• The Hermit Kingdom

  • By: Nick Thacker
  • Narrated by: Virtual Voice
  • Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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The Hermit Kingdom  By  cover art

The Hermit Kingdom

By: Nick Thacker
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
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This title uses virtual voice narration

Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks

Publisher's summary

Shane Riley, ex-Australian Special Forces, is a retrieval specialist.

People want something, and he finds it, no matter where it is. He works for rich power brokers, collectors, black market dealers, and anyone willing to pay the right price.

He only has one rule: he does not retrieve people.

He gets interrupted on an offshore dive, and the two men requesting his presence bring him to a rich politician in South Korea, who wants his help.

His daughter’s been taken by a government entity in North Korea, and he wants Shane to get her back.

Shane balks, citing his “one rule,” but this time the South Korean man knows exactly what will entice him to help. His daughter, he claims, was trying to contact Shane’s wife before she was taken.

...Shane’s wife — who was murdered a year ago.

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What listeners say about The Hermit Kingdom

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

Great story!

I was actually looking for nonfiction about North Korea when I stumbled upon this. I listened to the sample and got sucked in. The story was entertaining, with twists and turns. The characters were well done, and I was captivated until the end. The virtual voice was actually decent, and I often forgot I was listening to a virtual voice, until something was read that sounded off, such as saying "dash" quite often when a hyphen was used, or an inflection wasn't quite right. Overall, five stars and worth a listen!

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

Not your best Mr Thacker

Terrible narration. Apart from the “dash” punctuation being spoken out, the virtual voice had no tonal inflections, so to follow who was speaking one needs the “he said/she said”. No excited pitch indicating a tense moment etc. The so called “hero” who supposedly works alone? Good thing there were lots of people around to keep rescuing him. He is so filled with guilt and angst he spends a large portion of the book in a monologue!

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

Dumb

If that is the best agents the world has to offer, North Korea would rule the world

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