I was gripped from start to finish.

Great characterisation, funny dialogue, and a brilliant premise. This is going to be a huge hit.

Easy to follow and well written book. Cant really fault it but it wasn't really my genre hence only giving it a 3. For someone interested in the history then would definitely recommend or someone who wants to try a different genre.

I struggled with this audio book as it is not my usual genre but I wanted to branch out. There were a lot of different characters and I got a bit confused. The atmosphere was intense. My husband listened to this book as well and he loved it - but he is a fan of Peaky Blinders so it did really suit him.

The narration suited the style and plot.

I was given an advance copy by the publishers and netgalley but the review is my own.

wow! what book! I was gripped, this will definitely be a book / audiobook that I will be recommending to friends and family alike!

I was given the audiobook via Netgalley for an honest review.

This is not the usual sort of book I would have picked up normally. If I dabble in historical fiction, it tends to be more ancient or romance based. This book is set in Manchester in the late 1800's and follows the internal workings of the Irish community on both sides of the law - rebels and police.

Our main protagonist is a policeman, brought over from Ireland to work with the Manchester police.
It is dangerous times and political unrest is rife, causing violence. In the aftermath of the hanging of three Irish men who accidentaly killed a cop, an Irish-American comes to take revenge on the police force.

I was really hooked in this story. It had a Peaky Blinders vibe and I think this would suit fans of that show. I found the main character relatible and felt for the awkward position he was in. This book made me want to read more in this style which is a good marker for how much I enjoyed it. The author did a great job at setting the scene of this tense time in Manchester, it was bleak and felt so real.

Highly recommend for people who want to dive into more historical fiction with political undertones, especially on the subject of soverenity and identity.

Listened to this on the way to and from work
I enjoyed the story and thought the narrator did a brilliant job with the voices
Sometimes found there was to many names and got mixed up who was with who
Liked O'Conners character & wanted him to be with Rose
I did not expect it to end how it did.

Thank you netgalley, Ian McGuire and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read and review this book.

This was not a comfortable read. Being a Mancunian myself and a huge fan of Maguire’s The North Water, I looked forward to richly atmospheric locations. For some perverse reason we got a Manchester seemingly researched from maps, mostly comprising of street names containing the occasional grim lodging house, pub or police cell. The mood was dark, muddy, exasperating, Kafkaesque. O’Connor is a sympathetic, existentially lost protagonist, clearly too good a man to be attached to the Manchester detective office. The Hellish world he finds himself in is far more interior than the stunning snowy landscapes of The North Water and therefore less obviously thrilling. The audio narrator was good and dealt masterfully with the multiple accents, from Irish, to American, only faltering over some unfortunately whinging Mancunian deliveries. At times, I found the novel a depressing grind but just after the lowest point the location and energy changes. I found the ending extremely thought-provoking in its conclusions. Themes of Greek tragedy and the consequences of inter-generational violence spring to mind. Overall I found this rarely enjoyable and often uncomfortable, with only rare glimmers of hope and those mostly extinguished. Yet nevertheless it deserves 5* as it is, in the end, a violent and dramatic fable that richly deserves to be read.
(I will review on amazon.co.uk but please be aware that I will not be able to review on audible (which I am a member of) as I haven't actually purchased it. Can this be looked at? It's a great audio listen.)

Wow Ian McGuire has created a very atmospheric novel set in the 1860's in Manchester based around the Manchester Martyrs hangings three meen charged with killing a police officer, these were men were part of the group known as the Fenians - these were people who wanted to end the British rule in Ireland.

James O'Conner is a disgraced police officer from Dublin hiding from his own demons including the drink - hence the title The Abstainer - who has been sent to Manchester after the death of his wife, He thinks killing the men will just cause more outrage and hes not wrong but his bosses from higher up do not listen to him.

The novel is grim & bleak and I can't say it was an enjoyable book, I feel it left a lot of unanswered parts in it, I listened to this as an audio book and I think Patrick Moy the narrator was very good, he made a good job at the differant voices and there were a lot .

If you like historical style novels then this is the one for you.

The premise of The Abstainer was good. I listened to the audio version. The narrator did a pretty good job considering the number of characters and accents he had to master. The blurb interested me immediately as did the first couple of chapters as I heard references to the Fenians, Thomas Kelly, the Manchester Martyrs and so on. I continued listening right until the end but I did consider giving up a couple of times. I though it very disjointed and could have benefitted from further editing. There were so many different story lines some of which didn’t really contribute much to the story. There were also loose ends that could have been better sewn up. It was an ok listen. I give it 3 stars.

James O'Conner is the 'Abstainer' in the title. He is a police detective who leaves Dublin under a cloud and moves to Manchester. Here he focuses on two things, abstaining from alcohol, and assisting the police to hunt for the man rumoured to be planning retribution for the hanging of three Fenian supporters. Stephen Doyle is the man being hunted by O'Conner. The main characters are cleverly drawn, believable and vivid.
The story, set in 1867 Manchester, starts with the real event of the hanging of the Manchester Martyrs. The descriptions are atmospheric and paint a very real image of life at this time. The ending wasn't what I was expecting or what I wanted, but it was a brilliant read (as was 'The North Water' by McGuire). I listened to this as an audio book and thought Patrick Moy made a fantastic narrator. Thank you to Ian McGuire, Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.