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If this book was a boyfriend, we'd be having an on-off relationship. It's a dark thriller and McKinty adopts the trope of literary thrillers, that taut, clipped style, all short sentences with no verbs. Taut. Clipped. No verbs.
He's got good reason for doing this - his protagonist is a heroin addict and McKinty writes his inner dialogue in this way when he's in need. When he's flowing, so is the prose, and it's easier on the eye. I just felt it to be a bit tired and cliched. Just saying.
When the dialogue started in the first chapter, it fell apart a bit more, as the dialogue is fairly mundane and realistically written, and didn't sit well within the literary framework at all. My opinion - he's a best seller, so clearly others feel differently! And I think this is an early book - from what others are saying, maybe he got better.
At the end of the first chapter things were looking up. There was an incredible paragraph, metaphysical, which I took to be an indication of the protagonist's inner turmoil and the workings of his mind. I was all fired up. The rest of the book didn't deliver on it!
It's well plotted and well paced and the story's pretty good. I didn't have any problem reading to the end as it kept me hooked. But it was inconsistent.
I'd hate to spoil him for other readers, and as someone whose family is from Northern Ireland where many of his books are set (apart from this one, which is set largely in the USA), I'm keen to give him another go. But perhaps better to start with a later title.