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

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
Stolen Souls
Unavailable
Stolen Souls
Unavailable
Stolen Souls
Audiobook8 hours

Stolen Souls

Written by Stuart Neville

Narrated by Frank Grimes

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Unavailable in your country

Unavailable in your country

About this audiobook

It is snowing, she's barefoot, but Galya runs. Tricked into coming to Belfast with the offer of a good job, all she wants now is to go home. Her only hope is a man who gave her a cross on a fine chain and a phone number, telling her to call if she escapes. Now she puts herself at his mercy, knowing she has nowhere else to turn.v
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 2012
ISBN9781407497150
Unavailable
Stolen Souls

More audiobooks from Stuart Neville

Related to Stolen Souls

Related audiobooks

Crime Thriller For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for Stolen Souls

Rating: 3.7327585931034486 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

58 ratings11 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    After his successful initial two (political) thrillers (The twelve, Collusion), this thriller reads a bit formulaic and definitely does not carry the same smart political suspense, despite featuring our hero Jack Lennon again. Basically a spree of murders involving two Lithuanian and two local tugs, creates the impetus for a hunt on a Ukrainian immigrant girl, who has been pressed into prostitution. Both bad forces (Lithuanian maffioso and his driver Herkus) and good forces (Jack Lennon) start a goose chase to locate the missing girl. Add a cranky, God-squad serial killer and a bent Detective Chief Inspector into the mix, and you have all the ingredients for another breakneck thriller with several twists at the end.Unfortunately, the intricate political landscape of Northern Ireland which dominated his first two thrillers has been relegated to the background, while an old fetish of crime writers (serial killer) has been added to the mix. Both trends take away the unique selling point of Stuart Neville’s thrillers and make him less interesting to read, according to me. Why? Because quirky madmen with serious but rare psychological afflictions on a serial killing spree make thrillers less ‘real’ (at least I can’t identify with such an environment – it simply does not occur in my day to day life). The charged political climate of Belfast and its concomitant family feuds and opportunities for illicit activities provided us with so much insight in his previous two thrillers that this thriller simply disappoints. The intricate political tension has been replaced by a bland atmosphere of ubiquitous violence, drab weather and empty streets in an ugly city. Pity.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is an average solid offering from Stuart Neville but not as good as the brilliant DCI Serena Flanagan...."Those we left behind" and "So say the fallen". DI Lennon is a typical over worked detective, the sole parent to his 6 year old daughter Ellen, mum having tragically passed away in a fire. He is helped in this endeavour by his one and only admirer Susan. It's almost Christmas on the streets of Belfast and a body has been discovered. Soon Lennon will be embroiled in the hunt for a killer and an investigation into the illegal importation of young girls from Europe for the purposes of prostitution. If we add to this a demented lonely killer then it is highly unlikely the dutiful detective will be sitting down to his turkey roast anytime soon....A book to pass away the time but instantly forgotten.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    'Stolen Souls', Stuart Neville's 3rd in his Jack Lennon series, is a competently written, well plotted police procedural/mystery novel of a victim of white slavery crossing paths with a serial killer. It's OK, but nothing special. Detective Inspector Lennon, the star of the series, just doesn't get and hold my attention throughout this series. As with every law enforcer/detective in the genre, he has a shtick (or in his case, several), which is that he's a Catholic working for a mostly Protestant police force in Belfast, Northern Ireland. That's a big deal; his family hates him for it, as do most of the other Catholics he knows. Therefore he works, and mostly lives his life, solo. He's also a single father as a result of something that happened in a previous book. And, oh yeah, he's a nice guy at heart. The problem is that his shtick(s) just isn't all that exciting.Neville's books are well done and he clearly knows police procedures. Dialogue is usually solid and the stories are realistic. I like the setting in Northern Ireland- it's a place with a history of violence, it's 'Irish' yet is part of Great Britain, and it's a big city (for over there, anyway) with big city problems. Stolen Souls begins with a young lady from Eastern Europe, who'd been 'tricked' into entering the sex-slave trade, killing one of her captors, escaping on foot, and then crossing paths with Belfast's very first serial killer. The dead guy's family is unhappy with his demise and begin an all-out effort to locate the young lady, while the serial killer begins his preparations for what sounds like a really nasty end for his victim. Lennon catches the case, and the remainder of the novel takes us through his efforts to connect the dots. The conclusion is the best part, as a number of aspects of the investigation intersect and it's all wrapped up in a surprising way.Stolen Souls is a nice addition to a relatively unexciting series. Other readers may find it extremely well done, but for me the main character, although sympathetic, is just a bit too bland.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Again not as good as the first book in the series The Ghosts Of Belfast, but still quite an adrenaline ride, as was the second book Collusion. The whole book takes place in the span of a few days including Christmas, and has Policeman Jack Lennon in the crosshairs again this time with some well connected Lithuanians. I only wish all of the loose ends of this series were finally tied up in this book- I don't want to give away anything. If you read one set of books make it this series; The Ghosts Of Belfast, Collusion, Stolen Souls. Books are seldom better than this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I liked it better than the first Jack Lennon book - this is partly because by reading the earlier book I was more familiar with Jack and could relate to his tribulations a bit better, and it was partly because this story is more realistic. (And, it was partly because I had actually read Collusion because I thought it was about Gerry Fagan; in Stolen Souls I knew it was about Jack.)Okay... maybe this story isn't really more realistic, it is just that there is no 'super hero' character in this one. The bad guys are pretty far-fetched, but the basic premise is believable. It seems as though the author wants us to like Jack more by trying to make him seem more human here (i.e. he contemplates the moral repercussions of his prostitute visits)... but I think Neville should just stick to writing engaging violent thrillers and give up trying to write 'sappy'. We like these novels because they are dark and to the point, not because we want to know if the main character has an emotional epiphany.Like the earlier novels, it is set in Ireland, but this time there is no reference to the political turmoil that country has undergone. I think this improves the thriller component of the novel since we North Americans don't have to figure out if the tension is based on religion or politics that are foreign.It is violent, but not gory, and the underlying theme is dark and unpleasant. There is no sex, and there is some foul language, but it was not excessive. I will read more by this author, and more books about Jack Lennon.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Efficiently written thriller that ratchets up the tension but leaves a story arc unresolved. Neville writes with the minimum of fuss, allowing the characters and situations to drive the story forward at a good speed keeping the reader engaged throughout. It makes a refreshing change from many of his peers who produce similar works but they take twice as many words to get the story out. Despite the arc this book can be read as a one-off thriller and is a very entertaining read indeed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    My first experience of author Stuart Neville is Stolen Souls. The writing is fluid and easy, his subject is tough and gets tougher as I was drawn into his story of one young woman's escape from being forced into prostitution to something so much more terrifying that I wanted to run out of the room but I could not put the book down. The characters are fascinating and seeming all too real. He masterfully weaves the unfolding of events as they occur in a smooth and rhythmic pace while ever heightening the terror and drama of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this dense and action packed novel and I expect to read Neville's other work, as he is a treasure to read. I will say, that I hope that Stuart Neville never moves in next door to me, knowing what his mind is capable of conjuring up. He's an adult's writer - don't let the kids near this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have read all of the Stuart Neville books and like them all. I cannot wait for the rat in the system to be revealed and to get his just desserts. jph
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Set in Belfast, a young woman from Lithuania named Gayla, is coerced into coming to Ireland in the pretense of having a better life. She thinks she'll work as a nany but is put to hard labor in a farm and then sold into prostitution. When one of the people running the prostitutes tries to force himself on her, she kills him in self defense.Two other men were in the home with the man killed, Tomas Stazdas. They fear his older brother's wrath so bring Tomas's body to a waterway to dump planning to kill the girl there. However, Gayla is resourceful and escapes.Arturas Stazdas wants revenge, not only against Gayla but against the two men who would have just dumped his brother's body.Meanwhile, a man named Billy Crawford had befriended Gayla posing as a customer. He told her that if she escaped her captors, he would help.Gayla calls him and he brings her to his home, telling her he's a Baptist minister without a Church and tries to save young girls who haven't lost their souls.Investigating the case in Det. Inspector Jack Lennon. Soon after taking the case, he learns that there have been more murders.The author writes in a style reminiscent of fellow Irishman, John Connolly. In Connolly's "Every Dead Thing," revenge is the center of the story as the protagonist searches for the person responsible for killing his daughter. In this novel, revenge is also a pivotal element.Not for the squeamish, this is a story with such suspense that the reader needs a break to catch their breath. I enjoyed the novel and feel that it places the author in a high standard as a master story teller.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Stuart Neville is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. This is the third in a series of books that hinge on investigator Jack Lennon. Set in Ireland it has all the elements that you would expect in great Irish fiction, violence, dark humor, and melancholy. This time the case involves a serial killer and human trafficking from the Balkans. Not pretty at all but Neville makes it a very interesting tale that may open your eyes to a few things. Excellent read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A young Ukrainian sex slave escapes from her captors only to find and even greater horror awaits her. Soon after the brother of a Lithuanian crime boss is found dead, three of his business associates are murdered. Detective Inspector Jack Lennon must work quickly to stop the situation from spiraling out of control while trying to find the young woman who may hold the key to the brutal killings. Stuart Neville is by far one of the greatest crime fiction writers I have ever read. Starting with “The Ghosts of Belfast” and “Collusion”, Neville continues his Jack Lennon series with this new novel, again set in Belfast. “Stolen Souls” delivers non-stop action from first page to last. In fact, I was lucky to find a good stopping place in the middle so I could get some sleep because once back into it, I was in until the end. Neville’s protagonists are far from perfect. They are deeply flawed and living on the edge. Do these faults make us love them any less? Absolutely not. This is one of Neville’s gifts. We can forgive his heroes anything, because there is always someone out there darker and more evil than they could ever be.