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Brad Dunne's The Gut
Welcome to The Gut
Maria Costa was doing just fine working as a private investigator: digging up dirt on the husbands of rich wives and getting drunk in the time between. That was before a new case pulled her back to The Gut, a dark ghetto she'd avoided since she quit being a cop.
On the surface it looks like The Gut has changed — the body count has dropped, and the politicians are calling it a renaissance. But Maria's ex-partner, Kieran Hynes, suspects there's a sinister reality to the improvements: prostitutes and drug dealers are going missing, falling off the face of the earth.
Can Maria and Kieran stop the ancient evil threatening life in their entire city?
Maria Costa was doing just fine working as a private investigator: digging up dirt on the husbands of rich wives and getting drunk in the time between. That was before a new case pulled her back to The Gut, a dark ghetto she'd avoided since she quit being a cop.
On the surface it looks like The Gut has changed — the body count has dropped, and the politicians are calling it a renaissance. But Maria's ex-partner, Kieran Hynes, suspects there's a sinister reality to the improvements: prostitutes and drug dealers are going missing, falling off the face of the earth.
Can Maria and Kieran stop the ancient evil threatening life in their entire city?
176 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 27, 2020
The Gut is a masterful tale that weaves distinctly Newfoundland locales into a gritty urban fantasy version of St. John’s, bitterly divided between the Townies and the “Merfies”, or Merrow.
Dunne’s story follows Merrow cop Kieran Hynes and his Townie ex-partner-turned-PI Maria Costa as they investigate a string of disappearances and murders involving the seedier side of the Gut. The narrative feels like a compelling traditional crime novel, but perfectly layers in Dunne’s fantastic and horrifying elements to create a truly enthralling story.
Beyond the narrative, Dunne uses the framework of this alternate Newfoundland to explore heavy themes. The dynamic between the Merrow and Townies is used to explore the commodification of culture and tension between Indigenous groups and colonizers without ever feeling contrived.
The Gut will leave you wanting more from Baccalieu and Kildare and it will leave you thinking. Five stars.
Dunne’s story follows Merrow cop Kieran Hynes and his Townie ex-partner-turned-PI Maria Costa as they investigate a string of disappearances and murders involving the seedier side of the Gut. The narrative feels like a compelling traditional crime novel, but perfectly layers in Dunne’s fantastic and horrifying elements to create a truly enthralling story.
Beyond the narrative, Dunne uses the framework of this alternate Newfoundland to explore heavy themes. The dynamic between the Merrow and Townies is used to explore the commodification of culture and tension between Indigenous groups and colonizers without ever feeling contrived.
The Gut will leave you wanting more from Baccalieu and Kildare and it will leave you thinking. Five stars.
March 14, 2021
Set in a not-quite-St.-John's of the maybe-near-future (maybe an alternate future?), The Gut is a ripping yarn with just enough social conscience to endear it to this old lefty's heart without being too cloying about it.
The Gut of the title is the underbelly of the city, packed with the poverty-stricken, the criminals, the sex-trade workers, and anyone else the more privileged folk (the "Townies," to no Newfoundlander's surprise) would prefer to ignore. But some of those people are disappearing.
Nobody seems to care much until police officer Kieran Hynes drags his ex-partner Maria Costa back to the ghetto they both thought they had left behind.
And then, oh my! Loads of action here, not all of it pretty, but all of it quite riveting. I do not want to offer spoilers here but: cults, mysterious houses, sea monsters, modern crimes and ancient legends all make appearances.
The Gut of the title is the underbelly of the city, packed with the poverty-stricken, the criminals, the sex-trade workers, and anyone else the more privileged folk (the "Townies," to no Newfoundlander's surprise) would prefer to ignore. But some of those people are disappearing.
Nobody seems to care much until police officer Kieran Hynes drags his ex-partner Maria Costa back to the ghetto they both thought they had left behind.
And then, oh my! Loads of action here, not all of it pretty, but all of it quite riveting. I do not want to offer spoilers here but: cults, mysterious houses, sea monsters, modern crimes and ancient legends all make appearances.
September 21, 2020
Brad Dunne's "The Gut" is brilliantly crafted. The dark ghetto "The Gut" is brought to life by the expertly crafted details of the ghetto, the history and how it affects the characters living there. This is a gritty, real and sinister novel that I highly recommend.
November 27, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great characters and plot. Love a good supernatural mystery, that reflects happenings in the real world.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews