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The Ruin

By: Dervla McTiernan
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
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Publisher's Summary

The Top Ten fiction bestseller and critically acclaimed crime debut featuring everyone's favourite new detective, Cormac Reilly

'The Ruin is spectacularly good. So CONFIDENT ... excellently written and, at times, heartachingly sad' Marian Keyes

'Corruption, clandestine cover-ups and criminal conspiracy ... as moving as it is fast-paced' Val McDermid

'Dervla McTiernan's first novel outclasses some of the genre's stalwarts making her a crime writer to watch ... fans of Ian Rankin and Tana French will feel right at home' Bookseller + Publisher (4.5 stars) 

Galway 1993: Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children—15-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack—are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.

Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings—and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career—what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.

What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't—or won't.

©2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Australia pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Dervla McTiernan's first novel outclasses some of the genre's stalwarts making her a crime writer to watch...fans of Ian Rankin and Tana French will feel right at home." (Bookseller + Publisher)

"The Ruin is a terrific debut and a rare gem: a compelling crime thriller that delivers depth as well as twists." (Sara Foster, author of The Hidden Hours)

What listeners say about The Ruin

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    3,934
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Performance
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    40

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Bel
  • 30-08-2018

Dark & Twisted

It’s not a nice story but it is exceptionally well written. Trigger warnings for rape, domestic violence, child abuse, addiction, and suicide should be heeded, as they are central to the plot. It’s a brutal setup with characters that are roughened and compressed - creating a diamond - a story with edges that slice through you to the core values and fears deep inside you. I wasn’t sure at first if I’d stick it out - I didn’t love the surly, outcast detective but once I was drawn in it held me enthralled and on the edge of my seat till the last words.

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69 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Trigger warning please.

I am so sick of crime novels that use salacious details of child sexual abuse to divert us from a poorly written story. Lazy, lazy, lazy. This is not the only novel that does this - I'm going to start calling these writer out.
Audible, please consider placing a trigger warning!

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent distraction but not perfect in performance.

I take little issue with the story: the Aisling Arch could have concluded more concisely without feeling rushed, it occupies too much of the narrative, but other than that, a fulfilling story.

My biggest issue is McMahon’s horrendous attempt at an Australian Accent when voicing the Maud character. As a professional Voice Actress, she ought to be aware of the distinction in vowels as they are said in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
No Australian I know(being Australian myself) has ever pronounced “happened” as “hip pond” or “asked” as “ear’sk”.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worst Australian accent since Meryl Streep did Lindy Chamberlain

The story is engaging: fast paced, believable, well drawn characters. But oh dear. I cannot believe this was ever released to the Australian market with the dreadful mangling of Maud’s lines. A resounding yuk.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great story, shame about the accent

This is a gripping book, wonderfully read.

The fly in the ointment is a character with an Australian accent, which in this reading has us trampolining from New Zealand to South Africa in a sentence. Most of the time, however, we are marooned with the accent of a place that doesn’t exist.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous!

The Ruin has me engrossed from the get-go. Well researched and so well written.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Where’s the next one?

Fantastic first book. Lovely lilting Irish accent to go with a story I couldn’t put down.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Cil
  • 31-03-2018

Intriguing from beginning to end

Great narrator. Excellent story that sucks you in and keeps you guessing. Strong characters. Looking forward to more in this series.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great narrator and engrossing story

What did you like most about The Ruin?

It was easy to follow but still complex enough to keep things interesting. Loved it from start to finish!

What about Aoife McMahon’s performance did you like?

The narrator was fantastic, her performance was spot on.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Comedy!

This twisted tale has so many flaws it turns into a comedy of errors. So much of the plot rests on things that would not stand up in the real world. The Irish accent was fine. The Australian one was no good at all. I listened to it all on 1.25 just to crack through and get it over with.

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10 people found this helpful

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.