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Kala cover art

Kala

By: Colin Walsh
Narrated by: Frank Blake, Moe Dunford, Seána Kerslake
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Summary

In the seaside town of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends are thrown together for the first time in years. They—Helen, Joe and Mush—were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann as their group's white-hot center. Soon after that summer's peak, Kala disappeared without a trace.

Now it's fifteen years later: Helen has reluctantly returned to Ireland for her father's wedding; Joe is a world-famous musician, newly back in town; and Mush has never left, too scared to venture beyond the counter of his mother's café. But human remains have been discovered in the woods. Two more girls have gone missing. And as past and present begin to collide, the estranged friends are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance, and to try to stop Kinlough's violent patterns repeating themselves once again...

Against the backdrop of a town suffocating on its own secrets, in a story that builds from a smoulder to a stunning climax, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.

©2023 Colin Walsh (P)2023 Altantic Books and W. F. Howes Ltd

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What listeners say about Kala

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Brilliant

Just brilliant. The words are beautiful and the story telling gripping. Can’t recommend it highly enough !

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great characters and engaging story line

The author’s writing builds the characters so well that u really care about them and u want to understand what happened and why. Brutal scenes…great plot

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Such an amazing book

I believe this is the author’s first book, I can’t wait to hear his second. The story line had me gripped from the beginning. The main characters in the book were so likeable, I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out who was responsible for the deadly deeds. What a talent, amazing.
The narrators did it justice too such good voices to listen too

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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great chatacters

beautiful writing and the characters popped off the page. Poetic even though violent at times.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story and so well written

A pleasure from start to finish. The performances really added to the story. Such vivid and deep characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Superb

Incredible story, great narrators. One of the most exciting well written books I’ve read in ages.
A few tears too. Highly recommended

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7 people found this helpful

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Brilliant

Loved it - felt like I was there…the advantage of an audiobook is hearing the beautiful accents. Disadvantage - you can flip back to the character list at the start as new people come on the scene

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A gripping story, brilliantly told

I loved this from the first page. It is deftly plotted with superbly drawn characters

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Beautiful writing

Another amazing book from an Irish author. Could not stop listening to this, the actors are so perfect, will be recommending this to everyone

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An Irish Small Town Tale

Kala is a disquieting tale, it's dark and unsettling undertones really came through in the performance of the narrators.

Ultimately this is the story of a missing girl whose disappearance has haunted the town of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast since that October night in 2003. Her loss is especially felt by her closest friends, and it is their voices that we here in the present day.

This is a slow burn of a story, and there are many smaller mysteries that arise which held my attention as I tried to work out how the many strands fitted together.

Colin Walsh is an author to watch out for in the future.

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