The Silver Swan, John Banville
The Silver Swan, John Banville
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The Silver Swan
A Novel

Author: John Banville

Series: Quirke #2

Narrator: Timothy Dalton

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/04/2008

Synopsis

Two years have passed since the events of the bestselling Christine Falls, and much has changed for Quirke, the irascible, formerly hard-drinking Dublin pathologist. His beloved Sarah is dead, the Judge lies in a convent hospital paralyzed by a devastating stroke, and Phoebe, Quirke's long-denied daughter, has grown increasingly withdrawn and isolated.

With much to regret from his last inquisitive foray, Quirke ought to know better than to let his curiosity get the best of him. Yet when an almost-forgotten acquaintance comes to him about his beautiful young wife's apparent suicide, Quirke's "old itch to cut into the quick of things, to delve into the dark of what was hidden" is roused again. As he begins to probe further into the shadowy circumstances of Deirdre Hunt's death, he discovers many things that might better have remained hidden, as well as grave danger to those he loves. Haunting, masterfully written, and utterly mesmerizing in its nuance, The Silver Swan fully lives up to the promise of Christine Falls and firmly establishes Benjamin Black (a.k.a. John Banville) among the greatest of crime writers.

About John Banville

JOHN BANVILLE was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of numerous novels, including The Sea, which won the 2005 Booker Prize, and the DI Quirke mysteries. In 2011 he was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, in 2013 he was awarded the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature, and in 2014 he won the Prince of Asturias Award, Spain’s most important literary prize. He lives in Dublin.

About Timothy Dalton

Timothy Dalton is perhaps best known for his critically-acclaimed incarnation of James Bond in The Living Daylights and License to Kill. Dalton is a longtime reader of thrillers written by Booker Prize winner John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black, including Christine Falls, which garnered an AudioFile Earphones Award. AudioFile magazine described Dalton’s reading of The Silver Swan, also written by Benjamin Black, as "so good it will make listeners giddy with delight… As the heavy-drinking Irish pathologist Quirke, Dalton offers a pitch-perfect Irish brogue. It’s all thrilling, honest, and raw." A classically trained Shakespearean actor, Dalton has appeared in films including The Tourist and in television miniseries including Scarlett (in which he played Rhett Butler), Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, and in countless Shakespearean films and plays. He is also the voice of Mr. Pricklepants, a character in the animated film Toy Story 3.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on August 05, 2023

8/5/23: Reflecting on this book after seeing the second in the Quirke series featuring Gabriel Byrne: As I say below, I don't like sensationalist serial killer stories, but the 90-minute episode pares things down and tells the story of this book more subtly and powerfully than I recall in reading it......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on July 26, 2012

With Quirke's life now in a bit more of a muddle after the revelations made in Christine Falls, he is making more of an attempt to stay off the drink, but he always needs that one more -- but "of course, it would not be just the one." But it's over tea that he meets with Billy Hunt, an old schoolmat......more

Goodreads review by Paul on March 20, 2008

This is the new (second) novel written by John Banville under the pen name Benjamin Black. I think I was first on the reserve list at the MCPL. I had enjoyed the first Black book, "Christine Falls," so much that I was quite eager to get my hands on this one. I was disappointed. I truly enjoyed my vi......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on August 05, 2017

Although John Banville is a very good and evocative writer, I was disappointed in this book, especially since, with some reservations, I quite enjoyed "Christine Falls". The characters were unpleasant, much of the mystery takes place in the head of the murdered woman in the months leading up to her......more

Goodreads review by Deborah on May 11, 2010

For some reason, this second book by Benjamn Black (a.k.a. Irish Booker-Prize winner John Banville) was easier to get into than the first one. 1950s Ireland is just as parochial and repressed as I had imagined. Although I like the weather which is very Seattle-like. This is a novel of 1950s-era sexu......more

Quotes

“The eagerly awaited sequel to Christine Falls is brought to lief by none other than James Bond himself, Timothy Dalton, in a reading so good it will make listeners giddy with delight...It's all thrilling, honest, and raw.” —AudioFile

“...the second in [the] Quirke series, offers an excellent opportunity for Dalton to flash his acting chops. Dalton's reading is hushed, intense and dramatic, read as if being performed onstage.” —Publishers Weekly

“Dalton…gives a gritty, growling reading that will practically make you smell the rain on the dark Dublin streets.” —St.Petersburg Times

“Dalton's highly dramatic, fully differentiated performance keeps the plot moving swiftly and the net tightening as the novel builds to its surprising conclusion.” —KLIATT

Awards

  • Audie Award Finalist
  • Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards: Best in Category
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