Fifty Grand

A Novel of Suspense

De: Adrian McKinty

Narrado por: Paula Christensen

An illegal immigrant is killed in a hit-and-run on a frozen mountain road in the town of Fairview, Colorado. No one is prosecuted for his death and his case is quietly forgotten. Six months later another illegal makes a treacherous run across the border, barely escaping with her life. She finds work as a maid and, secretly, begins to investigate the death of her father. But she isn't a maid, and she's not Mexican. She's Detective Mercado, a police officer from Havana, and she's looking for answers to her father's death. McKinty's live-wire prose is riveting, right up to a final, shocking conclusion.©2009 Barron's Educational Series, Inc. (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"This amazing novel....has riveting mystery, politics of just about every shade, and thrills on almost every page. . . .This is going to be the BIG BOOK of 2009." - (Ken Bruen, author of The Guards and Once Were Cops)

Haunting

This is a very good experience. Adrian McKinty leaps the gap between reality and narrative... Hmmmm... No... Perhaps he heals it. And Paula Christensen brings Mercado's voice to haunting life... Particularly her internal voice.

McKinty exploits suspense/mystery to examine an individual's options when culture, politics, and violence exert crushing pressure upon anyone, or anything that's impelled to act - individually. Sometimes McKinty's own drive to examine the trees though, distracts us from the forest. In this case Mercado's internal monologues occasionally pulled me out of the story arc and, well.... It's not good for the magician to remind the audience that his left hand's doing things when we want to be amazed by the right hand that's abruptly full of rabbit. Y'know?

Maybe this book needed just a hair more editing and compression: hence my overall 4 rather than 5 stars. But hey... I am judging McKinley by his own standards and consequently I found this story, overall, to be unnecessarily slower than each of the others I heard before it.

Regardless... "Fifty Grand" is marvelous. McKinty and Christensen are a powerful team of artists. Buy it, listen, and feeeel.

McKinty at his best

Be in no doubt, this writer has talent. Like his other books, 50G is beautifully written. There's mountains of wit, intelligence and world-weary knowledge in this book. The intricate and entralling plot builds to a crescendo which left me stunned. Easily the best book I've listened to this year.

Hard to start

I found this really hard to get into and let it simmer in my ITunes for several attempts after starting it. But, when I ran out of most new stuff to listen too I tried this again. The protagonista, Ms. Mercado, is not Ms. Salander or even Anna Pigeon, but it finally got going and the last half of the story turned out pretty good and worth the listen.

Fabulous Story

What made the experience of listening to Fifty Grand the most enjoyable?

I have read many Adrian McKinty books. This book is a great example of his wonderful story telling, but takes it to a new and more intimate level. The story grabs you from the start and you want to know what is going to happen.

What did you like best about this story?

The heroine is complicated and very likable. You root for her from the very beginning.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I found myself finding every moment to listen so I could find out what was going to happen!

Anxiously Awaited

(Review is by David's wife) I am a fan of the "Dead" trilogy and was happy to see this new book released w/o any delay on Audible.
I recommend this book, it's a great listen, the narrator is perfect for this book. This is not like the "Dead" trilogy, it's a different story told from a female POV and I thought it was spot on. The beginning starts with a great hook, I had to know how Mercado got to that point and enjoyed the flashbacks and background and waited for the story to unfold... as it always does in a McKinty novel. While I know little of Cuba and the conditions there, I feel the author did his research and the details certainly feel authentic, I was educated and entertained.
I certainly didn't feel this story was smut but is not a children's story, it's about tough situations and people, not good fairies.
I recommend this book (and McKinty's other books, as well) for well developed stories and characters that will remain with you long after you finish the book.

exceeded my expectations

Magical! Adrian McKinty is in a class all by himself. I applaud his originality and can't wait to read what comes next. This book is just as fantastic as the dead series.

another good read from McKinty

slow start - but very good overall. I liked the narrator unlike some of the other folks that rated the book.

Great story!

This is the first stand alone Adrian McKinty book that I have listened to. I have enjoyed the Michael Forsythe and Sean Duffy books so much I decided to give this one a try and I'm really glad I did. It's amazing to me that this author can write such vastly different stories with such mastery and knowledge.
If you have read his other books you know that his main characters are typically deeply flawed, but relatable, and Mercado is no exception. The character development is one of the things that appeals to me most about his books, and since this book is from the female point of view I enjoyed it even more.
The story is excellent, settings are described beautifully, and the pace is spot on. I couldn't stop listening.
The narration is absolutely stellar. I definitely recommend this book.

Terrific mystery and thriller; excellent narration

The story is relatively complex, with many different issues, but which eventually are all explained and resolved. One twist after another kept me guessing, and it was hard to guess the outcome even though, in retrospect, all the clues were there. The characters are mostly multidimensional, and the narrator does an excellent job over the wide range of personalities, accents, and dialects. Told from the first person point of view of a woman, the description sometimes becomes awkward. For example, while describing action in present tense, author resorts to devices such as "I didn't see him hiding in the trees." It was similar in the Dead trilogy, which I also enjoyed. This one didn't have the humor of those, so some may find it slow at times. The narrative contains lots of graphic violence and gore which some may find difficult to take, but which I found realistic. So many writers treat death and killing as if it we were watching a cartoon, but not McKinty. He is a gifted and imaginative writer, able to handle challenging material successfully. From this book, you would never know he's Irish.

Gritty, powerful and suspenseful

I listened and after that I got a print copy for my wife. Clearly if you are offended by violence and rough language this is not the book for you. But if you enjoy multi-cultural, multi-location stories with characters of questionable morals and limited scruples this may be a good choice.

The book begins with 2 flashbacks...no intros or explanations...of searingly violent content. This leaves the reader in a dark spot wondering how did these events happen and who are the characters. This is typical of McKinty's wonderful narrative style.

After finishing this book I went on to read a couple other McKinty titles. Both were fun, but this is still my favorite.