Dead I Well May Be
“I didn't want to go to America, I didn’t want to work for Darkey White. I had my reasons. But I went.”
So admits Michael Forsythe, an illegal immigrant escaping the Troubles in Belfast. But young Michael is strong and fearless and clever—just the fellow to be tapped by Darkey, a crime boss, to join a gang of Irish thugs struggling against the rising Dominican powers in Harlem and the Bronx. The time is pre-Giuliani New York, when crack rules the city, squatters live furtively in ruined buildings, and hundreds are murdered each month. Michael and his lads tumble through the streets, shaking down victims, drinking hard, and fighting for turf, block by bloody block.
Dodgy and observant, not to mention handy with a pistol, Michael is soon anointed by Darkey as his rising star. Meanwhile Michael has very inadvisably seduced Darkey's girl, Bridget—saucy, fickle, and irresistible. Michael worries that he's being followed, that his affair with Bridget will be revealed. He's right to be anxious; when Darkey discovers the affair, he plans a very hard fall for young Michael, a gambit devilish in its guile, murderous in its intent.
But Darkey fails to account for Michael's toughness and ingenuity or the possibility that he might wreak terrible vengeance upon those who would betray him.
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Adrian McKinty
Adrian McKinty writes crime fiction where the ordinary collides with the unforgiving, and the tension never lets go. Born in Belfast in 1968, he grew up amid the Troubles, a backdrop of political unrest and divided loyalties that quietly shaped his sense of morality and justice. Those early experiences of a society on edge became the heartbeat of his fiction, giving his novels a texture that’s both authentic and unsettling.
He first gained attention with the Sean Duffy series, beginning with The Cold Cold Ground, which follows a Catholic detective navigating the perilous landscape of 1980s Northern Ireland. McKinty’s work is defined by its moral complexity, unflinching realism, and darkly intelligent humor. He doesn’t just tell crime stories; he immerses readers in the pressures of a world where every choice carries weight and consequences are inevitable.
Michael Forsythe
Michael Forsythe consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
