Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense
    Unavailable
    The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense
    Unavailable
    The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense

    Written by Richard Montanari

    Narrated by Scott Brick

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In his sleek, visceral novels Deviant Way, Kiss of Evil, and The Violet Hour, Richard Montanari slammed into the suspense field like a force of nature. Now Montanari has written an astounding novel that pits two besieged detectives against a fiercely intelligent serial killer.

    Sprawling beneath the statue of William Penn, Philadelphia is a city of downtrodden crack houses and upscale brownstones. Somewhere in this concrete crazy quilt, one teenage Catholic girl is writing in her diary, another is pouring her heart out to a friend, and yet another is praying. And somewhere in this city is a man who wants these young women to make his macabre fantasy become reality. In a passion play of his own, he will take the girls-and a whole city-over the edge.

    Kevin Byrne is a veteran cop who already knows that edge: He's been living on it far too long. His marriage failing, his former partner wasting away in a hospital, and his heart lost to mad fury, Byrne loves to take risks and is breaking every rule in the book. And now he has been given a rookie partner. Jessica Balzano, the daughter of a famous Philly cop, doesn't want Byrne's help. But they will need each other desperately, since they've just caught the case of a lifetime: Someone is killing devout young women, bolting their hands together in prayer, and committing an abomination upon their otherwise perfect bodies.

    Byrne and Balzano spearhead the hunt for the serial killer, who leads them on a methodically planned journey. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams-and vanish just as quickly. And while Byrne's sins begin to catch up with him, and Balzano tries to solve the blood-splattered puzzle, the body count rises. Meanwhile, the calendar is approaching Easter and the day of the resurrection. When the last rosary is counted, a madman's methods will be revealed, and the final crime will be the one that hurts the most.

    Relentlessly paced and vividly told, The Rosary Girls is a smart, emotionally complex, fiercely gripping thriller from an author who takes chances, breaks new ground, and leaves readers haunted and moved long after the last page is turned.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 22, 2005
    ISBN9781415922972
    Unavailable
    The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense
    Author

    Richard Montanari

    A novelist, screenwriter, and essayist, Richard Montanari's work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and scores of other national and regional publications. He is the OLMA-winning author of the internationally acclaimed thrillers Deviant Way and The Violet Hour that have now been published in more than twenty countries. Montanari currently makes his home in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is slavish only to the high arts of boxing, Italian food, and independent film.

    More audiobooks from Richard Montanari

    Related to The Rosary Girls

    Related audiobooks

    Police Procedural For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Lucky For Some

      Nov 14, 2021

      Lucky For Some
      4 min read

    • Article

      It’s Showtime!

      May 3, 2020

      It’s Showtime!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Probing The Dark

      Aug 6, 2023

      Probing The Dark
      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      It’s Showtime!

      May 10, 2020

      It’s Showtime!
      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Dec 15, 2023

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Page-turners

      Jul 23, 2021

      HarperCollins Atlanta lawyer Leigh is summoned by her firm to represent a high-profile client who says he knows her. She doesn’t recognise the name but when she realises who it is and why he wants her to represent him in his rape case, her world impl

      3 min read

    • Article

      Thug Life Flashback

      Jan 12, 2020

      Thug Life Flashback
      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Peynado, Feng, Blau, and More

      May 11, 2021

      Here’s a quick look at books publishing this week from Brenda Peynado, Linda Rui Feng, and Jessica Anya Blau. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Peynado, Feng, Blau, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Winterson, Lerner, Díaz, Walbert, and More

      Oct 1, 2019

      New Ben Lerner, August Burroughs's latest memoir, and a reimagination of Frankenstein that puts Mary Shelley’s creative process front and center. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Winterson, Lerner, Díaz, Walbert, and More appeared first on

      7 min read

    • Article

      Manson Inc.

      Jul 2, 2019

      The Benedict Canyon house was demolished years ago. A church looks down on the old ranch, which is now a state park. Most everyone who fell under his thrall is dead, or aging quietly in prison. None of that matters. The further events recede into his

      12 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Spencer, Phillips, and More

      Jun 16, 2020

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of  Scott Spencer, Lucie Britsch, Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, and more—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Spencer, Phillips, and More appeared fi

      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 19, 2024

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hot Off The Press

      Feb 18, 2022

      It’s hard not to see things in black and white when it comes to the shooting of unarmed black victims by police officers in the US. The authors challenge preconceptions by doing something that news reports don’t often do: humanising the perpetrator.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Hemon, Guns, Harding, and More

      Jan 24, 2023

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new release titles from Aleksandar Hemon, Priya Guns, Paul Harding, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help Th

      5 min read

    • Article

      Cads, Frauds & Cover-ups

      Mar 4, 2024

      by AJ Finn (HarperCollins, $36.99) This is the second thriller from AJ Finn; his first, Woman in the Window, was a bestseller. His backstory was a bestseller – until his stories about his brain cancer and his family’s fate turned out to be mostly bu

      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 18, 2023

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Lansky, Oates, and More

      Jun 9, 2020

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from the likes of Sam Lansky, Joyce Carol Oates, and more—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Lansky, Oates, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Books Of The Month

      Jun 30, 2023

      By Nilanjana Roy Framed as a police procedural, but with the breadth of a saga, this ambitious novel begins with the murder of an eight-year-old girl in a village a few hours from Delhi. Young Munia is strung from a tree because she has witnessed the

      2 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Prose, Johnson, Sestanovich, and More

      Jun 29, 2021

      This week we're looking at new titles from Francine Prose, Diane Johnson, and Jason Mott. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Prose, Johnson, Sestanovich, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Behind Closed Doors

      Jun 19, 2022

      Behind Closed Doors
      3 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Walter, Bazawule, Bourne, and More

      Jun 28, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from Jess Walter, Blitz Bazawule, our own Michael Bourne, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help T

      4 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Vuong, Arnett, Dennis-Benn, Ohlin, and More

      Jun 4, 2019

      Three novelistic debuts, a James Beard Award–winner's memoir, and the latest from 'Eat, Pray, Love' author Elizabeth Gilbert. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Vuong, Arnett, Dennis-Benn, Ohlin, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      June Preview: The Millions Most Anticipated (This Month)

      Jun 1, 2022

      We wouldn’t dream of abandoning our vast semi–annual Most Anticipated Book Previews, but we thought a monthly reminder would be helpful (and give us a chance to note titles we missed the first time around). Here’s what we’re looking out for this mont

      7 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Whitehead, Jones, Williams, and More

      Sep 14, 2021

      This week, we're eyeing new titles from the likes of Colson Whitehead, Gayl Jones, and Joy Williams. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Whitehead, Jones, Williams, and More appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    Reviews for The Rosary Girls

    4/5

    147 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      the person reading the book made it hard to stop listening too!! plus the auther goes into great detail that makes you want to keep listening I was gaping at every chapter. and it's just awsome plus creepy hahaha
    • 3/5
      A suspenseful thriller that hooks you instantly.Back Cover Blurb:In the most brutal killing crusade Philadelphia has seen in years, a series of young Catholic women are found dead, their bodies mutilated and their hands bolted together. Each clutches a rosary in her lifeless hands.Veteran cop Kevin Byrne and his rookie partner Jessica Balzano set out to hunt down the elusive killer, who leads them deeper and deeper into the abyss of a madman's depravity. Suspects appear before them like bad dreams - and vanish just as quickly. While the body count rises, Easter is fast approaching: the day of resurrection and of the last rosary to be counted.....
    • 4/5
      This is my first foray into Richard Montanari; no idea if he’s published before this or not, though it’s a first-in-a-series novel, introducing Detective Byrne and his rookie partner Jessica. In this, their first dual case, someone is murdering and mutilating young Catholic schoolgirls. A brutal crime with a religious/blasphemous edge isn’t exactly a new idea in the genre, and I wasn’t expecting much, but I was surprised and pleased to find a solid, clever story behind door number one, and a dénouement that didn’t disappoint.So, Montanari, it turns out, writes with the sort of heart that Ed McBain brought to crime fiction, which goes a long way to absolving him of any minor writing sins; sometimes telling rather than showing, and a tendency to focus on description like a creative-writing student on his first assignment (okay, I may be overstating a little, but there’s a lot of lingering on the landscape of Philadelphia and the weather that could have been pared back, to perhaps even greater effect). His characters (grizzled older cop, young female rookie) should be stereotypes, but he’s brought such fresh vigour to their direction that you forget that’s been done before. His crime scenarios are disturbing enough, without overstretching for effect, and the plot has got legs that just won’t quit (it’ll walk you all around the block before getting you home).I was a little put off by Byrne’s slightly psychic ability – partly because I was worried about Deus ex machina syndrome taking over the ending and, paradoxically, because it was so played down straight away and then took a long, long seat on the back burner, that I got the impression that that author didn’t know whether to poo or get off the pot with it. In the end, it was nicely balanced with deductive reasoning, helping the partners but not solving the case.I liked The Rosary Girls enough to read the next one, and some things about it I liked a lot. This has stayed with me (is a sentimental sap): ***Spoiler Warning*** Just as Byrne realises he’s about to take a bullet, he arranges his hand into the deaf sign for ‘I love you’ – he has a deaf daughter, and this was just adorable. Of course, he didn’t do this on any of the other occasions that he almost died, but this (better late than never) was the point at which I was convinced of Byrne’s separation from the grey, impersonal crowd of stereotypical ‘gritty’ fictional detectives.
    • 5/5
      Wow, what a fantastic read! I took a chance on the book, and boy, am I glad I did. This is a fantastic read that will hold the reader till the very last page, and make them run out and get the second book in the series. I know I did. The book is set in Philly. It seems there's a serial killer out there, but doesn't kill just anyone. Oh no, that would be far to simple. This killer preys on Catholic School girls. When he kills them, he positions them in a certain way. Alls, I'll say is that he does something special with their hands. That plays an important part in what he does. He also does something else, but I'll leave that for you to find out. Now, this killer has a twisted agenda. Not any Catholic School girl will do. They have to meet his "special needs". What are those needs? Well, you'll have to read it to find out. If you like books that has great characters, then this is a must read for you. Jessica Belazano, is partnered up with Long time dect. Kevin Byrine. Bryne has his own issues that he must over come to catch this killer. It seems that his life is falling apart around him and this case could drag him down to the depths in which he can't come out of. Belazano has her own issues to deal with. This book has so many fantastic characters, far to many to name. All of the characters are important, and seem life like which helps the plot to move along at a fantastic pace. I also liked the killers motive. Again, if you want to find out, then you need to read it. The author has a fantastic writing style. The dailouge is quick, and very realistic. The reader isn't bogged down my useless details that really don't do anything for the plot. Montanari is a wonderful writer. What is in The Rosary Girls is needed, and nothing is put in, just to make it a big book. He has the ability to keep the reader hooked on every page. Also, I can promise you that you'll be so hooked, you'll lose sleep over reading thing. You just have to know what happens next. I kept on telling myself, "Just one more chapter, just one more chapter....." You will be hooked. If you start this series, I can promise you that you won't be sorry. I know I wasn't, and I can't wait to start the next one.
    • 3/5
      The novel was entertaining and moved quickly enough. Writing style seemed a little to formulaistic. To many red herrings. Also the villian was dissapointing. Once revealed the person did not seem to measure up to the villian.