• The Quiller Memorandum

  • By: Adam Hall
  • Narrated by: Simon Prebble
  • Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (386 ratings)

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The Quiller Memorandum  By  cover art

The Quiller Memorandum

By: Adam Hall
Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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Publisher's summary

You are a secret agent working for the British in Berlin. You are due to go home on leave, but you are being followed by the enemy - or your own people. A man meets you in the theater and briefs you on a plot to revive the power of Nazi Germany. You do not believe him, but you remember that one of the suspects mentioned was a senior SS officer you met while you were working as a spy in Nazi Germany. Next, you make contact with a beautiful girl who may know something. Someone tries to kill both of you.

Your name is Quiller. You are the hero of an extraordinary novel that shows how a spy works, how messages are coded and decoded, how contacts are made, how a man reacts under the influence of truth drugs, and that traces the story of a vastly complex, entertaining, convincing, and sinister plot.

©1965 Jonquil Trevor (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

  • Winner, 1966 Edgar Award for Mystery Fiction

"You can't go wrong with Quiller." (Harper's)
"Tense, intelligent, harsh, surprising." (New York Times)
"A model of breathless excitement." (New Yorker)

What listeners say about The Quiller Memorandum

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

It starts off pretty strong, but...

I enjoyed roughly the first half of The Quiller Memorandum immensely. It's set in Berlin during the mid 1960s, a setting ripe with intrigue, and it gets off to a fast start. But about half way through the story, an element of overdone psychoanalysis intrudes on the narrative and it just goes on and on until you begin to wonder which word applies best, tiresome or wearisome. (I say wearisome is worse than tiresome, and thus is the better choice.)

The performance by Simon Prebble is top notch.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

An entertaining thriller

This is a well-read, well-written thriller that holds up to repeated listens. It is a classic of post-war espionage, full of twists and turns.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Story stops with an interesting premise

The idea of a post WWII Germany and hunting for evil Nazi's had potential. The book however realized none of it as it rambles through a self reflective narrative that neither tells a story nor develops any characters.

90% of the time the story deals with what the main character is thinking. It never seems to develop into a plot to follow nor enjoy.

This easily is my least favorite Audible download in 3 years. Maybe if you have enjoyed other of this authors books you may enjoy it, but I found it uncompelling and tedious.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Glad I’m stubborn...

I’m glad I’m stubborn and didn’t go by the reviews alone because I would have missed out on this book. I don’t understand those that say “no story” or “no end” or “no point or purpose”. The story was excellent the whole way through and there were ALOT of twists and it allowed the reader to think along with the main character which I enjoy a nice challenge of the brain personally. As for the ending there was a ending and it not only ended with the main character achieving his sought after revenge from the start of the book but it also set the scene to let YOU decide and imagine how it played it. Was the end plan successful? You decide, they don’t specifically tell tell you which I also enjoy because the classic good guys always wins and the plan always goes perfect happily ever after gets boring after a while. If you like Nazi/Spy stuff this is a fantastic work, it’s also accurate when they reference actual events and people from the Third Reich while also adding some fictional characters to allow for speculation. They also offer a very interesting as well as fitting outcome for Hitler after his demise...read/listen and see what I mean!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A good thriller with a lot of spy craft

This is a story about a hunter of Nazi war criminal's. I am not sure when it takes place maybe the 1990s and there is a rise of neo-Nazis in Germany and still lots of war criminals on the loose. It begins very thrilling and quite exciting but towards the end, There is an awful lot of spy craft and details about what the hero is thinking and it drags and gets a bit boring.

If you are interested in the details of spy craft then you would really enjoy this book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Classic Spy Novel from the 1960s

A very good read/listen. Reminds me of Len Deighton's work from the same time period.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Overwrought

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Seems like it was trying to be literary, so lots of stream of consciousness and Freudian. Seemed like dreck.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Fiction

Would you listen to The Quiller Memorandum again? Why?

Yes. Mostly because the story is so good but also because the performance is near perfect. The narrarator did an absolutely splendid job bringing this story to life. I don't think this would have been as good an experience without the narrarator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main, character, of course. Everyone else is a bad guy.

Have you listened to any of Simon Prebble’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first time listening to Mr. Pebble. I would absolutely listen to him again. He is fantastic.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Very entertaining story. Marvelous performance.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

Very well written and wonderful narration. Hard to believe it was written in 1965 except that the details of the Cold War made it seem you were there. Can’t wait to listen to the next one!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very good spy thriller

A sometimes very exciting spy story but ultimately not especially believable one but then again believability is hardly the purpose suspense and uncertainty rules the day here.

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2 people found this helpful