ginger
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- 20
- helpful votes
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Winter
- Penguin Modern Classics
- By: Len Deighton
- Narrated by: James Lailey
- Length: 24 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter and Paul, the two sons of German businessman Harald Winter, are bonded together by a childhood trauma. But as they grow up, the brothers also grow apart. When the shadow of the Third Reich falls, they become divided by war and their differing ideals - only to meet again years later at the Nuremberg trials. An epic prelude to the Bernard Samson Game, Set and Match trilogy, Winter is a rich, tragic portrait of the fortunes of a family, and a nation, over half a century.
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Wonderful narrator and talented author.
- By Trisha on 23-08-21
- Winter
- Penguin Modern Classics
- By: Len Deighton
- Narrated by: James Lailey
Brilliant
Reviewed: 16-10-24
So here it is, the "banality of evil". It really is quite shocking. Pauly gradually becomes corrupted by such an evil system where he seems incapable of any understanding with little bits of dropped information like getting the concentration camps to be financially self supporting in such a casual way that it beggars belief that a man could be so unfazed. It reminds me of what my father said when he was rounding up these people at the end of the war. It was nothing to do with them, they were just following orders. We can imagine Pauly saying such a thing.
I have yet to finish this story which has been highly educative for me in linking up the many strands of which I already knew, some I didn"t understand. I am glad of it. The only thing that is missing are the women"s voices, which is a shame. Nevertheless, a quality read.
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Westward
- Robert Hoon Thrillers, Book 3
- By: JD Kirk
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Disgraced ex-cop Robert Hoon has crossed the wrong people for the last time. Having struck a humiliating blow against the criminal network known as the Loop, Hoon has been targeted by the Alphas, an elite squad of assassins who will not stop until he is dead. Outnumbered, outgunned, and on unfamiliar territory, Hoon’s only chance of survival lies several hundred miles north, in a place he knows better than anyone else on Earth. He swore he’d never set foot there again, but almost four decades after he left, Bob Hoon is finally going home.
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Great storyline, with perfect narration
- By Miles on 17-08-22
- Westward
- Robert Hoon Thrillers, Book 3
- By: JD Kirk
- Narrated by: Angus King
Love these books
Reviewed: 14-05-24
I sometimes replay the Hoon audible books because they always make me laugh. Can"t wait for the latest one, Stateside? Please let it be Angus King reading it.
I cannot understand why I take such pleasure in such a foul mouth amoral person who kills without remorse. Its like having a guilty secret. I am an apparently "charming old" lady with a veneer of respectability, who harbours the desire to let forth some Hoonerisms for the benefit of the various workers I meet who say things like "bless" to me. One day I am going to do it. Its all J D Kirks fault. I am turning into a foul mouth Bertha. God help the grandkids!
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2 people found this helpful
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The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul"s is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul"s, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man"s body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
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Mystery and murder in "the dunnest smoke of hell"
- By Rachel Redford on 27-04-16
- The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
Its ok
Reviewed: 14-05-24
Historical background good although too much detail around severed heads! In the end I got very cross with yet another portrayal of a silly female who puts herself in danger, when self preservation would surely held her back?. Mind you he was daft as well and therefore its hard to believe in these characters. I really must stop yelling at characters things like "for gods sake leave, the dogs will sniff you out". Or "why the hell are you there, of all places?" "No, leave yer dad in prison its safer for him and you". Oh well, it"s old age!!
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The Chinese Shawl
- By: Patricia Wentworth
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Tanis Lyle was one of those passionate women who always get their own way. Her cousin Laura hated her. Most women did. But men found her irresistible and she used them mercilessly. So when Tanis was found murdered there seemed to be any number of suspects on hand. But Miss Silver had her own suspicions....
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Mystery at its best
- By L WILSON on 11-03-15
- The Chinese Shawl
- By: Patricia Wentworth
- Narrated by: Diana Bishop
Social history
Reviewed: 10-03-23
I have been listening to these after a nasty tooth extraction and needed something easy and bland whilst recovering. These have been good. Diana Bishop has a lovely soothing voice but will someone get Miss Silver to the GPs with that constant cough!
What has fascinated me are the manners and social mores. Being in my 70s I remember well how in the 1950s women were treated and here it is. Women fainting all over the place, untrusted by men, emotional and unstable etc. What is really annoying is Miss Silvers preference for the company of men. And that relationship with the detective? Bit weird that. She seems to have a real downer on women too, but that"s how it was. Divide and rule. You had to keep your man, especially from dangerous women, who you notice here always end up dead.. My mother kept her make up and hair dye into her 90s for that reason. The men here are ghastly brutes. "Snap out of it and think of me" was one comment. Huh!
I honestly think these books should be a part of the history of women in any University course of history or literature. Another bit is the total gap of silence around women of colour and men too.
Overall very enjoyable if you read or listen against what is said.
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The Lewis Man
- By: Peter May
- Narrated by: Peter Forbes
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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An unidentified corpse is recovered from a peat bog on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. News of the discovery soon reaches Fin Macleod. However, since swapping his life in Edinburgh for a quiet existence on Lewis, such mysteries are no longer a concern for the former detective inspector. Or so he thought. The sequel to The Blackhouse, which was selected for the WH Smith Richard and Judy Bookclub, and the second book in the Lewis trilogy.
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Atmospheric sequel to The Blackhouse
- By Kirstine on 24-02-12
- The Lewis Man
- By: Peter May
- Narrated by: Peter Forbes
Grim
Reviewed: 03-06-22
I am giving up. Its too miserable for me. Good description of the landscape which matches the sombre mood of the whole thing.
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Heart of Darkness
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Toby Stephens
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Joseph Conrad"s Heart of Darkness is an exploration of the nature of evil and how far a man can go towards it when released from the constraints of what can be called civilisation. Before beginning his life as a writer at the age of 36, Conrad spent 16 years as a merchant seaman. In 1889 he became captain of a steamboat in the Congo Free State, and the atrocities he witnessed there, perpetrated by the representatives of the Belgian colonial powers, led him to write what he called his Congo Diary.
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Fab 👍
- By MiriTheGreat on 01-11-21
- Heart of Darkness
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Toby Stephens
Excellent performance
Reviewed: 30-04-22
How do you give stars for this ghastly story that is so well written, a classic, but so awful in its depravity and vile in its portrayal of dark, so called savages, so Other, so expendable. Here is Toby Stephens, a very underrated and superb actor giving it his all, bringing out the brutishness of this novel. And yet I say to myself, shame on you for listening to it, yet again. Shame that it still lives on. I suppose if proof were needed of why the Black Lives Matter campaign exists, this is it, its still with us.
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A Body in the Bath House
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 13
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus Didius Falco discovers that rank brings problems, the most gruesome of which is a corpse buried under the tiles of his new bath house. The contractors have fled to Britain where, as the Fates have it, Falco is ordered. A local chief and ally of the Romans is having a Palace built by the Emperor Vespasian. However, the project is running late, and fatal accidents keep happening. Falco, troubleshooting for the Emperor, is without an ally and now next on the list for assassination.
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Typically Brilliant
- By John L. on 28-06-06
- A Body in the Bath House
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 13
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
Great fun
Reviewed: 06-06-21
Lots of different characters thrown in. A good storyline. Irony, funny asides and lots of sub plots. Really enjoyed this and one of my favourites. Would love to hear this adapted for the radio to join some other Falco dramas that the BBC do so well.
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Three Hands in the Fountain
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 9
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Marcus Didius Falco and his friend Petronius find their local fountain has been blocked - by a severed human hand. Soon other body parts are being found in the aqueducts & sewers.
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Ruined by the narrator.
- By mr a bayley on 22-01-18
- Three Hands in the Fountain
- Marcus Didius Falco, Book 9
- By: Lindsey Davis
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
Gruesome
Reviewed: 06-06-21
Not so funny this time and you need a strong stomach or is that just me! Interesting detail about waterworks and how things worked then. OveralI, I prefer the more light -hearted Falco.
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Grantchester Grind
- By: Tom Sharpe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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The instinct of the true Porterhouse man faced with a crisis is to reach for the bottle and then to fall back on the subtle tactical skills honed at Cambridge down the centuries: blackmail and kidnap. But will these be enough? Menaced on all sides - by the collapse of the Chapel, by the tentacles of organised crime, and by the hovering threat of the abominable Dog’s Nose Man - will Porterhouse be forced to unleash the most fearsome weapon in its armoury - the college food?
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Disjointed, unfunny, bulked out by expletives
- By twigs way on 22-02-12
- Grantchester Grind
- By: Tom Sharpe
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
Fantastic!
Reviewed: 01-03-21
Its not often that I laugh out loud these days but this sequel to Porterhouse Blue had me it fits. Crazy as ever, the characters are larger than life. Black latex, colonic irrigation, dodgy drinks, cat food factory and pigs. I only wish this had been made into a tv series as a follow on to Porterhouse Blue. My guess is they ain"t brave enough now, shame. The narrator was particularly good and kept the up the fast pace. Don"t listen before bedtime because you wont switch off ! Best listen in ages.
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A House in Sicily
- By: Daphne Phelps
- Narrated by: Carolyn Bonnyman
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Near Mount Etna in Sicily lies Casa Cuseni, a beautiful house built in golden stone - and the home which Daphne Phelps was astonished to find she had inherited in 1947. At the age of 34, war-weary from working as a psychiatric social worker, with barely any Italian, and precious little money, she plunged into a fascinating Sicilian world.
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Fabulous social history over recent times
- By ginger on 16-12-20
- A House in Sicily
- By: Daphne Phelps
- Narrated by: Carolyn Bonnyman
Fabulous social history over recent times
Reviewed: 16-12-20
Having visited Sicily I was attracted to this book, I was not disappointed. It does give an overall picture of the social history and the problems that the people have to overcome to obtain even the most basics of need such as a family rather than being an orphan with the nuns, who themselves had no options but to stay there after maturing. I recommend this to anyone with an interest in how Sicily has fared past and present. It explains a great deal and makes sense of so much of which seems to be so contradictory to the outsider.
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3 people found this helpful