The Black Orchestra: A WW2 Spy Thriller

Black Orchestra Series, Book 1

By: JJ Toner

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

World War II Germany: The German war machine has invaded Poland and is advancing west toward France.

In Berlin, Kurt Müller, an Abwehr signalman, discovers a colleague lying dead at his radio receiver. The criminal police dismiss the death as suicide, but Kurt is not convinced. Kurt follows a trail of mysteries, witnessing several atrocities that expose the Nazi regime for what it truly is. When the trail leads him to the German resistance, he faces the most difficult choices of his life. He must choose between his duty and his conscience, between his country and his family, between love and death.

©2016 JJ Toner (P)2016 Tantor

The EarlyYears of WWII

From the perspective of a young, well connected German officer, we see the naivety and pride of his generation grow to disenchantment and betrayal. So how is it a loyal German officer can become an enemy spy? You will have a lot of fun learning how, albeit with a great deal of suspense.

I found Toner's work educational, particularly at the different factions within The Nazi army. His characters are great as well. If you WWII espionage , this is a great pick.

Great WW2 fiction...

If you're a fan of the genre, this is for you. Happy to have stumbled across this, going ahead with book 2 and looking forward to it. Kind of Noirish little bit like Bernie Gunther.

It beats me what British narrators are unable to pronounce German names in stores situated in German surroundings.

Why are British narrators pronounciating German names and other words in a novel that is located in a German historical setting as if they were starring as a SS Sturmbannfuehrer in a bad British-American postwar movie ridiculing the Krauts. Time has gone and now I am not so sure who is ridiculous. Apart from that a god story line

Brilliant!

Mr. Toner weaves a deliciously rich espionage tale in the classic style. This one is a gem! Full of everything that's great about a story. Thrilling tension, suspense, laughter, love, heartbreak and satisfying emotional payoffs that won't leave you hanging. And the icing on the cake? The absolutely tasty voice acting!! Simply perfect.. Do your self a favor a get it now!

Great Listen!

Anyone with an interest in World War II or thriller novels will love this one. Great listen!

So boring

This book was incredibly boring and frankly put me to sleep. Wanted to like it but it just was horribly slow.

Allis well that ends well

through all the twists and turns, our hero ends up with his life and love

great story told extremely well

if you like World War Two stories this is definitely a story you're going to enjoy the narrator is awesome the story is great it kept me intrigued from beginning to end I listened to the books in one day

Good not great

Situations/events throughout majority of the book lacked depth and seemed to simply skim the surface and then hastily wrapped up in the final few chapters. Character development was lacking. As indicated by my title, the book was good, not great.

Stunning

Awesome, kept you leaning forward making sure you didn't miss a word. Great book.

Strangely compulsive

I downloaded this book with one or two doubts. I enjoy WW2 books and stroris but usually from the angle of the Allies. This is the story of a German agent. And it's brilliant. To really enjoy a book, i think you need to have empathy with the lead character. I wasn't sure I would have, but I did.Its a great strory and superbly narrated. An excellent listen.

Well written and engaging

The characters were well developed . The story was well developed and a page turner. I look forward to reading ( hearing) more of the series.

Not Good. Story Weak. Lacks Depth.

Reminds me of a school essay. No depth or warmth of character. Poorly written all round. Narration is bearable, just! To be honest, I felt this was written by someone who went on a creative writing course for a week. It became an endurance test to get to the end.

Not worth reading

Granted, the Black Orchestra is fiction, but manages to be even worse than The Postcard from Hamburg. Spy books surrounding the Third Reich still fascinate and have a huge fan community, but JJ Toner manages to insult even the least knowledgeable reader. Absolutely nothing adds up in the story line about that time. Annoyingly made worse by a supposedly German English pronunciation. As for the narrator, perhaps he should ask Sean Barrett for advice...

Very good WW2 thriller

Excellently read. Slower start but builds really effectively. Looking forward to the series that follows.

Well worth a listen

I absolutely loved the book. the narration was perfect. the story was astonishing. well worth a listen.

What a waste of a credit!

I persevered with this book for over an hour but had to give up in the end.

No plot, poor characters, and awful monotonous narration. A real disappointment.

Not for me.

German speaker required

In my vies a book purporting to take place in Germany requires a narrator with a knowledge of the language. This one obviously doesn’t have an inkling. One major irritation is his pronunciation of “Oberst” which he pronounces “o’berst” as were it an Irish name.
And for the author’s information they did not have the foggiest idea of what a pizza was in Berlin in ‘41.