The Man with the Golden Torc: Secret Histories, Book 1

A funny and amusing satire of James Bond and The Avengers, etc. to include special gadgets; the matriarch (mother); Q; fancy sports cars; and imaginative villains. The narrator has a slightly bored, ho-hum quality that perfectly fits the "been there and done that attitude" of Eddie when he describes his fantastic exploits, family, and abilities. To anyone else it would be fantastic - but to Eddie it is just life as usual and nothing out of the ordinary. During the action sequences the narrator picks up the pace and sounds excited, alarmed, surprised, etc. The women's voices are not perfection, but I was never in doubt as to who was speaking and I did not find it irritating.

The book was a great "listen" and I enjoyed it very much. It would be great to have a sequel and find out how Eddie handles the family. If you are looking for a fun book that will make you laugh and feel good when evil is outsmarted, this would be the one.

A little Harry Potter, a little Artemis Fowle, mixed with some Stephen King and entirely original! I really enjoyed this book and the sequel. It's fantasy and sci-fi for adults and great fun. I liked the reader very much. I loved his rendition of Eddie Drood, and all the characters' voices were unique. I admit, I'm a sucker for this genre. Nevertheless, I found it funny, exciting, and extremely well written. I was hooked from beginning to end.

I was a little hesitant when I first started listening because it drops you right in the middle of what's going on but it turned out to be a great scifi/fantasy book with the revenge aspect that everyone loves. I like it so much that I just got the follow-up book Daemons Are Forever which picks up at the end of this one.

great for fantasy & 007 fans. The narrator is ok, but his female voices and southern accent are appalling. Thankfully he only narrates the 1st two books. Really looking forward to the rest of the series.

When if at all will the torc become silver...it is a wonderful work of Simon Green. Now I'm ready for the next book in the Torc

it is an obvious ripoff of Ian Fleming's masterworks but is fun enough that I personally do not care

This story and title are obviously Ian Flemming tongue in cheek Bond stories. The story was entertaining but the person who voiced the characters had poor inflection and a horrible character repertoire. His female character voices absolutely turned my stomach and at times I was close to putting the book down. His sultry voice sounded like someone gargling rocks (The female voices) and the men came off very static and boring. I am not one to typically write ill of people, but the Narrator did a major dis-service to this book.

The book on it's own merit would have earned a 4 star rating. Please listen to the sample before buying.

This is my first Simon Green book, and I very much enjoyed it. It was fun fantasy, a creative plot, and likeable heros. I've had a lot of dreary tasks to contend with recently, and this book helped me get through them with a smile. Stuart Blinder was a perfect reader for this. I will be looking for more books in the series.

It took a while for me to get used to the narrator's voice. I started and stopped listening to this book several times. However, at some point it clicked and I really enjoyed listening to this book. I previously read the hardback version.

We don't have time for print books

The connection with some of the night side people

Mr Blinder is a true artist he did a great job will listen to him again

I liked it when the found out what the diamond really wanted of the Drood family

Look forward to the next one.