Company of Liars

By: Karen Maitland

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

On this day of ill omen, plague makes its entrance. Within weeks, swathes of England will be darkened by death's shadow. While panic and suspicion flood the land, a small band of travelers comes together to outrun the breakdown in law and order.

But when one of their number is found hanging from a tree, the chilling discovery confirms that something more sinister than plague is in their midst. And as the runes warn of treachery, it appears no one is quite what they seem, least of all the child rune reader, who mercilessly compels each of her companions to tell their stories. And face the consequences...

©2008 Karen Maitland (P)2008 Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Wow!

A terrific story with an outstanding narrator. The characters come to life in all their many facets. It's one of those tales you don't want to leave, it stays with you. One of the best historical books I've read.

Great narrator, story has potential.

Would you try another book from Karen Maitland and/or David Thorpe?

I would not hesitate to buy another book narrated by David Thorpe. As for Karen Maitland, I am not sure.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting aspect of the story was Camelot and his story. Narigorm was the least interesting.

What about David Thorpe’s performance did you like?

David Thorpe brought the characters to life, made it easy to imagine them.

Was Company of Liars worth the listening time?

I thought it was worth listening to all the way up to the ending. There is a great story here but the ending was beyond disappointing.

Any additional comments?

One thing I found annoying was between chapters. One chapter would end and a millisecond later the next chapter number would be read. For timing purposes I would have liked a few more seconds, especially when something horrible happened at the end of a chapter.

Superb

David Thorpe brought the characters to life with his multiple changes of accent and voice.
This is an engaging tale of fear of the unknown. I had to listen to it at every opportunity.

Well done

Great story teller. Knew her history and research her her subject well and kept your interest from start to finish.

I love this book

I have listened to this 4 or 5 times now and I find new details that change my perspective every time. and I'm reading it again

Fascinating Characters - Disappointing Ending

The time period (1348), the group of characters, and the situations they encountered as they journeyed through plague-ridden England were quite interesting and I enjoyed these aspects of the story. The narrator was excellent. However, it turns out that after many hours of listening, the end, which I expect was meant to be mysterious and thought-provoking, was simply unexceptional, leaving many questions unanswered, and providing minimal resolution - quite disappointing. Ultimately, the entire story was a long journey that lead nowhere.

Worth downloading

Great story teller..
Great story..

Very good reader..

Jackie

Wait ... what?

Nicey written but sort of anticlimactic. I enjoyed it, but the ending (last 2 hours) is not as good as the rest of the book. In my opinion, of course.

Such vivid imagery and feelings provoked...

I loved the story. I feel like many of the negative reviews are due to the "open ending." So many wanna concrete answer to many questions that get left up in the air. That didn't affect my opinion. The narrator done such an amazing job at differentiating the characters. His accents and tones were spot on. Maitland done a phenomenal job at taking me away into her world of Plague Times. So much misery, hardship, struggle, injustice, pain and torment in those times...to simply be alive was to live a hard life. I felt the feelings of the characters. I got a perfect picture in my head of all of them. I found myself feeling sorry for even characters like Zophiel who's cruelty is astounding. I think this would be a really cool book to make into a TV series or a movie. Would recommend!

Vivid and entertaining!

From the first word to the last, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. This review is based on the Audible audiobook narrated by David Thorpe.

A small number of people band together as they try to outrun the plague in medieval England. As they travel, they tell their own stories and discover each other's secrets. Each tale is as scary and mystical as the larger tale it is wooden into. The characters are vivid and delightfully narrated by Mr Thorpe, who masterfully gives each its own voice. All of this set in a well-written, passing countryside beset with fears both real -- the plague itself, highway robbers, starvation -- and imaginary (or are they?).

I especially enjoyed the blending of the pagan and Christian cultures as they were being molded around one another and played out in the journey, at a large festival and around firesides.

I have only one criticism, and it is only of the structure of the audiobook itself. A new chapter would start without any pause or warning. The chapter number would be announced almost before the last chapter was finished being spoken. It was rather startling, as the story itself had a very easy, natural flow.