One Man's Flag

By: David Downing

Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie

The follow-up to Jack of Spies, Soho's lead spring '14 title. Jack McColl, a Scottish car salesman who moonlights as a spy for His Majesty's Navy, takes listeners on an epic adventure across the world on the eve of World War One.

India, 1915. Jack McColl is on a reconnaissance mission to better defend the British Empire against Bengali terrorists and their German allies. In England, meanwhile, Jack's former lover, Caitlin Hanley, witnesses the execution of her brother for a treasonous plot that Jack helped foil. His execution has only intensified Caitlin's involvement in the cause of Home Rule. An uprising in Dublin will bring Caitlin and Jack back together as lovers - and enemies.

Follows the paperback release of Jack of Spies as well as a specially commissioned and designed paperback reissue of all six of the Station series books. Primed by David Downing's upcoming first-ever US tour, getting him into more stores and augmenting his fan base. David Downing is not only one of Soho Crime's cult best sellers, with sales of his Station series mushrooming every year, but also a critical darling.

Set in a provocative moment in history and depicts the Irish Republican movement, the American suffrage movement, Indian uprisings against the British Raj, the rise of German antagonism, and other fascinating historical handles.

©2015 David Downing (P)2015 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"[Downing] is a master at bringing the past to life through the careful and often loving observation of even minor players and through the artful deployment of specific detail." ( The Wall Street Journal)

"Moves along briskly and offers interesting facts about events now a century past.... Always entertaining." ( The Washington Post)

"I can already see Gerard Butler in the lead role of the film version." ( Parade)

good, but not Downing's best

I can't say that I was particularly fond of the narration. Nor was I happy with the way ping ponged between the stories of Jack and Caitlin. The way the plot line was constructed struck me as artificial. On the other hand, I do like that this series has left WW II behind and leads the reader into the relatively unexplored world of WW I, empires, colonies, and womens rights among other things. The previous book was also episodic in its way, but following two separate leads does not make a whole for me.

meh

it didn't live up to my expectations. its not a bad book but it wasn't what I was looking for, also i thought the characters were somewhat week and boring

Two great adventures!

Jack of Spies and One Man's Flag give an overview of the years around the First World War through the eyes of two lovers; a developing Scottish/British spy and an Irish American journalist. Their political and psychological differences, their travels to and adventure in many a hot spot makes for a most interesting read. I hope to meet Kaitlin and jack again.

Good book!

How could the performance have been better?

The narration of the first book in this new series, Jack of Spies was really good. This book's narration was not the same quality performance. The reader seemed to struggle at times with the different accents so eventually it was hard to tell the Irish, Scottish, and English apart. The main character sounds like an emotional high school student much of the time. I recommend going back to the first narrator.

Superior historical thriller/romance

This was my second time listening to One Man's Flag, and I appreciated it even more this time. It truly is a superior work of historical espionage, with a great deal of local color in various settings, a crackerjack plot, truly distinctive and memorable characters, a compelling hero, and a wonderful and believably fraught romance between two multifaceted adults,, with moments of both tension and tenderness. One learns a great deal in these novels about the political and social conditions of the day, with compelling details interwoven organically into the plot. I find this author's work superior to that of Alan Furst, whose novels, while atmospheric, almost invariably include woefully undeveloped female characters . Highly recommended.

Boring

Interesting plot moving between India and UK in the early part of the XXth century. However the book is absolutely not engaging with dialogues and characters too plain and too flat.
Boring.