Traitor's Field
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Traitor's Field
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Narrated by:
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Cameron Stewart
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By:
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Robert Wilton
Summary
It is 1648 and Britain is at war with itself. The Royalists are defeated but Parliament is in turmoil, its power weakened by internal discord. Royalism's last hope is Sir Mortimer Shay, a ruthless veteran of decades of intrigue who must rebuild a credible threat to Cromwell's rule, whatever the cost. John Thurloe is a young official in Cromwell's service. Confronted by the extent of the Royalists' secret intelligence network, he will have to fight the true power reaching into every corner of society: the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey.
Robert Wilton has held a variety of posts in the British Ministry of Defence, Foreign Office, and Cabinet Office. He was advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the lead-up to the country's independence, and has now returned there as a senior international official. He divides his time between Kosovo and Cornwall.
©2013 Robert Wilton (P)2013 Audible LtdI have listened to many books over the past few years and the majority feel rushed and contain mispronunciation and inconsistencies. Not so here. The story and writing style are excellent and you really get the sense the reader knows what he is about.
If you like historic fiction, this book is a great pleasure to experience!
This is how an audio book should be...
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Any additional comments?
Loved this, have no idea if the Inspectorate General for Scrutiny and Survey is real but I really hope it is! Convoluted plot, lots of action and great characters. I mostly thought I knew what was going on, turns out I was mostly wrong but everything became clear in the end. Will be listening to this and any others in the series over and over again. Loved it007 with added swashbuckle
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Brilliant, among my top 10 ever in historical and spy fiction. More from Wilton please!
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No. I might recommend it to read on paper (with a warning about the style) but couldn't recommend it as an audiobook. It's one of the few books that I find doesn't work as a reading despite the best efforts of the very good narrator.
Would you recommend Traitor's Field to your friends? Why or why not?
As already explained.
Have you listened to any of Cameron Stewart’s other performances? How does this one compare?
This is my first book read by Cameron Stewart so I cannot compare. However, I think he did a very good job and has a very pleasant reading voice with a good range of accents and tones of voice.
Did Traitor's Field inspire you to do anything?
I might read other books about the period but will choose carefully after this experience.
Any additional comments?
I have had this book in my library for over a year and I have lost count of the number of times I started it and gave up and had to start again. I made myself stick with it and listened to nothing else for two weeks so it was a chore and not enjoyable.
The problem is with the first half, which is so disjointed and all of the characters are so shadowy that I found it impossible to get embroiled. Scene setting and a mysterious tone are all very fine but I missed any form of narrative drive or any character I could fully engage with until 10 hours into the reading. It finally took off when it became clear who the two main characters are and what the thing is that will pitch them against each other. They may be on opposing sides of the civil war but it still needs a specific bone of contention and at last we had it over half way through.
The other thing which makes it a difficult listen, as distinct from a read, is that there are regular quotations from supposed contemporary documents, including the numerical references and the library where they are said to be stored. The eye can skate over the references on the page but they intrude into a reading and destroy any mood.
I have seen other reviews suggesting that readers who enjoy Hilary Mantel's books may get on better with the style of this book. All I can say is that this did not apply in my case. I would count Wolf Hall amongst my favourite reads and listens of all time but that did not mean I enjoyed this listen. The difference was in the strong character at the heart of Wolf Hall, right from the the opening sentence, which this book lacks.
My overall feeling is that the trick of basing it on hints from supposed source documents overshadowed the attempt to turn into a compelling novel.
A difficult listen
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The story is nice and deep with lots to get your teeth stuck in to. I would recommend it to any one who likes Tinker Taylor solider spy. Or Len Deghton books.
A nice surprise.
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