Taking Shergar

Listening to *Taking Shergar* is like watching a train wreck in slow motion—fascinating, infuriating, and impossible to look away from. Robert Ferraro’s narration is a masterclass in balancing dark humor with the gravity of the subject matter; his voice drips with the kind of wry detachment that makes the incompetence of the thieves feel almost tragicomic. He nails the Irish inflections without overdoing it, which keeps the story from feeling like a parody, even when it veers into farce. That said, the pacing drags in the middle act, where Toby’s research occasionally gets bogged down in bureaucratic details that feel tangential to the central mystery. The production is clean, but the audiobook suffers from a few abrupt jumps in tone, especially when Ferraro switches between quoting official reports and the more conversational sections of the narrative. The greatest strength of this book is its refusal to glorify the crime or its perpetrators, instead presenting them as what they were: desperate, bumbling men in over their heads. The biggest critique? The lack of a satisfying resolution leaves you feeling like you’ve watched a three-act play with the third act cut short. Still, if you’re a fan of true crime that prioritizes atmosphere over sensationalism, this one’s a cult gem worth your time.