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Riveting and absolutely infuriating. The lack of will to bring justice in these cases mystifies and angers me. The book is well written, but for the neophyte (me), jumps around person to person (story to story) in an attempt (?) to be a universal more chronological document as opposed to a case study. I started to lose track of names, when and in what context each was last mentioned. Sadly, in an audio book, you can’t just page back to reacquaint yourself. 4 stars for the choppiness, not the material. The Narrator was excellent and I will look for him in future.

This is a story that tells of the horrors of the Stalinist (and previous and later) regimes. Any thinking person just can not make sense of it all. But it is history in all it's unbelievable twists and turns and how it shaped these peoples lives. What a story! These are real people who suffered with their families things that are just too awful to imagine.
The narrator has a very good voice but strange inflection that took a little getting used to.

First let me say that this is a great listen! If you are interested in a story of ww2 France that shows the heroism of ordinary people, you will not go wrong! I went to amazon and looked up this book, and was delighted to see six pictures of the main characters and the places they lived, that was wonderful! This is not sophisticated writing and probably could have used a little more editing, but it is a solid heartfelt story of the author's wife's family's experiences. This book is also priced so reasonably for it's length, it is a great value, so I was quite impressed by the quality of the research. I would have loved a little more of what happened to everyone at the end, but that is because I really didn't want it to end, and didn't want to leave these people just yet. But I would have thought that, even if there had been more. Get this book! You will enjoy it!

What do you say when you listen to the perfect book, read by the perfect narrator?
And I am embarrassed to say, from an author I have been completely unaware of until just a few weeks ago? Words fail, and I have already given 5 stars to the predecessors so now what? Bravo Audible!
Ww2, spies, and David Audley as a young man. The scene of the office's mess is just about the best English military scene I have ever watched (and I mean I was there!).
The mystery (plot) Is subtle and believable, the characters full and their images clear. I said something in one of the other reviews of this series about this author being a LeCarre light and now am faced with a retraction that I am wrong, this Series has Smiley on the run. (Not that I could do without). Anyway, the only sadness is that these books are not long enough and there are only 18 of them, so savor them and delight in great audible story telling. This book may be in my top 5 ever. Okay, I will stop now, but you get the idea...

This book goes back to the first meeting of Audley and Butler during the last days of ww2 and give insight to their relationship going forward in the series. I am bumbling through since there is no order yet given to the books in the series. Each one is a little masterpiece and not be missed , although I sure prefer to have them in order. Mr Prices writing does get even better and his charactors just continue to develop depth and meaning as we go. This installment sets the stage for the cold war spy novels that follow. The setting is France and you can almost taste the wine. Until just a few days ago, I had never heard of Anthony Price, and as of right now, I seem to be the only one reviewing them. I truely hope that others begins checking them out. I feel like I have discovered a treasure.

New series, start with this one since audible does not have these numbered yet, I went to amazon to find out where to start. I have listened to three of these treasures before writing this review. I find these spy novels a little more accessible than Le Carre and less prurient than Littell (both of which I totally love). These novels are perhaps a little quieter and the characters deeper. Although the plots are no less intricate and satisfying. I find a bit of Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham here too. Please forgive the name dropping, but if description fails, simile seems to do the trick. If any of these authors appeal, and even if they don't, give this author a try, I do not think you will be disappointed.

Is it too long? I wondered halfway through. This book endeavors to put all events of a bombing raid together in a 24 hour time frame. Just like the TV series, it is nearly true to time. But it does work. All the stories are well developed and brought together. Lost one star in making every female character marginal and somewhat silly (this maybe a result the narrator, but is not helped by Mr Deighton, who has written great female characters in subsequent novels). The narrator did an awesome job of giving every one of the characters a recognizable voice and did a fantastic job except for the female ones.
Replete with incredible detail, I feel like I was in the bomber and on the ground at the same time. Almost a perfect book, almost perfectly read. Highly recommended! I don't think there was an agenda to this story, although I felt for the victims, none of them were very sympathetic. I still feel that everything the allies did to try to win the war was justified, after all they did not know how it would end, and were really just trying to win a war they did not start, but had to see through.

This may be one of my favorite books ever. But why? I don't like any of the characters. They are almost all self absorbed blighted people who hurt others with little compunction. The subject is depressing, the loss of innocence, alcoholism, divorce, lost love, death, the list goes on and on. It ends on the eve of ww2 with the house being neglected and ruined by soldiers stationed there. All is so sad, yet the prose are so wonderful, I feel I must have champagne and strawberries this afternoon. Of course, this book's narration belongs to Jeremy Irons, perfection! Listen before you see the movie (the old one, not the new silly choppy one). Get this book and enjoy Mr. Waugh's masterpiece!

These books are addictive , you may even find yourself downloading the next one before you get finished the the current one. Plain great story telling. Enjoy!

While the first two hours (introduction) is read by the author Paul Reid, the rest of the book is narrated by Clive Chafer a wonderful (English narrator).
Mr Reid is a worthy collaborator with WM for this perfect third volume. It is as great as it's preceding first two, worth waiting for. Too bad the other reviewer did not hang in there. In my opinion, Mr Reid had the right to read his own introduction.

I am writing a bad review about a book I loved. Here is an author who could have, and should have gone the extra step. That is take on the impossible challenge of writing the rest of the story, but she didn't.
There are so many books out there covering the same ground, and even the great (War and Remembrance comes to mind, The Seamstress, even the Hiding Place) didn't handle the what happened next very well. But I feel like I made it though all that and I wanted an ending.
Alyson Richmond has the ability to make her characters hold on to your heart, they may be you grandmother /father, you love them. I really feel cheated of the rest of the story, this is one author who could have done it, but didn't. I guess I feel like pouting, sorry but this was an epic missed opportunity, and it just makes me sad. The narrators are transcendent , awesome writing and perfect narration, just needed the last three chapters...