Ratlines Audiobook By Stuart Neville cover art

Ratlines

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Ratlines

By: Stuart Neville
Narrated by: Alan Smyth
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Ireland 1963. As the Irish people prepare to welcome President John F. Kennedy to the land of his ancestors, a German national is murdered in a seaside guesthouse. Lieutenant Albert Ryan, Directorate of Intelligence, is ordered to investigate. The German is the third foreigner to die within a few days, and Minister for Justice Charles Haughey wants the killing to end, lest a shameful secret be exposed: the dead men were all Nazis granted asylum by the Irish government in the years following World War II.

A note from the killers is found on the dead German's corpse, addressed to Colonel Otto Skorzeny, Hitler's favorite commando, once called the most dangerous man in Europe. The note simply says: "We are coming for you."

As Albert Ryan digs deeper into the case, he discovers a network of former Nazis and collaborators, all presided over by Skorzeny from his country estate outside Dublin. When Ryan closes in on the killers, his loyalty is torn between country and conscience. Why must he protect the very people he fought against 20 years before? Ryan learns that Skorzeny might be a dangerous ally, but he is a deadly enemy.

©2013 Stuart Neville (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Fiction Hard-Boiled Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Solider

Editorial reviews

Editors Select, January 2013 - I listened to Stuart Neville’s debut novel Ghosts of Belfast 3 years ago, and was totally swept up by his seamless blending of fantasy into an IRA noir thriller. In Neville’s next two novels he delivered solid thrills, but they were slightly more traditionally drawn. But when I heard about his newest stand-alone Ratlines, I knew I had to listen to it. He heads back to his old narrative stomping grounds of an Ireland at war with itself, while bringing in an alternate history element involving Nazi stowaways. It doesn’t get more chilling than that! —Emily, Audible Editor

Critic reviews

“Thrilling.... Readers will hope to see more of Ryan, a formidable yet damaged hero." (Publishers Weekly)
“Another moody winner mixes Nazis into Neville's usual Irish noir.” (Kirkus Reviews)
"Neville, whose debut, The Ghosts of Belfast, won the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller, concocts a believable plot with an intriguing protagonist torn between duty to country and his distaste for Nazi criminals. Fans of Jack Higgins and Ken Follett will enjoy this novel." (Library Journal)
All stars
Most relevant  

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If they were interested in WW2 fiction. It's worth a free credit.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Ratlines?

Decent plot twists.

What three words best describe Alan Smyth’s voice?

Tries too hard.

Could you see Ratlines being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I actually could, but have no idea who would be main characters.

Any additional comments?

It wasn't bad. If you're thinking about getting it you should. It's worth the credit and your time to listen. I realize its a difficult job but the narrator could have done better and takes some getting used to.

It was interesting and had some good twists.

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I really liked every book by Stuart Neville a lot until this one. The other books by Mr. Neville had well drawn protagonists. I might not have admired them but they behaved consistently with character as developed. To me, Albert was all over the place. He was a competent experienced intelligence officer who broke into a house and screwed around until the bad guys came back. He was tough sometimes and ineffectual other times. I have been given to understand the Irish sympathized with Germany. The gold caper was so predictable. The ending was unsatisfying.

Wanted to Like This Book

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Some people have commented on the narration and if you listend to, and liked Nevill's earlyer books narrated by Gerrard Doyle you should listen to the sample and see how you like Smyth's narration and it would not have been fitting to have Doyle narrating this one, it is not a part of the Jack Lennon series.

The story is gripping and I recommend it for all Neville fans

Great plot and well written mistery/thriller

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I loved Neville's first novel, "Ghosts of Belfast", But his second book "Collusion", didn't match up to the first, and unfortunately, the third "Ratlines", was even more of a disappointment. The narrator's voice was too nasal or hesitant for me.

I would rather hear more of the Irish writer, Gene Kerrigan, especially his new one called "The Rage", but it is not on the U.S. version of Audible. I don't know why that is.

I wish Audible would add a "Suggestions List" for books we want to hear but are not in their canon.

Disappointing for Ghosts of Belfast Fans!

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Oh, I liked this! Neville is one of my pre-order authors but I'm just getting caught up on his books.

Nazis, Mossad, Irish G2, bad guys, good guys who could be bad guys, I loved it.

The audio production, not so much. Smith's voice was great and his accents were okay but why do production people not verify pronunciations?

Great book

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. It was a good story and Stuart Neville is a very good author.

What did you like best about this story?

The premise that the Protestant Irish and the IRA collaborated with the Nazis and Nazi sympathizers.

What didn’t you like about Alan Smyth’s performance?

Flat voice with some characters, stilted sentences. Not enough change of voice/accent between the different people in the story.

Was Ratlines worth the listening time?

Yes.

Good Story-Disappointing Narrator

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Where does Ratlines rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Good story and in the top of my audiobooks

What did you like best about this story?

Ryan's determination to see it through to the end

Which scene was your favorite?

Ryan's stakeout of the house and discovering the fourth man.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

just enjoy it.

Any additional comments?

like it a lot

Greed and murder

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To second reviewer Deborah: if you find Gerard Doyle's standard of narration essential for an excellent listen, consider getting this in print. Smyth is very competent and although I'd listen to him in other novels, he is not a match for a Neville Ireland-set tale. This maybe good news for listeners not fond of Irish inflected vowels, however.

Apart from the narration, I think this is as a good a novel (plot, character, setting, atmosphere) as Ghosts of Belfast - even richer because it is excellent historical as well as crime fiction. Grounded in the larger lines of history but with fictional details, it captures the moral complexity of real life. Neville avoids creating black hats/ white hats compared to much best selling historical fiction.

There are, however, as in real life, generous doses of torture, beatings and murder.

I enjoy detective and historical fiction but try to stay away from the violent stuff out of fear of becoming desensitized to violence -- but, I think by staying "real" -- by avoiding glamorizing adventure and espionage, this Neville novel doesn't make violence entertainment for entertainment's sake. I found the violence "wince factor" higher in this Neville, however - and that may be due to my narration preference.

Including the JFK angle in the storyline might appeal to a larger audience than earlier Neville -- thus the choice of the more standard General English narration I guess -- that choice has debatable merit. Without Doyle's narration, I doubt I would have found even Ghosts of Belfast so engaging. He was able to expand on author Neville's nuances of class, sectarian and generational differences beyond the printed word. I spent as much time wondering what a different narrator could bring to Ratlines as I did thinking about the moral complexities raised by Neville, and that is unfortunate. Narrators matter, especially in an assembly of characters such as this.

excellent novel; loses authenticity in narration

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I love Neville's trilogy and they are a few of the not many books I've listened to over and over. Gerard Doyle is terrific as their narrator. I'm still on part one of this novel and have had to backtrack several times because the narration is so boring and strange. Weird accents come and go with the main character sounding American and bad Irish depending on a whim. It's just too distracting. I'm debating buying the kindle version. The story seems interesting but I just can't stay interested due to Mr. Smyth's reading of it.

I'd recommend reading this one.

Where's Gerard?

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Well written story with reasonable and reasoned twists and turns. Holds your attention and interests.

Good story, we’ll narrated. We’ll worth a listen.

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