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Say Nothing

A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland

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Say Nothing

By: Patrick Radden Keefe
Narrated by: Matt Blaney
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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Now an FX TV series streaming on DISNEY+

'Unquestionably one of the greatest literary achievements of the 21st century' Nick Hornby

From the author of London Falling – a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

One night in December 1972, Jean McConville, a mother of ten, was abducted from her home in Belfast and never seen alive again. Her disappearance would haunt her orphaned children, the perpetrators of this terrible crime and a whole society in Northern Ireland for decades.

In this powerful, scrupulously reported book, Patrick Radden Keefe offers not just a forensic account of a brutal crime but a vivid portrait of the world in which it happened. The tragedy of an entire country is captured in the spellbinding narrative of a handful of characters, presented in lyrical and unforgettable detail.

A poem by Seamus Heaney inspires the title: ‘Whatever You Say, Say Nothing’. By defying the culture of silence, Keefe illuminates how a close-knit society fractured; how people chose sides in a conflict and turned to violence; and how, when the shooting stopped, some ex-combatants came to look back in horror at the atrocities they had committed, while others continue to advocate violence even today.

Say Nothing deftly weaves the stories of Jean McConville and her family with those of Dolours Price, the first woman to join the IRA as a front-line soldier, who bombed the Old Bailey when barely out of her teens; Gerry Adams, who helped bring an end to the fighting, but denied his own IRA past; Brendan Hughes, a fearsome IRA commander who turned on Adams after the peace process and broke the IRA’s code of silence; and other indelible figures. By capturing the intrigue, the drama and the profound human cost of the Troubles, the book presents a searing chronicle of the lengths that people are willing to go to in pursuit of a political ideal, and the ways in which societies mend – or don’t – in the aftermath of a long and bloody conflict.

 20th Century Europe Freedom & Security Modern Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government True Crime War & Crisis Scary Exciting Thought-Provoking Disappearance
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Critic reviews

A Best Book of the Year: The Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Economist, GQ, Slate, NPR, Variety, Slate, Buzzfeed
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING
ONE OF DUA LIPA'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
‘Breathtaking in its scope and ambition… Keefe has produced a searing examination of the nature of truth in war and the toll taken by violence and deceit… Will take its place alongside the best of the books about the Troubles’
Sunday Times, A Book of the Year
‘Keefe’s narrative is an architectural feat, expertly constructed out of complex and contentious material, arranged and balanced just so… This sensitive and judicious book raises some troubling, and perhaps unanswerable, questions’
New York Times, A Book of the Year
‘Unforgettable… Radden Keefe examines the profound human cost of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the lengths that people will go to in pursuit of a political ideal’
Dua Lipa, A Book of the Year
‘A gripping and profoundly human explanation for a past that still denies and defines the future… Only an outsider could have written a book this good … If conclusions are possible, Radden Keefe’s is that everyone became complicit in the terror… I can’t praise this book enough: it’s erudite, accessible, compelling, enlightening. I thought I was bored by Northern Ireland’s past until I read it’
The Times
‘An exceptional new book, Say Nothing explores this brittle landscape to devastating effect’
Wall Street Journal
‘The best book I’ve read for a while, it’s fantastic’
John Oliver
All stars
Most relevant
The book is an incredibly detailed and insightful account of the troubles told through the lens of the major players in the republican movement from the late 1960s until the present day.

It deliberately tells the story from just this one perspective but it doesn’t glorify or seek to paint those whose testimonies the book is built on as heroes or martyrs. It’s thoroughly journalistic in its approach and extremely well written. It is built on the testimonies of real people, from first hand accounts. Those who committed murder and torture and violence have laid out the facts of what they did, as well as their innermost thoughts and feelings about it.

I must stress though, that while the book is a full five stars, the audiobook narrator gives the single worst performance I have ever witnessed - ably abetted by a distinct lack of editing.

He mispronounces countless words such as “indict”, “shebeen”, “Finucane”. There are dozens more examples that, being from Northern Ireland, I’d have expected him to manage. He constantly pauses to figure out how to pronounce words and these pauses are not edited out. Sometimes you think he’s reached the end of a sentence and it turns out there’s 2-5 more words that completely change its meaning.

There are parts of the book that sound like he was reading it in his bedroom at night and hoping not to wake anyone. The rest of the book sounds either like he’s reading to a child, or just thoroughly bored.

This needs re-recorded with an experienced professional narrator and edited carefully to preserve the quality and integrity of the original book.

Audiobook narrator destroys an extremely well written book

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Superb book. The first one of its kind I've read or listened to and I couldn't stop listening. This is how non-fiction should be written.

Fascinating history

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enjoyed this story. have to agree with an earlier reviewer that the narrator annoyed me with some of the basic words that he mispronounced like the river foggon (faughan), drinking in a shebben (shebeen), solicitor pat finnegan (finucane) and others, although it was mostly ok
although he only gets a fleeting mention, the worst of the old ruc in the form of drew harris has yet to materialise

touts know the rules!

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Quite an in-depth work focussing on the Boston College tapes and interviews with Brendan “ Darkie” Hughes & Dolores Price, both former IRA Volunteers & neither will need any introduction to a student of Irish history.

Very interesting insights to the people now known as “ The Disappeared “ and also the infamous “ Stakeknife” aka Freddie Scapatticci.

An extremely worthwhile book that was only let down by some extremely poor narration on the audio book. The narrator quite often mispronounced even the simplest of words. This did not detract greatly from the book, more of a continual annoyance!

Big thank you to Mackers for his part in it all.

Great book but terrible narration

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A well delivered telling of some personal stories and pivotal moments in Northern Ireland's recent history. With much well-researched detail, but delivered with pace and variety - just excellent

Brilliant telling of the modern Troubles history

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