The Heretic Audiobook By Liam McIlvanney cover art

The Heretic

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The Heretic

By: Liam McIlvanney
Narrated by: Angus King
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Set in 1976, seven years after the murders recounted in Liam McIlvanney's breakout novel, The Quaker, this new Glasgow noir novel is a stand-alone mystery featuring serial character Detective Duncan McCormack.

McCormack has returned to Glasgow after a stint with the Metropolitan Police in London. The reason for his return is left a lurking mystery throughout. He is investigating a series of murders that seem at first to be the result of random bouts of violence among Glasgow's poor and destitute. McCormack, however, has insight into Glasgow's underground that many of his colleagues don't. He has a secret of his own that he guards carefully but that takes him places and introduces him to people that prove essential to his investigations.

McIlvanney's The Quaker was named the Scottish Crime Fiction Book of the Year and a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. The Guardian called it "a solidly crafted and satisfying detective story". McIlvanney is known for his well-crafted plots, his deep characterization, and his stylish prose. The Heretic is no exception.

©2022 Liam McIlvanney (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Historical Mystery Crime Fiction Suspense
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Love McIlvanney’s scene descriptions, making this series stand out from other excellent crime dramas. I also love how DI McCormack’s character is evolving. Hope to see book 3 soon.

Writing so eloquent it’s nearly prose

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nice connection to the first book and of course Angus King narrating is always the best thing any audiobook could do.

enjoyed

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Great police procedural with a few twists. Quite satisfying to listen to as the narrator is very talented. Can't wait for the next in the series!!

Soo good.

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I loved this! What I like about long books (this audiobook is almost 16 hours) is that a good author puts the readers in their world for a good length of time. And Liam McIlvanney is a great author. We weaves the individual threads of this book in a masterful way. We learn more about Duncan McCormack (from THE QUAKER) who has come back to Glasgow from his exile(?) at the Met. There is blowback from his actions in that earlier book.

I can’t say enough about Angus King’s narration. I could listen to him all day. Oh yeah, I have!

I hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next book. There is a next book, isn’t there?

Well worth waiting for.

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My library says I read The Quaker but, if I did, I’m reading it again. This series really engaged me. Seeing how far apart these books are, I fear it will be some time to wait for the third installment. If that’s what it takes to be this good, it will be worth the wait.

Excellent writing with the ideal Scottish narrator

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This is a tough one for me to rate. It is a fine
mystery- convoluted, not easy to unwind- it's
nice when the author has all the work to
do :-) The narrator does a great job, I
enjoyed listening to him.

4

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Uninspired and disappointingly circuitous storytelling tinged with a subtext. The first book in this series was exhilarating and I greatly anticipated this installment expecting more of the same intellectually stimulating complexity.
Alas. Not what I got.
Angus being the only redeeming aspect of this Throwing Money Out The Window exercise. Although I’d listen to him read the ingredients of a tin of biscuits.
My recommendation is : Hard Pass

😢 Waaaa.

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