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To Play the King
- Narrated by: Samuel West
- Length: 9 hrs
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To Play the King
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Publisher's summary
Newly elected Prime Minister Francis Urquhart takes on the new King, in the controversial No 1 bestselling second volume in the Francis Urquhart trilogy – now reissued in audio.
After scheming his way to power in ‘House of Cards’, Francis Urquhart made a triumphant return in ‘To Play the King’ – a Sunday Times No 1 bestseller that became a BBC TV series, with Ian Richardson resuming his award-winning role as Francis Urquhart and a hugely successful Netflix series.
Its highly controversial and uncannily topical storyline – in which the role of the monarchy in modern Britain comes under scrutiny as Prime Minister Francis Urquhart threatens to expose Royal secrets when his plans are blocked by the idealistic new King – coincided with a huge increase in public interest in the future of the Royal Family following a series of Royal scandals.
Critic reviews
"This thriller will delight anybody who relishes political intrigue...a model of its kind and impeccably timed." (Daily Mail)
"With a friend like Michael Dobbs, who on earth needs enemies? His timing is again impeccable. A good romp, and gloriously cheeky. Dobbs’ books grab because of their authenticity - the man knows his stuff." (The Times)
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What listeners say about To Play the King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- peter
- 09-25-19
Pretty Good
But I preferred the first in this series: it was more interesting despite the exotically royal flavor of this one. I think the first was better because the leading character was more than two dimensional. After the success of the first novel and the TV series I think Dobbs decided that he had a winning formula and left out the extraneous, although the extraneous gave dimension that now seems lacking. Wont try number three. Enough is enough.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anna
- 08-09-22
Grossed me out
I liked the first book so much that I was able to brush aside the sexist portrayal of women in it. However, I found that it this second title the story wasn't absorbing enough to get me past the disgust. The relationship dynamic seems to repeat the first book: an elderly man acts all slimy towards a younger female, who ends up finding him attractive. Women's cleavages get more attention in the narration than do their motives or personalities. However, I do say that if you are able to get past that, the author has a skill for writing a good story! I'm hoping to finish this some other time, now I had to put it to rest after the first few hours.
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