Another excellent Northern Ireland-set thriller from Stuart Neville, 'The Final Silence' is right up there with his debut 'The Twelve' ('Ghosts of Belfast'). For me, Neville's last novel to feature Belfast policeman Jack Lennon, 'Stolen Souls' was disappointing after the very high standards set by 'The Twelve' and its follow up 'Collusion'. After a break in the series with the 1960s set, and very good, 'Ratlines', the news that Neville's next novel was a return to Lennon's somewhat shady cop didn't particularly excite me but i really enjoyed this.

The story rattles along. Lennon, on suspension from the PSNI, is approached by an ex-girlfriend who believes she has found evidence that her recently deceased uncle was a serial killer and off we go. The material could have been cliched in other hands but Neville's writing is pacy and keeps you turning the page. 'The Final Silence' is not ground-breaking but it is a cracking read right up there with the best UK crime. And Stuart Neville continues to find ways to tell Ulster-set stories without resorting to conflicted terrorists and super-smart agents. Highly recommended.

Stuart Neville is something of a marvel when it comes to writing thrillers. He still focuses on an antihero (What good fictional detective isn't a bit fucked up?), but all of the characters are fleshed out wonderfully without focusing on cliches. Everyone has heart and heartbreak, and I am so, so grateful that this man writes women as more than accessories. I devoured this book in two days. Well done.

Really like the series. I’m awfully tired of Dan Hewitt. He needs to get his due.

Stuart Neville can write, plain and simple. His characters breathe real life, and he walks us through the grit and despair of crime in a city complicated by religious divisions, cultural restraints and political ambitions. Jack Lennon is a mess, and he knows it, driven by past miscalculations, lost love and the desire to rehabilitate his reputation and integrity. Neville has an eye for detail that drops the reader squarely into every scene. That he's a master of plot and suspense only means the reader is tearing at the pages to get to the end, and regretting the end when one gets there.

While this series overall is great, this was not quite up to par. The plot had a couple of my least favorite elements and the main character was even harder to like than usual. However, in the end, everything seemed to come together and the audio narration by Gerard Doyle was excellent as usual.

The set-up was solid, but I just wasn't connecting with the writing style. The characters, their paths, and the mystery were shaping up well, too. Definitely a case of personal preference rather than a judgment of the novel.

Really not what I expected at all. Starts off strong, serial killer surprise, and a used-up cop who seems unrelated to the crime. Then all these women get involved, children disappear, Irish gangsters start rumpassing, and despite the disappointing villain and the slap-in-the-face ending, I quite liked it.

This was an interesting murder mystery with lots of plot turns and interesting twists I was never expecting. After finishing this book I want to read more stories with Jack Lennon and see him solve more murder cases. Nevillle does a great job with this book and I can see why this book is a national best seller. I definitely recommend this book.

Neville is brisk, tough and always surprising -- you think you know what will happen about 25 percent in, then you revise and revise -- and are still surprised by a twist in an always thrilling conclusion. Neville isn't the most "writer'y" writer, but that's fine for his books. I'd describe him as more muscular, with a fine sense of the inner lives of his characters, much more interesting than the mystery itself. As someone who's come to know Belfast a little over the years, I love the way he introduces us to the fascinating, contradictory, troubled city -- spit-polished now, but still fractured and complex just a millimeter beneath. DCI Lennon's a great character -- but so is a new one (for Neville), DCI Serena Flanagan, so human and also a strong, smart woman. No spoiler here, but when she gives another officer his come-uppance (this involves a secret file from a previous mystery, a slammed drawer and a very bloody hand), I wanted to jump up and shout, "Shove it again!" A wonderful stay-up-late read.