The Vault

By: Mark Dawson

Narrated by: Atilla Akinci, Laila Alj Philip Arditti, Kieran Brown, Ben Cartwright, Stephen Critchlow, Vera Filatova, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Gerran Howell, David Menkin, Colin Morgan, Harry Myers, Erich Redman, Mac Keith Roach, Lizzie-Aaryn Stanton, David Thorpe

Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

West Berlin, 1986. 

The Cold War has not yet thawed, political tensions inspire bloody retribution and trust is a rare commodity - even amongst allies.  

Harry Mackintosh is the head of MI6’s Berlin Station. When four of his best field agents are murdered by the Stasi during a failed defection operation, he has no choice but to respond. East German intelligence has become increasingly ruthless. MI6 has been overrun. Mackintosh knows that he won’t be able to fight back, unless he’s provided with a new kind of operative.  

London.  

Belfast-born Jimmy Walker is a career criminal, desperate to leave the world of organised crime behind. He’s made just enough money to think about going straight. He wants to be a family man. He wants to stay alive for his wife and son. He wants to be the man they deserve.  

He reluctantly agrees to one final job with the intention that it will be his last.  

Little does Jimmy know that he’s been set-up. The sins of his past are about to catch up with him.  

Framed, arrested and imprisoned, Jimmy is about to become a pawn in the politics, corruption and underground conflicts of Europe. Mackintosh appears in Jimmy’s Scotland Yard cell and makes him an offer. Go to Berlin to serve Queen and Country and he will be pardoned. The alternative? A life behind bars. Jimmy has no choice but to accept. He infiltrates East Berlin and, operating under cover as an arms buyer for the IRA, he works his way to the heart of the Stasi machine until he locates the defector. But all is not as it seems. Mackintosh has an ulterior motive. So does Jimmy. Neither man can trust the other and, as their objectives clash, it looks as if only one of them is going to get out alive. 

Set in divided Berlin at a pivotal moment in history, and soaked in '80s nostalgia, The Vault is a thrilling adventure set in Mark Dawson’s million-selling Group Fifteen world.    

Featuring: Atilla Akinci, Laila Alj Philip Arditti, Kieran Brown, Ben Cartwright, Stephen Critchlow, Vera Filatova, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Gerran Howell, David Menkin, Colin Morgan, Harry Myers, Erich Redman, Mac Keith Roach, Lizzie-Aaryn Stanton and David Thorpe.

©2018 Mark Dawson (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

It grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go!

I only got a few minutes into this audiobook before I was hooked. This story is intriguing and unpredictable, reminding me a bit of “The Man from UNCLE” in that two very different characters form an unlikely partnership (founded on blackmail) to carry out a seemingly impossible mission. Although they work together, neither character really trusts the other. I spent the entire audiobook on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next! There were a few plot twists towards the end that I didn’t see coming. 🙂
Great performances by all of the actors! As a frequent audiobook listener, I sometimes find audiobooks in which at least one performance is either dull/monotone or overly dramatic in a way that distracts from the storyline. In this audiobook, however, I enjoyed all of the performances! It was an interesting change to have the characters themselves narrating their thoughts instead of having the narrator tell all of those thoughts in third person. I think that this technique kept me more engaged and less reminded of the fact that the story is “not real life.” In summary, I enjoyed this audiobook and hope to find more like it!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Compelling Audio Style

Well done perfectly cast production. Three methods of performance that flow together seamlessly: straight narration to provide background and setting, character dialogue in current setting, and selected character monologue of inner thoughts and struggles of conscience providing description and ambience. And my favorite audio performer, Colin Morgan, who does not disappoint. So there's that. Also my first introduction to Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. I'll be seeking out more of his work.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Captivated

I was eager to listen to this book having read the description. I am a lover of Dawson’s books, all the series - and this one doesn’t disappoint!!! Outstanding presentation! I couldn’t stop.... the casting was fantastic and the added reading by Mark the author also fit wonderfully. Plus the story - regarding the early early days of Group 15, or the formation of, really gripping! I LOVED it!!!!

Quiet Audio Play

My first 'audio play' book.
I'm a fan of Mark Dawson, and read many of his books. I was however disappointed with this 'perfomance'.
Good story, let down by, at times, very quiet dialogue (I missed quite a lot, even at full volume throughout).
I also found the long, quiet pauses between chapters, followed by unnecessarily long 'dramatic' music, just wasn't to my taste.
As I said though, a good story & I listened through to the end.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

The Vault

an excellent audio book. great characters. and Mr Bloom showing up from the Isabella rose books. you have excelled yourself Mr Dawson.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Vaulting Ambition!

This is a great comic-book caper from Audible. It’s set back to the late 80s when I was in my prime, heading out into the world and what a world it was with momentous events just around the corner. Dawson and the team have tapped into this quite nicely and this is a good, fun production that apes those times and doesn’t try to be too gritty or realistic with its plotting or characterisation. The recipe is an extensive one with MI6, the Stasi and even other secret services being mixed into the dough. Add to that, Jimmy, the wildcard Irish character and it all fizzes along nicely never aiming for any great sophistication or depth. The soundscape is decent and adds nicely to the enthusiastic performances though if you don’t listen under very good conditions you will find that on a few occasions the characters descend into whispers and you’re likely to need to skip back just occasionally to pick it all up.

The way it’s written is almost an invite to Tom Cruise to come and do the Hollywood treatment on it, it has that feel of clinging to just enough reality to have the popcorn thriller vibe to it. It’s well worth a credit on that basis but John le Carré aficionados might not get so much out of it.

11 of 14 people found this review helpful

An interesting reminder of the 1980s Cold War (and with focus on the Berlin Wall perhaps timely in current world politics)

A big fan of Dawson’s Milton, I was sold on this as soon as I saw the cast (pretty much anything with David Thorpe and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in it is going to be a winner for me). After actively getting my ear in during the scene setting chapters I found I was completely absorbed in the political spy world of the late 1980s. And I couldn’t help wondering why current world politics hasn’t learnt from the lessons of the past.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A tired plot

A tried plot of spies, East V West comic book heroes and villains which lacked imagination. The cast and performance however were good.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Fun story, infuriating production

A compelling story that had me wondering how things would play out right to the very end.

The performances are solid and engaging. The cast do a great job bringing this to life.

But the production was so all over the place. One minute I’m straining to hear the dialogue so I nudge the volume up. The next, I’m being deafened by the narrator.

The musical breaks at the start of each chapter are unnecessary too, but I’m nitpicking.

Overall, it was certainly worth a credit.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good

Apart from the low level audio dialog and musical intermissions, it was a good story linking into characters from other series from Dawson. Good cast of actors.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Spectacular

A truly entertaining audio read. Congratulations to everybody who took part in this production. Highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Berlin

Very good listen characters brilliantly created
Book very well written and narrator portrayed
Them to such a degree I felt I knew them
Dramatized very well good listen

Amazing , thrilling performances

the best audio book ive listened too since Bernard Hepton in Smileys People ie original BBC Le Carre. Fantastic performances brought the book to life. well written pacy and twisty. love the characters. highly recommended