A great story, not dealt justice

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Possibly not. I love the story, it is a classic, and possibly Maclean's best work... but.. it is only a good listen if the narrator can recreate this. The producer/editors should also take some of the blame to. This recording is not upto the standard of the 40 year old cassette version!

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jonathan Oliver?

Anyone! (David Rintoul, Toby Longworth, Matt Addis, but as they are soooo good and therefore possibly to expensive to employ).. how about Colin Mace who read 'Nomad' so well ? ...actually that is a bit unfair, but Oliver struggles much like with 'The Guns of Navarone' with accents. The German ones all sound the same and like a cliched parody more akin to the BBC's 'Allo, Allo!', and the female voice of Mary, nearly made my ears bleed. The american accent for Schaffer is identical to Dusty Miller in Guns of Navarone, the germans the same, and I can only thank god that there were no greeks in this story. He seems to only be able to recreate one version of an accent. His fluency is in question as well, as he struggles to turning that into a coherent and not disjointed experience (lots of unnecessary pauses, or bad edits?). The problem here is that this is repeated from previous books, and although I believe he delivers this one slightly better, it is still a long way off from good, let alone perfect.I originally listened to this on cassette read by Martin Jarvis...the cassette, even in it's 40 year, mangled state is better!

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I nearly cried in places when the accents assaulted my ears!

Any additional comments?

Oliver's performance in Fear is the Key, was a lot better (less accents), so I will be looking at 'When Eight Bells Toll' in the future, but will be weary of acquiring other Maclean works, that he reads. It is a real shame as I like Maclean's work, but it is only good if delivered to the same standard.

8 people found this helpful

Twists and Turns and Turns and Twists - A Classic

You have seen the film (more than once?) and probably read the book, now listen to it!

I thought it would feel like I had been listening for years, but no, the hours slipped by and when the end came; I thought “yep, still a very good story, no matter how many times I have seen/read it”.

It is a rightly described as a classic, with all the twists and turns you could want, almost to the last page.

The characters might be a bit light in the ‘backstory’ area, but that does not matter. Most of the story takes place over one day anyway and moves at a good pace.

The performance is good, not brilliant. There seemed to be little vocal difference across the characters, but for me that was fine, as it allowed me to ‘overlay’ the tones of Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood et al.

But I do have a dilemma – Ice Station Zebra or Puppet On A Chain :)

So if you like a good paced, action story – give this a try, I bet you will not be disappointed.

3 people found this helpful

Exciting.

A known story but was curious, and it did not disapoint,,, I am a fan of the narrator, and his voice adds depth to the story, an exciting listen.

2 people found this helpful

Magnificent writing. Reasonable reading.

I’ve loved this book since I was 11 years old, and this unabridged and almost entirely original text is outstanding. MacLean always had a genius skill with pacing, and this book was pretty much his peak.

I didn’t really get on with the narrator though. I’m no way is he a bad actor, but for me was a little miscast. His style of reading, kind of a bit stop start with a very (perhaps too) subtle vocal range about the punchy parts seemed oddly out of place. For me, it felt ever so slightly that he was reading a book - but I *want* it to feel as though he’s telling a *story*. I personally would have enjoyed it more with stinger inflections and a little more variety.
All in all, I liked it, but felt I could have loved it.

2 people found this helpful

Not quite right

Story is great but not sure the narrator got the tone right for me. Too much tongue in cheek humour which didn't jump out to me when I read the book.

2 people found this helpful

Good Fun

Very enjoyable. A huge fan of the film, I found the book equally good fun. A difficult story to narrate, and the accents were a little weak, and dated. However this did not distract too much from the excellent plot.

Fantastic audiobook

My favourite book and film brilliantly told. Highly recommend this book from audible. Excellent entertainment

Boys Own Adventure .

As good if not better than the film (which was excellent ). Excellently narrated by Jonathan Oliver who sounds like Richard Burton when he wants too!. Good fun........

An old favorite.

Since I was a boy I have always been a fan of Alistair Maclean and Where Eagles Dare is one of my all time favorite books by any author. Read it countless times since I was a teenager and Im now in my 60s. I have also seen the movie dozens of tmes. A great war story now brought to my ears by Audible. The narrator did a good job making the voices believable . The only negative was that having seen the movie so many times I was a bit disappointed it didn't sound like Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood but it didn't stop me enjoying and old favorite. highly recommended.

A great story

Unlike Ice Station Zebra the film is very similar to the book and I could hear Richard Burton’s voice in my head as I listened to this story. It is well voiced and left me wanting more.