The Night Manager

A Novel

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: David Case

Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times Best Seller

A New York Times Notable Book

AMC Miniseries event Tuesday, April 19, 10/9c

John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos.

With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable.

Slipping into this maze of peril is Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who's currently the night manager of a posh hotel in Zurich. Having learned to hate and fear Roper more than any man on earth, Pine is willing to do whatever it takes to help the agents at Whitehall bring him down - and personal vengeance is only part of the reason why.

©2015 John le Carre (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A splendidly exciting, finely told story...masterly in its conception." ( The New York Times Book Review)

"Intrigue of the highest order." ( Chicago Sun-Times)

"Richly detailed and rigorously researched.... Le Carré's gift for building tension through character has never been better realized." ( People)

leaves the miniseries in the dust

...especially due to an extraordinarily spot on performance by David Case. Deserving of an award.

Delivery

Having lived in England for 25 years and now away from there for 30 years, it was fascinating to hear the English language spoken again!

Narration actually great

I was concerned the narration would be unbearable, and Michael Jayston is the great, but this version was actually excellent, and the book a wonderful isolated tale!

Narrator is awful. Ruins a truly great book.

Narrator is awful. Ruins a truly great book. It’s regrettable that Audible cannot get a better version.

Bad ending

The mini series ending was better. This left you hanging. Wish I had someone to answer questions.

Need a Michael Jayston version

One of Le Carré’s better non-Smiley novels, but the narration by David Case is ridiculously bad—the cadence is often jerky, mannered and strained where it should be neutral and easy to listen to, and the accents and voices are completely off-base for the characters. Case’s Jonathan Pine voice is bizarrely quavering and I think some would say effeminate though he is supposed to be a stiff-upper-lip, stoic and inscrutable ex-soldier. The female voices are uniformly unhinged and basically sound insane. Many supporting character voices are harsh and borderline interchangeable despite the fact that they are meant to belong to English, Greek, French-Canadian or Caribbean speakers. It’s a little hard to determine whether the Caribbean characters are written in a racist way or it’s the crazy narration that takes it there, but the overall effect is offensive. Still love Le Carré and this story.

Narration is poor

Such a great story. The narration is as bad as it gets. Too many sharp pauses, too much up and down and over enunciating of words. Shame, as the story is so very very good.

Another fine entry from le Carre

Not his best perhaps, but le Carre’s second best still bettter than most, in my opinion. As usual, an extremely intricate plot that never quite goes the way you think it will.
If you are looking for a James Bond type action thriller, skip this.
If you are looking for a very cerebral story with a strong human element, this is for you. As always, he captures all the complexities of a wide range of people thrown together in difficult and unusual circumstances. Flaws, inner struggles, moral dilemmas and interpersonal relationships are all masterfully examined to the point you feel like you know all the principle characters.
Wasn’t sure if I was going to like David Case at first, but he really grew on me. As an American, I have never heard a Brit who could do a decent American accent. (Yeah, I know. They probably feel the same way about us.) Until now. He actually is pretty good on most of them. He does women well, acts all the parts very well and I lost track of how many regional British accents he does to the point where when one character is said to lapse into his old Yorkshire accent, Case actually does so. Don’t find that often in a narrator. Will look for more by him.

This was SO much better than the TV mini series

Lots of subtle and not-so-subtle differences. Very enjoyable. A page-turner if there were pages to turn.

Great Read!

I watched the TV Series first, then listened to the book. It was a great read. I do recommend it.