Doyle once again brings the quirkiness and erudition of DI Sean Duffy to life…Doyle’s slyly humorous tone makes the story feel like a caper at times as he revels in Duffy’s unorthodox approach to his work, the Troubles, and justice, and makes the listener hope that the DI’s decision to pension off will be reversed.”
AudioFile
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“There are not many writers as skilled as Adrian McKinty when it comes to crime thrillers, and I believe he is at his absolute best in this series. The writing is so authentic and enticing that you cannot help but be drawn in by it. Hang On St. Christopher is a must-read, and I hope that it’s nominated for many awards in 2025.”
Bookreporter
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“While the [Sean Duffy] novels perfectly evoke the grim historical setting, and action and suspense abound, their true greatness lies in the wit, dark humor, and snap of the dialogue.”
The Washington Post Book World
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“This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet.”
Bookish Live Journal
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
So enjoyable. Better than the previous book in this series. All of them are great especially if you know the area in which they are set, as I do. Couldn't put this one down. Gripping and full of jeopardy.
Beaniebag 2026-07-31
Details
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Duration
- 9 hours 56 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 March 2025
- ISBN
- 9781504780872
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Thriller / suspense fiction
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy series with Hang On St. Christopher.Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to “Shortbread Land.” Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It’s an easy gig, if he can keep his head down.But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protégé is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something’s not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hit man and why?This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5, and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.
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