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Heartstone
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Spring, 1543. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, whom he wants for his sixth wife. But this time the object of his affections is resisting. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly, for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies.
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5 out of 5 stars
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One of the best so far
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Lamentation
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government of Henry's successor, eight-year-old Prince Edward. As heretics are hunted across London, and the radical Protestant Anne Askew is burned at the stake, the Catholic party focus their attack on Henry's sixth wife, Matthew Shardlake's old mentor, Queen Catherine Parr.
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Dark Fire
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 16
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It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the 16th century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister - and a new assignment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping!
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Sovereign
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- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
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Autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Already in York are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak. Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission: to ensure the welfare of a dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation. But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries.
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Dissolution
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- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
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Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church, and the country is waking up to savage new laws. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent to investigate the monasteries. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead. And Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of reform, has been sent by Cromwell into an atmosphere of treachery and death to investigate.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping
- By Helen Esdaile on 11-05-2016
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Dominion
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4 out of 5 stars 18
The Great Smog. London. A dense, choking fog engulfs the city and beneath it, history is re-written…1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Aternative History
- By Yvonne on 20-06-2018
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Revelation
- A Matthew Shardlake Novel
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 14
Spring, 1543. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, whom he wants for his sixth wife. But this time the object of his affections is resisting. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly, for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best so far
- By Richard on 23-05-2018
-
Lamentation
- Shardlake, Book 6
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 25 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 16
Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government of Henry's successor, eight-year-old Prince Edward. As heretics are hunted across London, and the radical Protestant Anne Askew is burned at the stake, the Catholic party focus their attack on Henry's sixth wife, Matthew Shardlake's old mentor, Queen Catherine Parr.
-
Dark Fire
- A Matthew Shardlake Novel
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 15
It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the 16th century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister - and a new assignment.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping!
- By Julie Swanepoel on 26-06-2017
-
Sovereign
- A Matthew Shardlake Novel
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 14
Autumn, 1541. Following the uncovering of a plot against his throne in Yorkshire, King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to overawe his rebellious subjects there. Already in York are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant, Jack Barak. Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission: to ensure the welfare of a dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation. But the murder of a local glazier involves Shardlake in deeper mysteries.
-
Dissolution
- A Matthew Shardlake Novel
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church, and the country is waking up to savage new laws. Under the order of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent to investigate the monasteries. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead. And Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of reform, has been sent by Cromwell into an atmosphere of treachery and death to investigate.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gripping
- By Helen Esdaile on 11-05-2016
-
Dominion
- By: C. J. Sansom
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 18
The Great Smog. London. A dense, choking fog engulfs the city and beneath it, history is re-written…1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Aternative History
- By Yvonne on 20-06-2018
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Martyr
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- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2
Drake: Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. With Drake on land fitting out his ships, he is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion. In a London rife with rumour, Shakespeare must decide which leads to follow, which to ignore. When a high-born young woman is found mutilated and murdered at an illicit printing house, it is political gunpowder - and he has no option but to investigate.
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London
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 49 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
A wonderful, epic story that tells the history of the greatest city in the world, from Roman times to the present day. From the author of Paris, Sarum and New York. London has perhaps the most remarkable history of any city in the world. Now its story has a unique voice. In this epic novel, Edward Rutherfurd takes the listener on a magnificent journey across 16 centuries.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Enthralling history and brilliant narration.
- By Anonymous User on 09-04-2018
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The Sacred Stone
- By: C.J. Sansom, Bernard Knight, Susanna Gregory, and others
- Narrated by: Paul Matthews
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 6
Masters of the historical mystery, authors Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, Simon Beaufort, and C.J. Sansom band together as The Medieval Murderers to craft this thrilling tale. In 1067 Greenland, a strange stone falls from the sky. Over the next 600 years, violence and death follow whoever possesses it, including crusading knights, a dying King Henry III, and a troupe of His Majesty King James I’s players.
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4 out of 5 stars
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excellent
- By Linda on 30-04-2016
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Medicus
- A Novel of the Roman Empire
- By: Ruth Downie
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4 out of 5 stars 9
Gaius Petrius Ruso is a divorced and down-on-his-luck army doctor who has made the rash decision to seek his fortune in an inclement outpost of the Roman Empire, namely Britannia. After a 36-hour shift at the army hospital, he succumbs to a moment of weakness and rescues an injured slave girl, Tilla, from the hands of her abusive owner. And before he knows it, Ruso is caught in the middle of an investigation into the deaths of prostitutes working out of the local bar.
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4 out of 5 stars
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ER meets Midsomer Murders meets ancient Rome
- By kevinplee@hotmail.com on 01-07-2018
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A Plague on Both Your Houses
- The First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew
- By: Susanna Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 6
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Story4 out of 5 stars 6
Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.
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4 out of 5 stars
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well read fiction.
- By Kirin on 22-11-2017
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The Ruby in the Smoke
- By: Philip Pullman
- Narrated by: Anton Lesser
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
An unabridged reading of Philip Pullman's nerve-shattering thriller, set in the murky streets and opium dens of Old London. When 16-year old Sally's father drowns in suspicious circumstances, she is left to fend for herself in Victorian London. Although she doesn't know it, she is already in terrible danger.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Quite a good way to pass the time
- By Ms. Shellie R. May on 16-05-2018
Publisher's Summary
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII’s invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet is preparing to sail across the Channel. As the English fleet gathers at Portsmouth, the country raises the largest militia army it has ever seen. The King has debased the currency to pay for the war, and England is in the grip of soaring inflation and economic crisis.
Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. Asked to investigate claims of “monstrous wrongs” committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death, Shardlake and his assistant Barak journey to Portsmouth.
Once arrived, Shardlake and Barak find themselves in a city preparing to become a war zone; and Shardlake takes the opportunity to also investigate the mysterious past of Ellen Fettipace, a young woman incarcerated in the Bedlam. The emerging mysteries around the young ward, and the events that destroyed Ellen’s family 19 years before, involve Shardlake in reunions both with an old friend and an old enemy close to the throne. Events will converge on board one of the King’s great warships, primed for battle in Portsmouth harbour....
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- John Blackmore
- 24-12-2010
Abridged ?
Sansom and Lesser great as always but why was it necessary to abridge the book ?
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- ThePuss
- 16-04-2012
Excellent book, well read
CJ Sansom's lawyer/detective is once again on a royal job that he doesn't particularly want. The writing is inspired and together with the actual historical events that are entwined in the story line, the Matthew Shardlake series of books are a pleasure to read... you can almost "smell" the 16th Century from the description. And, Anton Lesser's narration is once again excellent... just enough accent and voice change between characters to recognise each one, without getting into the world of silly voices!
If you haven't read one of these yet, I really recommend starting with "Dissolution" and going through in order, but if you start here you'll still enjoy the ride!
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Williams
- 06-08-2013
Intriguing, historically accurate story.
Would you consider the audio edition of Heartstone to be better than the print version?
First CJ Hanson novel so can't compare
What other book might you compare Heartstone to, and why?
Phillipa Gregory for the interweaving of history and fiction
What does Anton Lesser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
He gives the character's their voice which I can't do in my head.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Intriguing,murder mystery set in Tudor England
Any additional comments?
My first C J Hanson novel but definitely not the last - so glad my friend recommended the novels.. Going to put another on my ipod for a long haul flight - I'd rather listen to a book than watch a movie.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kath Potter
- 17-07-2013
Tudor times brought to life
Where does Heartstone rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The best
Who was your favorite character and why?
Matthew Shardlake is an honest compassionate lawyer who you'd be glad to have on your side if you were in trouble.A warm, kind, sensitive man who has to bear the affliction of being a hunchback in a time when such a condition aroused fear and suspicion.
What does Anton Lesser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Anton Lesser is simply the best reader. His voice is so expressive, he breathes life into each character and is also very good at regional accents.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Mystery and intrique in Tudor England
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- jo dodd
- 08-08-2011
Heartstone
I was very pleased to see this on the list, Anton Lesser is fabulous as usual. Why oh why is it abridged?? I normally avoid them not seeing the point at all. Having read the book it misses out some of the great details that make Sansom books so good. Abridged books are to be avoided !!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Good Foodie
- 24-01-2011
Heartstone
The minute I start listening to these stories by C.J. Sansom I am transported back in time and I am living it. The period comes alive, the sights, smells and above all the fear.
I love these books by C.J. Sansom and I thoroughly enjoy the reading by this narrator. I could listen to his reading over and over again. More please.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Rogayah
- 15-12-2010
To battle
Shardlake rides to the rescue again of someone in need. A simple request by Queen Jane combined wtith his own curiosity about a woman in Bedlam turns a journey to Portsmouth into a glimpse into one of Henry VIII's disastrous clashes with the French and a gripping tale of mystery and intrigue.
Set in the turbulent period of Henry VIII's reign, this book offers both solid historical fact and an entertaining story about Lawyer Shardlake, a minnow in the hands of his enemies in Henry's court like the powerful Richard Rich.
Anton Lesser has read all the Shardlake series to date and has made them his own now, a better reader cannot be found
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Harriet Morris
- 09-10-2010
A MUST HAVE FOR LOVERS OF TUDOR HISTORY!
Yet another terrific book from C.J. Sansom! The narrative by Anton Lesser must be somewhere near the top for the magical characterisation of his readings! I just could not stop listening (all night)! This particular part of Henry VIII reign is given a quite different angle! Just wonderful!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Kenneth
- 07-10-2010
Another great story from C.J.Sansom
What can i say another reverting story about Shardlake and Barak with interesting historical facts,
Having listened to all the other Shardlake stories i really enjoyed this one and excellently read by Anton Lesser.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-09-2018
Fantastic
Brilliant. CJ Sansom does it again.
Anton Lesser IS Shardlake
Straight onto the next one.