Spandau Phoenix

By: Greg Iles

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The Spandau Diary - what was in it? Why did the secret intelligence agencies of every major power want it? Why was a brave and beautiful woman kidnapped to get it? Why did a chain of deception and violent death lash out across the globe, from survivors of the Nazi past to warriors in this new conflict about to explode? Why did the world's entire history of World War II have to be rewritten as the future hung over a nightmare abyss?

©1994 Greg Iles (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Long But Engrossing

This audiobook is over 26 hours and it is surprisingly engrossing. The story has many threads and the author keeps them flowing. My only problem with this audiobook was the narrator. He does many things well but he makes all women and all foreigners (particularly Germans) sound as though they are whining and crying.

Long and complicated

Where does Spandau Phoenix rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I got lost in this story more than once. It is convoluted and there are a LOT of characters. That said it was engrossing and the presentation was excellent. It had to be good to get through that many hours of the same story. I still didn't want to leave these people after it was all over. I recommend it.

A Good Read, or Listen....

I tend to read Science Fiction and Fantasy regarding wizards, warlocks and magic. I need to change it up and found this book.

I thought the book was well done, the story flowed well and did not linger.

Plausible, I guess not given what we know now about the survivors of WWII, but the book does put an interesting spin on the Hess mystery.

The book is fast paced, and the narrator does a great job, every once and awhile he slips up on the German accented voices and the English accents, but not annoying.

I enjoyed that the characters were not purely good and evil except for of course one character I will not mention.

Given when this book was written the funny passage about chaos in the work if Gas reached $98 a barrel was pretty funny given the price today.

If you like to read about fantasy and a different take on post WW2 history this one is worth the money.

I always enjoy books read by Dick Hill

I may not be fair to Greg Iles but although this is not my usual genre of book, I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much. Typically Nazi based stories have not been my choice but good story line and the excellent performance by Dick Hill brought this home.

Complex plot with plenty of action.

I loved Black Cross by Iles and this book also did not disappoint. Listen to Black Cross first if you plan to get both books. Great characters and more plot surprises than most books. I hope Greg Iles goes back to writing more military/espionage books, he clearly does a great job and researches his books well. Narration was also a big plus and made the book flow easily. Easily a five star book. Highly recommend.

Well Told Story of Intrigue and Suspense

Greg Iles is a wonderful story teller and this book is a thrilling tale of espionage, heart-stopping suspense and action. This well-told story spans more than 50 years. It centers on the real identity of Rudolf Hess and whether members of the Royal family plotted with Hitler to save England during WWII. It all begins with a policeman innocently finding notes left by a recently deceased elderly prisoner in Spandau prison.

I would have given it a full 5 stars but as has been pointed out by other reviewers, the story has a few too many plot lines and characters than it needs. There are Nazis, neo Nazis, KGB, all manner of spies, police and secret police (Russian, British, South African, Israeli and American), assassins, Arab terrorists, Cuban and Columbian mercenaries, nuclear weapons, arms dealers, drug dealers ???. This shouldn???t stop anyone from enjoying the ride; just know that it???s going to be a wild one.

Good Story, Good action, Excellent narrator

This book is filled with excellent action, has a lot of interesting characters and a bit of history.

It does manage to drag in a few spots, but not too much.

I can't understand other reviewer's complaints about the narrator. Granted he's not Rich Little, but without his accents and voices, the book would not have been nearly as enjoyable.

Good read - recommended.

Too long

Could have moved along much faster. Great book but I recommend abridged version. This book (especially the 2nd part is too slow) needs to be shortened. Narrator is great.

Historical Fiction?

If you could sum up Spandau Phoenix in three words, what would they be?

Very Complex Tale

What was one of the most memorable moments of Spandau Phoenix?

The confluence of most of the characters, each with different goals, in or near Horn House

What about Dick Hill’s performance did you like?

His ability to modulate his voice to suit different characters

Too Long

What did you like best about Spandau Phoenix? What did you like least?

This is a pretty good book but not up to Illes' standards. While some of his other works, e.g.the Penn Cage series, are comparably long, they are so well written that it's hard to put them down. Unfortunately Spandau Phoenix does not meet this standard.

What didn’t you like about Dick Hill’s performance?

Very little. I cannot understand why Dick Hill is so popular. When he is reading in a normal tone, he's OK, but his attempts at foreign (and female) accents are insufferable and annoying. Unlike John Lee (Century trilogy) whose accents and pronunciations are superb, Hill's are amateurish and exaggerated.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

I wish Illes would either continue the Penn Cage series or begin another one.