• The Adversary

  • A Novel
  • By: Michael Crummey
  • Narrated by: Mary Lewis
  • Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Adversary  By  cover art

The Adversary

By: Michael Crummey
Narrated by: Mary Lewis
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

An enthralling novel about the corruption of power and the power of corruption from one of our greatest writers, the award-winning, bestselling author of THE INNOCENTS (Extraordinary”—Wall Street Journal)

"A FLAWLESSLY CRAFTED NARRATIVE"—Wall Street Journal

"MASTERPIECE"—Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)

"CEASELESSLY ENTERTAINING"—Kirkus (Starred Review)

"ONE OF OUR BEST WRITERS"—Booklist (Starred Review)

In an isolated outport on Newfoundland's northern coastline, Abe Strapp is about to marry the daughter of a rival merchant to cement his hold on the shore when the Widow Caines arrives to throw the wedding and Abe's plans into chaos.

That ruthless act of sabotage is the opening salvo in a battle between the man and woman who own Mockbeggar's largest mercantile firms, each fighting for the scarce resources of the north Atlantic fishery, each seeking a measure of revenge on the person they despise most in the world. As their unshakeable animosity spirals further each year into vendettas and violence, the community is increasingly divided and even the innocents in Mockbeggar find themselves forced to take sides, with devastating consequences.

Through merciless seasons of uncertainty and want, through predatory storms and pandemics and marauding privateers, it is the human heart that reveals itself to be the most formidable and unpredictable adversary for each person drawn, inevitably and helplessly, into that endless feud.

Thoroughly enjoyable and uncompromising, The Adversary is a masterful evocation of a lost time, and a shadowed mirror to our modern politics of grievance and retribution.

©2024 Michael Crummey (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Potent...[a] vibrant historical novel....By turns bawdy, violent, comic, and gruesome."
The New Yorker

"Ingeniously constructed and wound tight as a mainspring...Flawlessly crafted...A sinuous narrative in constant, elegant motion." —The Wall Street Journal

The Adversary is a beautifully written, immensely powerful and subtly ingenious novel. Its greatest — which is to say, most monstrous — revelations are so discreetly offered that you could miss them; but when you realize them, they practically take your breath away." —The Washington Post

What listeners say about The Adversary

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Still not really sure what this was about

Well performed, but rather confusing. Maybe if I had read instead of listening it would have made more sense. Still have a lot of questions about a rather non compelling plot.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!