• To Kingdom Come

  • Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 2
  • By: Will Thomas
  • Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
  • Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,749 ratings)

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To Kingdom Come  By  cover art

To Kingdom Come

By: Will Thomas
Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
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Publisher's summary

When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard, all fingers point to the increasingly brazen factions of Irish dissidents seeking liberation from English rule. Volunteering their services to the British government, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn set out to infiltrate a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles. Posing as a reclusive German bomb maker and his anarchist apprentice, they are recruited for the group's ultimate plan: to bring London to its knees and end the monarchy forever.

Their adventures take them from an abandoned lighthouse on the craggy coast of Wales to the City of Light, where Llewelyn goes undercover with Maire O'Casey, the alluring sister of an Irish radical. Llewelyn again finds himself put to the test by his enigmatic employer as he is schooled in the deadly science of bomb making. Fraught with explosives, secret initiations, and vicious stick fights, and featuring historical figures such as Charles Parnell and W. B. Yeats, To Kingdom Come is a riveting sequel to Some Danger Involved.

©2005 Will Thomas (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A successful blend of fiction and fact, this is - as expected - expertly researched and skillfully plotted, with satisfying amounts of emotion (with a growing friendship between Barker and Llewelyn) and suspense." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about To Kingdom Come

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

I enjoyed this book and the first in the series. This is one series I recommend you read in order or you will not understand some of the under tones of the characters. I do feel sorry for Lewellyn. He gets beat up ALL THE TIME. I think the author could give him a break in the next story. The characters are quirky but written in a way that makes them authentic. .

I also think these would make a great tv series.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect Nonsense

A bang-up tale in the Sherlock Holmes tradition without being a precious shadow of a Holmes novel. It you want a few hours diversion, a good listen as the miles go by, this is the thing. Barker is a Scottish, Chinese raised, physical and mental paragon. His Watson, LLewellen is an Oxford trianed, and prison acquanted Welshman. Their adventures in this book involve going underground to foil a bomb plot by an Irish revolutiionary faction. There is plenty of excitement, entertaining characters, Victorian atmosphere. The author has the tension, release, tension, release thing down pat. The Irish plotters are 3 dimensional and the quthor does not fall in love with them. There is lots of violence but very little blood and grume. In all it is nonsense perfectly done.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fell asleep for 2 hrs and missed nothing

It was a decent book but nothing extraordinary.
Around middle to 2/3 through it just dragged.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

some parts are better than others

This is a good addition to the series, but it's a bit diminished by the protracted romance and unnecessary setting shifts.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not nearly as good as Limehouse Text, Some Danger

What disappointed you about To Kingdom Come?

After the first few chapters, it got boring.

Has To Kingdom Come turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, sometimes an author gets tired or runs out of inspiration and doesn't do as good a job as he otherwise might have done. But I have to admit I am now leery of Will Thomas' books other than Some Danger Involved and The Limehouse Text. Thomas has talent but I think he ran out of good ideas.

What about Antony Ferguson’s performance did you like?

Antony Ferguson is fabulous.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom, disappointment.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Second winner

The second installment of a Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn story is another winner. This time there is an Irish conflict and it requires their services to save the day. Cyrus uses his great detecting skills and Thomas still has a problem with the ladies. The pair infiltrate an Irish extremist group to solve what would become an ongoing conflict with the Irish and the Church of England. Antony Ferguson does an excellent job of mixing historical facts within the mystery.

Cyrus amazes us with his ability to assume the role of an Irish revolutionary, while Thomas struggles with the lethally weaponry and women’s wiles. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the characters of the Cyrus and Thomas. Cyrus is so confident, skilled and informed, while Thomas is a gangly newborn colt totally inexperience in the situation

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not as good as the first in the series

This is an OK story, and it does have some interesting historical info. But it was pretty predictable. And the narrator's German accent is dreadful. His French accent is not much better, but there is much less of it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good mystery. Bad accents.

Book 2 is almost as good as book 1. The characters are likable and mystery is enjoyable. The British narrator speaks with a smooth and pleasurable accent. His other accents, however, are god awful—Irish, Scottish, and French in this particular book. Overall, highly recommended.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Great story - reader is ok

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

The story is quite entertaining - and the reader does well with English accents, and is pretty decent with Scot's accents and Irish accents - but he sounds like he's from the West Indies when attempting a German or French accent. It's funny, but really not good at all. Also, the protagonist, Thomas Llewellyn, is Welsh - but Ferguson gives him an English accent.

What aspect of Antony Ferguson’s performance would you have changed?

He needs to work on European accents - and he needs to give Thomas Llewellyn the accent he should have.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Another Winner!

Would you consider the audio edition of To Kingdom Come to be better than the print version?

I much prefer the audio versions of this series.

What did you like best about this story?

Odd characters with unique skills and points of view. Plot twists along within the historic goings on of the era.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It garnered a variety of reactions that whet my appetite for the rest of the series.

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3 people found this helpful