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  • Cold Granite

  • Logan McRae, Book 1
  • By: Stuart MacBride
  • Narrated by: John Sessions
  • Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (334 ratings)
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Cold Granite cover art

Cold Granite

By: Stuart MacBride
Narrated by: John Sessions
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Summary

It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch - strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. There's a killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. If that wasn't enough, Logan also has to contend with a new boss, DI Insch, who doesn't suffer fools gladly and thinks everyone's a fool, and his own ex-girlfriend, the beautiful but chilly Isobel MacAlister, who also happens to be the chief pathologist. The only good news is WPC "Ball Breaker" Watson, Logan's new guardian angel.

The dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. If Logan isn't careful, he's going to end up joining them.

Set in Aberdeen, where the rainy season lasts all year, criminal gangs vie for supremacy on the streets, and the oil industry brings an influx of wealth and vice, this is a gritty, powerful debut thriller by a writer with a wonderfully observant eye and a characteristically Scottish sense of gallows humour.

©2005 Stuart MacBride (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, UK

What listeners say about Cold Granite

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • MA
  • 16-05-15

Gripping

Good listen and well read. Gripping story with twists and turns along the way. Well worth a listen. Top score

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Far too much swearing

This book would I think be 25% shorter without the swearing. The story line was challenging, the performance good but the language became too much. I stopped listening !!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mum’s recommendation

I started listening to books at the start of the pandemic and now I’ve listened to 100s, most on my mum’s recommendation. I really enjoyed this, all the characters were believable and although the story line was a bit grim, it doesn’t focus on the gore for too long. I look forward to listening to the whole series. Excellent narration too

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Difficult to hear at times

Gripping story, narration was good but volume seemed to come and go a lot which was difficult at times in the car.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Listen

Throughly enjoyed this storey, really well read. Will read or listen to more of his book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Really enjoyed this. Great story with lots of twists and misdirection until it's finally revealed. The rest in this series only get better

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb read, horrendously abridged

An absolutely superb crime novel, the grit and grime of the crimes brilliantly peppered with hilarious one-liners. Sure to have you howling in both laughter and despair as the story progresses.

I've never read Cold Granite before but you can easily tell where sections have been omitted for this abridged version. Disheartening really that you're missing out on bits of the story. Surely no bits that are key to the plot, but no doubt some of the finer details and jokes that would add just that extra bit to really show the novel for what it is; the classic that this version is not.

If speculation is correct, that it was abridged in order that John Sessions' fee could be covered, I deem that not worth it. His performance is fine, though his Aberdonian accent is severely lacking; accompanied by his mispronunciation of several place names. James Macpherson, (who narrates Ian Rankin's books) would have done a job on par with Sessions at, no doubt, a cost which would have enabled the whole book to be available here.

That being said, this is a suberb book you can't afford not to read if crime is your genre of choice! I completed it in a day.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wish this was the unabridged version.

John Sessions has recorded the unabridged version of this. But sadly Audible has only published the short version.

A harrowing series of tales woven in and out of each other. Very well written.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dark and funny.....

Where does Cold Granite rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I would say top 5

Who was your favorite character and why?

Logan MacCrea, downtrodden and unconfident bobby who gets there in the end

What about John Sessions’s performance did you like?

Brilliant at bringing the characters to life..

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I did struggle with the subject matter, but persevered and glad I did...I downloaded the rest of the series purely based on the writing

Any additional comments?

It's been a long time since any book gripped me like this one and I have now listened to the 1st 4 audiobooks in the series...excellent humour with dark undertones...superb books!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

Great story and well narrated.
Shorter than normal crime books and couldn't wait top download the next book in the series

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3 people found this helpful