The Good Turn (Cormac Reilly, #3) by Dervla McTiernan

The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I do not want this series to end!!! I love Cormac Reilly and Peter Fisher! I hope Dervla McTiernan continues with the Cormac or makes a Peter and Carrie spin off. The police corruption in this book really kept me turning the pages, the murders/deaths of seniors, the drug busts and the horror that resulted was documented perfectly by McTiernan, the suspense was relentless and I could not stop listening to this audiobook awesomely narrated by Aoife McMahon.

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The Ruin (Cormac Reilly, #1) by Dervla McTiernan

The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG I loved listening to this audiobook from Audible, awesomely narrated by: Aoife McMahon I loved the pacing, the plot, the characters, and narration of this Cormac Reilly detective novel. Taking place in Ireland, as a young detective Cormac was the arriving officer at a decrepit, difficult to find home. He was met at the door by a young girl, there was no heat, no electric and a young boy reading. The young girl, Maude, takes him upstairs where he is astounded to find their mother, dead and she has been there for some time. Even though her death is eerie, it is the 2 children who have definitely been abused that haunt Cormac. Twenty years later, the little boy (Jack) has been found in the woods, while it is ruled suicide, his girlfriend and also his sister, Maude, do not believe Jack killed himself. I could not stop listening to this taut investigative mystery, with Cormac battling his boss in his new job (he took it because his girlfriend takes a job). I can't wait to read the 2nd book in the series, The Scholar!

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The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow did I learn SO SO much from this gripping historical fiction taking place in Ireland starring Cyril Avery (who is not a real Avery) who as a 3 day old infant is adopted by Maude and Charles Avery who never should have adopted him! John Boyne's characters are all memorable, some you love and others you detest. Cyril's life is wide open for all of us to see---he has a head on his shoulders, he is gay and in love with his best friend, Julian (since the age of 7 and Julian hasn't a clue) and he lives in homophobic Ireland from the 1940s to present day. Boyne's story is very memorable, I could not stop listening, the narrator was fabulous and his voices, whether male or female, were just so spot on. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted so much for Cyril, I rooted for his happiness and that he would meet his mom. The way Boyne structured conversations with the same things being said over and over again was such a great way to get a point across, emphasize nonsense and to tell this story of being gay in a backward country through so many lenses. A must read for all!

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The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely Narrated by: Emma Lowe; this audiobook was very interesting due to its similarities to the covid epidemic going on now. Taking place in 1918 in a suffocating small room of a hospital in Dublin, Ireland, Nurse Julia Power is dealing with WWI and the flu or grippe as it is known in Ireland. Assigned to labor and delivery, this room becomes at risk labor and delivery because the women have the flu in varying stages. I loved Lowe's voice as the rules bound but empathetic Julia as she journeys through three days in the room with the help of a volunteer Bridie Sweeney and a Dr. Linn, embattled by her past as a rebel. What transpires is three women who change each other in so many ways as they try to save lives and deliver babies as nuns judge and ridicule their patients, as Julia learns slowly about Bridie's awful life with the nuns as an orphan, and the constant spectre of Julia's brother traumatized so much by the war, he is mute. I loved this devastating book, Donoghue was excellent in her characterization, plot, and setting---all were pitch perfect! A must read/listen, readers will be filled with horror, hope and despair as three women's lives intersect during a pandemic that parallels our current Covid fears and frustrations.

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