• The Verdict

  • By: Nick Stone
  • Narrated by: David Thorpe
  • Length: 21 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (8,654 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 Verdict  By  cover art

The Verdict

By: Nick Stone
Narrated by: David Thorpe
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.46

Buy for $19.46

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

When Terry Flynt gets the chance to defend a millionaire accused of murder, he knows the case could make his career - but the accused man is Flynt's greatest enemy. Can he defend a man who ruined his life?

Terry Flynt is a struggling legal clerk desperately trying to get promoted when he is given the biggest opportunity of his career: to help defend a millionaire accused of murdering a woman in his hotel suite. The only problem is that the accused man, Vernon James, is not only someone he knows but someone he loathes. This case could potentially make Terry's career, but how can he defend a former friend who betrayed him?

With the trial date looming, Terry delves deeper into Vernon's life and is forced to confront secrets from their shared past that could have devastating consequences for them both. For years, he has wanted to witness Vernon's downfall, but with so much at stake, how can Terry be sure he is guilty? And what choices must he make to ensure that justice is done?

©2015 Nick Stone (P)2015 ISIS Audio Books

Critic reviews

"David Thorpe dazzles with his performance.... [T]he characters run the gamut from upper-crust Brits to African immigrants, and Thorpe can do it all.... This production is jet-propelled and marvelously entertaining." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Verdict

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,664
  • 4 Stars
    2,827
  • 3 Stars
    823
  • 2 Stars
    208
  • 1 Stars
    132
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,473
  • 4 Stars
    1,805
  • 3 Stars
    465
  • 2 Stars
    109
  • 1 Stars
    98
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,108
  • 4 Stars
    2,587
  • 3 Stars
    909
  • 2 Stars
    204
  • 1 Stars
    122

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

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

What Goes Around Comes Back Around!!!

I've heard it said many times that "Karma is a bitch" and it will bite you when you least expect it. That, among others is the moral of this story.

This is a great story. I enjoyed listening and completed the 21 hours in two days. I didn't want the story to end. The publisher's summary is a great description. After blowing his chances at a college education, Terry is now married with children and is currently struggling as a legal clerk in a large law firm. He hopes to get promoted and a great opportunity is offered to him but that opportunity has implications related to his past difficulties especially to his college days. Terry faces a few moral dilemmas throughout the story. The primary storyline is about a murder and mistaken identity. Terry's investigation uncovers other murders as well as revealing backstabbing and underhanded goings-on at his place of employment.

The narrator does an excellent job. In the beginning, I thought the narrator's pauses between sentences was a bit too long, but because the story captivated me from the very beginning, I soon fell into the rhythm of the narrator's speech patterns. The long pauses became less and less as the narrator got deeper into the story.

Highly Recommend.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

170 people found this helpful

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

One of THE best audiobooks ever!

It's very long but really just the right length. I hope Audible gets more titles by this author IN ENGLISH! And David Thorpe is a brilliant narrator!

A great saga of a British legal case which centers on the personal evolution of the character telling the story. If you like Grisham and Connelly you should love this book. That it's set in London is an added bonus IMO. I wish I had saved it to listen to on an up coming road trip - which crossed my mind when I started listening and saw how good it was, but once I started I couldn't stop.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

168 people found this helpful

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

Wickedly Twisting

Have you noticed, legal stuff's gotten blurry. They're either Turow/Grisham preachy, or Connelly formulas. Wait... I like formulas, especially when written to punch all my buttons, and I'll get the next Mickey Haller as soon as it's recorded. Still, their lawyers are increasingly wandering out of court to roam cop procedural rooms or the mean streets of noir detectives.

Nick Stone's soiled narrator, Terry Flint - is watching an Old Bailey case come together through outsider eyes - like mine, yet through a lens that's smeary with his own second-chance blundering history. I had to figure out Flint as determinedly as the case that confounds him. In "The Verdict" - these twin story lines are inextricably woven tighter than an advocate's wig.

If, like me, you're a Yank - Stone makes the Brit court system entirely accessible. And David Thorpe's agile tongue bends around his characters accents both convincingly and understandably. He's a master actor.

If you're looking for a legal thriller that's both twisty and refreshing, this one's it.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

135 people found this helpful

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

7 STARS!!!!!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This will forever be one of the best books I've ever listened to. Superb reading (would hv thought there were many different readers his voice was so good), story had me on the edge of everywhere I was, dying to get to the end but not wanting it to end. I am an audible aholic...I listen to hundreds of books a year. This one is at the top. They should make a movie from it. Can not say enough great things about it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Verdict?

The WHOLE THING! TOO many to count and don't want to give away anything.

Which scene was your favorite?

The writer is very descriptive. Many of the scenes made me feel as if I was there. Sometimes I laughed out loud and many times ( in the court room) I was holding my breath.

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

Yes!!!!!

Any additional comments?

Please take my advice. I'm just a lover of books and especially audio books. This one should make the best of 2016 list!!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

118 people found this helpful

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

Karma Baby

I have joined the list of happy listeners who gave this book 5 stars plus! Having listened to or read many legal thrillers- many disappoint or have neat endings. This one is different. The plot is full of interesting twists and turns, the characters are multidimensional and the ending is not trite. I found myself taking the long way home in the car just to get more listening time in. You will not be disappointed in this book, it’s worth every minute of your listening time and your money.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

77 people found this helpful

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

Good storyline around British justice system

I do give this 4 stars and I did find it legally fascinating, but it is with some reservation. I found myself in a love/hate relationship with the main character. Since its written in the first person, it holds more weight than normal.

On one hand he is witty, smart, confident and resourceful. But he is just as much the worst kind of passive aggressive. The type who when offended, plots secret humiliation on the offenders without having the courage to stand up for himself.

Nevertheless the mystery itself is intriguing and hugely entertaining. Frankly, if I gave it a few days I might just give it 5 stars. It was fun and the 21 hours flew by.

David Thorpe did an excellent job as well.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

64 people found this helpful

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

Best narration

I liked this book very much -- Stone is a gifted writer and storyteller -- but the narration was just superb. David Thorpe has few peers. I put him in the same company as Will Patton reading Dave Robicheaux or Gerard Doyle reading Sean Duffy. The best.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

48 people found this helpful

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

Complex and credible legal thriller.

Though a bit long-winded and repetitive from time to time, interesting story and an honest critique of the British judicial system, with as many flaws as ours in the States.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

37 people found this helpful

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

Terrific legal mystery

I wouldn't call this a thriller, really. I was never frightened by it. It is a really polished mystery with the kind of details that make it feel real. I loved hearing about the British legal system from the inside.

Nick Stone invents terrific characters with subtle nuances and colorful pasts. They have flaws, of course, which makes them even more real. You also find yourself disliking many of them yet glued to the book to find out what happens. It would be wrong for me to say any more about the plot. It's a fabulous listen on its own with no advance warning. It doesn't feel like a sensational blockbuster yet grabs you just the same.

Perfect match of book and narrator. David Thorpe is great. I would have been just fine with a few more hours.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

26 people found this helpful

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

A love/hate relationship

Any additional comments?

I really don't like the way this book is written. It lazes along for hours -- literally -- gets to an "ending" (in quotes because I don't want to reveal anything) and then in the last hour goes to a series of newspaper headlines that the narrator reads to tell you how everything resolves. I wish this writer's editor had had him cut some of the wasted and laborious conversations, especially with his daughter, that add absolutely nothing to the story, his inter-office conflicts (who cares that his office competition is eating his lunches!) and use the "time" to develop more of the content. Instead, he gets to some end point and throws the rest of the feature into headlines, which the narrator throws at you so quickly you may want to listen twice! I give this book 1 star for structure, 4 stars for character development and 4 stars for the story. It's better than that but I think you'll feel robbed having invested more than 20 hours into it only to have the story stood on its end in the last 30 minutes. Should you read it? Probably. I do like the story and the characters -- most of them. I will read another book by him but if he uses the same structure, I'll return it. This one I"m keeping.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful