Moscow Exile

De: John Lawton

Narrado por: Lewis Hancock, Nicola Bryant

From “quite possibly the best historical novelist we have” (Philadelphia Inquirer), the fourth Joe Wilderness spy thriller, moving from Red Scare–era Washington, DC, to a KGB prison near Moscow’s Kremlin

In Moscow Exile, John Lawton departs from his usual stomping grounds of England and Germany to jump across the Atlantic to Washington, DC, in the fragile postwar period where the Red Scare is growing noisier every day.

Charlotte is a British expatriate who has recently settled in the nation’s capital with her second husband, a man who looks intriguingly like Clark Gable, but her enviable dinner parties and soirées aren’t the only things she is planning. Meanwhile, Charlie Leigh-Hunt has been posted to Washington as a replacement for Guy Burgess, last seen disappearing around the corner and into the Soviet Union. Charlie is soon shocked to cross paths with Charlotte, an old flame of his, who, thanks to all her gossipy parties, has a packed pocketbook full of secrets she is eager to share. Two decades or so later, in 1969, Joe Wilderness is stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, held captive by the KGB, a chip in a game way above his pay grade—but his old friends Frank and Eddie are going to try to spring him out of the toughest prison in the world. All roads lead back to Berlin, and to the famous Bridge of Spies …

Featuring crackling dialogue, brilliantly plotted Cold War intrigue, and the return of beloved characters, including Inspector Troy, Moscow Exile is a gripping thriller populated by larger-than-life personalities in a Cold War plot that feels strangely in tune with our present.

©2023 John Lawton (P)2023 Oakhill

Not his best.

I’ve read all the inspector Troy books and they are by and large really well written and good stories. This one not so much. Not sure what the point was here. Didn’t really care for the characters and the story was meh. Lawton is great but not here. Almost didn’t finish it but I did. Again meh I

A forgettable effort

Poorest of all the novels. Weak storyline. Why mess up a winning narration ? Dissatisfied.

Intriguing and “page“ turner

Took a minute to catch up in chapter 1. And when I did, could not put down. Wished it had gone on for another 300 chapters. Thank you John Lawton.

Another great John Lawton listen

I only hope there will be more ! Great to have the various Troy figures back. And Nell. Anna and the pigs. Even Tosca makes a brief appearance.

Save yourself the aggro

Not Judging hn Lawrin's best wirk by far BUT...the woman who does the bulk of the performance is,um, poorly chosen She might be fine for an uncomplicated story but for a variety of reasons this effort is'nt just sub- par, but irrutating I'd have stuck with the book with a better reading effort but this one went bacj for creddit Save yiyrself the aggro

Did not like Nicola Bryant’s narrating

Lewis Hancock’s narrating was awesome as usual but Nicola Bryant was annoying. Also the way she was recorded was hard to listen to. You could hear almost every breathe she took, she breaths through her nose and it sort it whistled, very distracting

I love Lawton’s historical fiction.

This would be most enjoyable if it weren’t for the first half of the book that is narrated by Nicola Bryant. I found her narration to be highly irritating. Luckily, the second half is narrated with his usual skill by Lewis Hancock.

Different

What I expected finally happened in the last third of the book. 2/3 was another narrator who was not my favorite and this was the biggest issue. If you are going to introduce a new character and spend most of your time on that, you could at least have given us the narrator we all like. I very nearly quit this one. Glad I didn’t.

Enjoyed it, but...

I really enjoyed the Joe Wilderness series, but this one left me.. I don't know. Calling it a hate listen would be far too harsh, but it was something of a slog. I think its because Wilderness doesn't make an appearance until the last 1/3 of the book. The new characters were fine, the story was good, but more than once I needed to force myself to listen to it.
That bing said, I'm glad I finished it, the ending made up for the long trip to get there. I had no issues with Nicola Bryant's performance, but obviously these things are subjective.
Worth the listen, but check your expectations at the prologue.

Disappointed

I downloaded the book because I’d read a rave review of it somewhere. Wow, what a disappointment. The book doesn’t really have a plot. Not a bad plot, not a plot filled with holes. No plot. It follows a group of people over 5 decades, so basically a diary.