Narrator: John Lee Publication Date: June 10, 2014 Format Read: Audiobook Audiobook Length: 11 hours and 56 minutes Page Length: 401 pages My Rating: 4 / 5 stars Links: Amazon | Apple Books | Audible | Barnes and Noble |Goodreads | Google Play | Kobo | Libro.fm
SYNOPSIS
London, 1727. A historical crime novel of “scenic intrigue” (Vogue) starring Thomas Hawkins, a rakish scoundrel with a heart of gold. Tom Hawkins refuses to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a country parson. His preference is for wine, women, and cards. But there’s honor there too, and Tom won’t pull family strings to get himself out of debt—not even when faced with London’s notorious debtors’ prison. The Marshalsea Gaol is a world of its own, with simple rules: Those with family or friends who can lend them a little money may survive in relative comfort. Those with none will starve in squalor and disease. And those who try to escape will suffer a gruesome fate at the hands of its ruthless governor and his cronies. The trouble is that Tom has never been good at following rules, even simple ones. And the recent grisly murder of a debtor, Captain Roberts, has brought further terror to the gaol. While the captain’s beautiful widow cries for justice, the finger of suspicion points only one way: to the sly, enigmatic figure of Samuel Fleet. Some call Fleet a devil, a man to avoid at all costs. But Tom Hawkins is sharing his cell. Soon Tom’s choice is clear: get to the truth of the murder—or be the next to die.
REVIEW
I actually quite like the story. The problem for me is the audiobook narration because 1) the accent but mainly 2) the narrator (John Lee) sounds significantly older than what I’d imagine a 25-year-old to sound like. The US and UK have different narrators but I struggled to hunt down a way to get the UK narration of books 1 and 2. Even with a UK Audible login, the audiobooks were just unavailable (although based on reviews the first audiobook had a turn at being like a radio play and had too many noises going on in the background). But still, the hunt was not fruitful and my main critique really is just the audiobook narration but I pushed through. The book is in first-person POV from the perspective of Tom Hawkins. Once destined to be a clergyman until his university partying went a bit too far and he the turned into a rake drinking, sleeping, and gambling his way around London. He winds up owing too many debts, and in a case of seemingly extremely bad luck, winds up in London’s most notorious debtors prison and someone lured into solving a murder. Content warnings include claustrophobia, death, murder, torture, and violence.
Audiobook Review – writing bookish notes
