
The Peacock and the Sparrow
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Pete Simonelli
-
By:
-
I.S. Berry
About this listen
THRILLER OF THE YEAR: The Times (London) • The Telegraph
BEST FIRST NOVEL WINNER: Edgar Awards • International Thriller Writers Awards • Barry Awards • Macavity Awards
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker • NPR • The Times (London) • The Financial Times • The Guardian • The Telegraph • The Diplomatic Courier
During the Arab Spring, an American spy’s final mission goes dangerously awry in this “crackling debut thriller” (The New Yorker) from a former CIA officer heralded as one of the “top spy novelists of the 21st century” (The Sunday Times, London).
Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia for his final tour, he has little use for his mission—uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency against the monarchy. Then Collins meets Almaisa, a beautiful and enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask.
When his trusted informant inside the opposition becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict. His budding romance with Almaisa—and his loyalties—are upended; in an instant, he’s caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. Drawing on all his skills as a spymaster, he sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa’s love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain’s secrets end and America’s begin.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The Scarlet Papers
- By: Matthew Richardson
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Lucy Scott
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only she knows the truth. Only he can tell the world. Vienna, 1946. A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964. A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London, the present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.
-
-
A Long and Winding Road
- By Smalls on 10-15-24
-
Dead Drop
- By: M.P. Woodward
- Narrated by: Jon Lindstrom
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran have reached a crisis point. The new American administration is determined to move ahead, but there are several stumbling blocks, not the least of which is Lieutenant Colonel Kasem Khalidi, the former Iranian Quds Force intelligence officer the CIA has hidden away in one of its safe houses. As always, John and Meredith Dale are caught in the middle.
-
-
Dead Drop Drops
- By JCL on 09-24-24
By: M.P. Woodward
-
Fields of Fire
- A Matthew Redd Thriller
- By: Ryan Steck
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Waiting to be deployed on a critical mission, elite Marine Raider Matthew Redd stops to help a stranger and wakes up hours later to learn his team was wiped out in an ambush. Unable to remember anything, Redd can’t deny the possibility that he’s somehow responsible for the information leak that led to the massacre. He’s given a deal to avoid a charge of treason, but it means walking away from the Corps and the life he loved. As he faces his loss, Matty gets a cryptic message from his adoptive father, J. B.: “Trouble’s come knocking. . . . Might need your help.”
-
-
The Real Book Spy’s break out debut novel!!!!
- By shelley on 09-07-22
By: Ryan Steck
-
Chameleon
- A Black Box Ops Thriller
- By: Remi Adeleke
- Narrated by: Remi Adeleke
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a mysterious former South African commando begins taking wealthy hostages all over the world, it appears at first to be a typical ransom gambit. However, it soon becomes clear that Lucas Van Groot is not only making a fortune with his “Hostage Inc.” venture, but also manipulating worldwide stock markets and causing panic on Wall Street and at the Federal Reserve. Enter Black Box, the CIA’s most secret special operations branch—so surreptitious that not even the Director of CIA is fully privy to the unit’s activities.
-
-
HALO to HIHO
- By Jason Jason on 07-30-23
By: Remi Adeleke
-
Reykjavík
- A Crime Story
- By: Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
- Narrated by: Bert Seymour, Tamaryn Payne
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there? Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case.
-
-
Better than expected
- By Shopper on 11-18-23
By: Ragnar Jónasson, and others
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
The Scarlet Papers
- By: Matthew Richardson
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Lucy Scott
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only she knows the truth. Only he can tell the world. Vienna, 1946. A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964. A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London, the present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.
-
-
A Long and Winding Road
- By Smalls on 10-15-24
-
Dead Drop
- By: M.P. Woodward
- Narrated by: Jon Lindstrom
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran have reached a crisis point. The new American administration is determined to move ahead, but there are several stumbling blocks, not the least of which is Lieutenant Colonel Kasem Khalidi, the former Iranian Quds Force intelligence officer the CIA has hidden away in one of its safe houses. As always, John and Meredith Dale are caught in the middle.
-
-
Dead Drop Drops
- By JCL on 09-24-24
By: M.P. Woodward
-
Fields of Fire
- A Matthew Redd Thriller
- By: Ryan Steck
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Waiting to be deployed on a critical mission, elite Marine Raider Matthew Redd stops to help a stranger and wakes up hours later to learn his team was wiped out in an ambush. Unable to remember anything, Redd can’t deny the possibility that he’s somehow responsible for the information leak that led to the massacre. He’s given a deal to avoid a charge of treason, but it means walking away from the Corps and the life he loved. As he faces his loss, Matty gets a cryptic message from his adoptive father, J. B.: “Trouble’s come knocking. . . . Might need your help.”
-
-
The Real Book Spy’s break out debut novel!!!!
- By shelley on 09-07-22
By: Ryan Steck
-
Chameleon
- A Black Box Ops Thriller
- By: Remi Adeleke
- Narrated by: Remi Adeleke
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a mysterious former South African commando begins taking wealthy hostages all over the world, it appears at first to be a typical ransom gambit. However, it soon becomes clear that Lucas Van Groot is not only making a fortune with his “Hostage Inc.” venture, but also manipulating worldwide stock markets and causing panic on Wall Street and at the Federal Reserve. Enter Black Box, the CIA’s most secret special operations branch—so surreptitious that not even the Director of CIA is fully privy to the unit’s activities.
-
-
HALO to HIHO
- By Jason Jason on 07-30-23
By: Remi Adeleke
-
Reykjavík
- A Crime Story
- By: Ragnar Jónasson, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
- Narrated by: Bert Seymour, Tamaryn Payne
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of Videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland‘s most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there? Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case.
-
-
Better than expected
- By Shopper on 11-18-23
By: Ragnar Jónasson, and others
-
The Kill Artist
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.
-
-
Reluctant Assassin
- By Snoodely on 10-30-13
By: Daniel Silva
-
The Cold, Cold Ground
- Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1
- By: Adrian McKinty
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
-
-
Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
- By Christopher on 01-21-12
By: Adrian McKinty
-
The Plinko Bounce
- By: Martin Clark
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker, Morgan Hallett
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For seventeen years, small-town public defender Andy Hughes has been underpaid to look after the poor, the addicted, and the unfortunate souls who constantly cycle through the courts, charged with petty crimes. Then, in the summer of 2020, he’s assigned to a grotesque murder case that brings national media focus to rural Patrick County, Virginia—Alicia Benson, the wife of a wealthy businessman, is murdered in her home. The accused killer, Damian Bullins, is a cunning felon with a long history of violence, and he confesses to the police.
-
-
Compelling read
- By Nikki Fortier on 01-17-24
By: Martin Clark
-
Unknown Rider
- Battle Born, Book 1
- By: Jack Stewart
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
TOP GUN instructor Colt Bancroft has just catapulted off the USS Abraham Lincoln, his F-35C Joint Strike Fighter trailing blue and yellow flame as he climbs into the night sky off the California coast. When he is sent to investigate a series of mysterious lights floating dangerously close to his aircraft carrier, disaster strikes. His jet becomes unresponsive as it rolls inverted and enters a nosedive aimed right at the aircraft carrier’s unsuspecting escort cruiser… What follows is a tale of heroism and betrayal, spycraft and suspense, and aerial combat against an unexpected adversary.
-
-
Too many loose ends
- By On a journey on 03-30-24
By: Jack Stewart
-
Bomber
- By: Len Deighton, Malcolm Gladwell (Introduction)
- Narrated by: Richard Burnip, Malcolm Gladwell (Introduction), Len Deighton (Author's Note)
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Skilled Royal Air Force bomber pilot Sam Lambert is exhausted, and his veteran crewmen have just been replaced by an inexperienced new team. Victor von Löwenherz, a German night fighter pilot who intercepts RAF bombers in his Junkers Ju 88, looks on with horror at the Nazi regime. And Hansl, a German boy in the small market town of Altgarten, sleeps at home. Lambert and his crew prepare for a bombing raid on the Ruhr area. It’s a night that many will never forget. Bomber is a masterful, gripping minute-by-minute account of what occurs over the next twenty-four hours.
-
-
Great writing, awful narrartion
- By JW on 09-11-23
By: Len Deighton, and others
-
A Line in the Sand
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Powers
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One early morning on a Norfolk beach in Virginia, a dead body is discovered by a man taking his daily swim—Arman Bajalan, formerly an interpreter in Iraq. After narrowly surviving an assassination attempt that killed his wife and child, Arman has been given lonely sanctuary in the US as a maintenance worker at the Sea Breeze Motel. Now, convinced that the body is connected to his past, he knows he is still not safe.
-
-
A preposterous bloodbath
- By David Benjamin on 07-06-23
By: Kevin Powers
-
Inside Threat
- A Novel
- By: Matthew Quirk
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The day that every secret service agent trains for has arrived. The White House has been breached; the President forced to flee to a massive doomsday bunker outside DC to defend against whatever comes next. Only the most trusted agents and officials are allowed in with him—those dedicated to keeping the government intact at all costs. Among these is Erik Hill, who has given his life to the Secret Service. They are his purpose and his family, and his impressive record has made him a hero among them.
-
-
Way too long
- By Christine on 07-30-23
By: Matthew Quirk
-
Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
-
-
The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
By: R. F. Kuang
-
Roadside Picnic
- By: Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky, Olena Bormashenko - translator
- Narrated by: Robert Forster
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he and his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a "full empty", something goes wrong.
-
-
Gritty, resonant sci-fi classic
- By Ryan on 02-14-13
By: Arkady Strugatsky, and others
-
Never
- A Novel
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 23 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Never is an extraordinary novel, full of heroines and villains, false prophets and elite warriors, jaded politicians and opportunistic revolutionaries. It brims with cautionary wisdom for our times, and delivers a visceral, heart-pounding story that transports listeners to the brink of the unimaginable.
-
-
I'll NEVER get through this one
- By Georgia on 11-11-21
By: Ken Follett
-
The Raven Tower
- By: Ann Leckie
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes. But the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts.
-
-
A Unique Perspective and an Intriguing Mystery
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-19
By: Ann Leckie
-
The Key to Rebecca
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Tim Downie
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A brilliant and ruthless Nazi master agent is on the loose in Cairo. His mission is to send Rommel’s advancing army the secrets that will unlock the city’s doors. In all of Cairo, only two people can stop him. One is a down-on-his-luck English officer no one will listen to. The other is a vulnerable young Jewish girl....
-
-
Christ the Savior
- By camille hobbs on 03-23-21
By: Ken Follett
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Hunted
- By: Abir Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Mikhail Sen, Stefan Trout, Amber Rose Revah, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In London, the police storm Heathrow Airport to bring in a father for questioning about his missing daughter. In Florida, a mother makes a connection between her son and the bomber, fearing he has been radicalized. And in Oregon, an unknown organization’s conspiracy to bring America to its knees unfolds. On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to stop a catastrophe that will derail the country’s future forever.
-
-
Non stop cringe read
- By Kathleen M on 05-27-24
By: Abir Mukherjee
-
A Spy Alone
- The Oxford Spy Ring, Book 1
- By: Charles Beaumont
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows about the Cambridge Spies from the fifties, identified and broken up after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never found...?
-
-
Amazing
- By Jessica on 09-02-24
By: Charles Beaumont
-
The Seventh Floor
- A Novel
- By: David McCloskey
- Narrated by: Sharon Freedman
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, operational chief Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat for the disaster and run out of the service. Months later, Sam appears at Procter's doorstep with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole burrowed deep within the highest ranks of the CIA.
-
-
Dreadful
- By Anon Y. Mouse on 10-24-24
By: David McCloskey
-
A Bird in Winter
- By: Louise Doughty
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, and one she's prepared for - but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next. As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who - if anyone - she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it's actually happening. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?
-
-
Not worth the time or credit
- By CP on 10-17-24
By: Louise Doughty
-
Beirut Station
- By: Paul Vidich
- Narrated by: Amber Townsend
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lebanon, 2006. The Israel–Hezbollah war is tearing Beirut apart and the country is on the brink of chaos. The CIA and Mossad are targeting a reclusive Hezbollah terrorist. They turn to young Lebanese-American CIA agent, Analise, who has the perfect plan. However, Analise begins to suspect that Mossad has a motive of its own. She alerts the agency but their response is for her to drop it. Analise is now the target and there is no one she can trust.
-
-
Disappointing narration
- By William Jenks on 12-17-24
By: Paul Vidich
-
Phantom Orbit
- A Thriller
- By: David Ignatius
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it.
-
-
Too much story, not enough payoff
- By WtW on 06-26-24
By: David Ignatius
-
Hunted
- By: Abir Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Mikhail Sen, Stefan Trout, Amber Rose Revah, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In London, the police storm Heathrow Airport to bring in a father for questioning about his missing daughter. In Florida, a mother makes a connection between her son and the bomber, fearing he has been radicalized. And in Oregon, an unknown organization’s conspiracy to bring America to its knees unfolds. On the run from the authorities, the two parents are thrown together in a race against time to stop a catastrophe that will derail the country’s future forever.
-
-
Non stop cringe read
- By Kathleen M on 05-27-24
By: Abir Mukherjee
-
A Spy Alone
- The Oxford Spy Ring, Book 1
- By: Charles Beaumont
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone knows about the Cambridge Spies from the fifties, identified and broken up after passing national secrets to the Soviets for years. But no spy ring was ever unearthed at Oxford. Because one never existed? Or because it was never found...?
-
-
Amazing
- By Jessica on 09-02-24
By: Charles Beaumont
-
The Seventh Floor
- A Novel
- By: David McCloskey
- Narrated by: Sharon Freedman
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, operational chief Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat for the disaster and run out of the service. Months later, Sam appears at Procter's doorstep with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole burrowed deep within the highest ranks of the CIA.
-
-
Dreadful
- By Anon Y. Mouse on 10-24-24
By: David McCloskey
-
A Bird in Winter
- By: Louise Doughty
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, and one she's prepared for - but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next. As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who - if anyone - she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it's actually happening. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?
-
-
Not worth the time or credit
- By CP on 10-17-24
By: Louise Doughty
-
Beirut Station
- By: Paul Vidich
- Narrated by: Amber Townsend
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lebanon, 2006. The Israel–Hezbollah war is tearing Beirut apart and the country is on the brink of chaos. The CIA and Mossad are targeting a reclusive Hezbollah terrorist. They turn to young Lebanese-American CIA agent, Analise, who has the perfect plan. However, Analise begins to suspect that Mossad has a motive of its own. She alerts the agency but their response is for her to drop it. Analise is now the target and there is no one she can trust.
-
-
Disappointing narration
- By William Jenks on 12-17-24
By: Paul Vidich
-
Phantom Orbit
- A Thriller
- By: David Ignatius
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it.
-
-
Too much story, not enough payoff
- By WtW on 06-26-24
By: David Ignatius
-
The Scarlet Papers
- By: Matthew Richardson
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh, Lucy Scott
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only she knows the truth. Only he can tell the world. Vienna, 1946. A brilliant German scientist spirited out of the ruins Nazi Europe in search of a new life. Moscow, 1964. A rising star of the British diplomatic service whose job is not what it seems. London, the present day. A once promising academic offered an opportunity to seal his place in history. Their stories, their lives, and the fate of the world, are bound by a single document: The Scarlet Papers. The devastating secrets contained within teased by a brief invitation: Tomorrow 11AM. Take a cab and pay in cash. Tell no one.
-
-
A Long and Winding Road
- By Smalls on 10-15-24
-
Twice the Trouble
- A Novel
- By: Ash Clifton
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Noland Twice, a star athlete turned private investigator, can find anyone, no matter how far they run or how well they hide. He works the Orlando-Tampa corridor, a bizarre land where theme parks and tourists coexist with drug deals and crooked businessmen. When a shady local executive, Valkenburg, goes missing, Noland is the only man for the job.
By: Ash Clifton
-
Gabriel's Moon
- A Novel
- By: William Boyd
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a fire that took his mother’s life. Every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the changing landscapes of Europe in the grip of the Cold War. When he is offered the chance to interview Patrice Lumumba, newly elected president of the People’s Republic of the Congo, he finds himself drawn into a web of duplicities and betrayals.
-
-
One of the best Boyd storylines, but...
- By WKB on 12-19-24
By: William Boyd
-
The Translator
- By: Harriet Crawley
- Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is upended when he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is the interpreter to the Russian President. Together they will try to stop the attack that could paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy.
By: Harriet Crawley
-
American Spy
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young Black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes.
-
-
A Spy Novel for Black folk.
- By AJ Walker on 10-07-19
By: Lauren Wilkinson
-
Red Sparrow
- A Novel
- By: Jason Matthews
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drafted against her will to become a "Sparrow" - a trained seductress in the service, Russian intelligence officer Dominika Egorova is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, a first-tour CIA officer who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young intelligence officers, trained in their respective spy schools, collide in a charged atmosphere of tradecraft, deception, and inevitably, a forbidden spiral of carnal attraction that threatens their careers and the security of America's valuable mole in Moscow.
-
-
Sexy Saucy Spies
- By Mel on 06-13-13
By: Jason Matthews
-
Holy City
- By: Henry Wise
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a decade of exile precipitated by the tragic death of his mother, Will Seems returns home from Richmond to rural Southside Virginia, taking a job as deputy sheriff in a landscape given way to crime and defeat. Impoverished and abandoned, this remote land of tobacco plantations, razed forests, and boarded up homes seems stuck in the past in a state that is trying to forget its complex history and move on.
-
-
Henry Wise Delivers
- By Jeff Circle on 06-11-24
By: Henry Wise
-
The Madwomen of Paris
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Cody Epstein
- Narrated by: Kiiri Sandy
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Josephine arrives at the Salpêtrière asylum, she is covered in blood, badly bruised, and suffering from amnesia. She is quickly diagnosed with what the Paris papers are calling “the epidemic of the age”: hysteria, a disease is so baffling and widespread that Doctor Jean-Martin Charcot, the asylum’s famous director, devotes many of his popular public lectures to the malady. Charcot often uses hypnosis to prompt his patients to reproduce their hysterical symptoms, and to his delight, Josephine proves extraordinarily susceptible to this unconscious manipulation.
-
-
Sigh
- By Amber on 10-08-23
-
The Secret Hours
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two years ago, a hostile Prime Minister launched the Monochrome inquiry, investigating "historical over-reaching" by the British Secret Service “to investigate historical over-reaching.” Monochrome’s mission was to ferret out any hint of misconduct by any MI5 officer—and allowed Griselda Fleet and Malcolm Kyle, the two civil servants seconded to the project, unfettered access to any and all confidential information in the Service archives in order to do so. But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn.
-
-
Just about perfect
- By June Lapidow on 09-28-23
By: Mick Herron
-
Agents of Innocence
- A Novel
- By: David Ignatius
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agents of Innocence is the book that established David Ignatius's reputation as a master of the novel of contemporary espionage. Into the treacherous world of shifting alliances and arcane subterfuge comes idealistic CIA man Tom Rogers. Posted in Beirut to penetrate the PLO and recruit a high-level operative, he soon learns the heavy price of innocence in a time and place that has no use for it.
-
-
breathy over-actor tarnishes an OK story
- By reader on 05-11-20
By: David Ignatius
-
Blood Like Mine
- By: Stuart Neville
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers, Michael Braun
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a snowy December night, single mother Rebecca Carter drives her van into a snowbank to avoid hitting an elk on a desolate mountain highway. She is at the end of her rope, out of money and food. Still, she refuses help from a man in a pickup truck—Rebecca’s adolescent daughter, Moonflower, is on the run from a grisly secret, and the last thing they can afford is to be remembered by anyone they meet.
-
-
Well that was a surprise!!!!
- By 6catz on 08-09-24
By: Stuart Neville
-
Five Decembers
- By: James Kestrel
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. The trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn't know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor. Spanning the entirety of World War II, Five Decembers is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.
-
-
Fantastic
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 10-10-22
By: James Kestrel
Better and better as the story evolves
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Overly descriptive
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Nice writing slow start , long finish
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent, clever, and well performed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well written story with interesting outcome
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Riveting!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
More screenplay than spy novel
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
Review:
I recently had the pleasure of delving into a captivating book that sheds light on the intertwined narratives of the CIA and the Arab Spring. This thought-provoking account not only offers a glimpse of historical events but also keeps readers on the edge of their seats with its intriguing blend of espionage, political upheaval, and, most importantly, human drama.
The book masterfully sheds light on the complex web of intelligence operations, covert actions, and geopolitical maneuvering that characterized the CIA's involvement during the Arab Spring. The author skillfully navigates the intricate landscape, providing valuable insights into the agency's role in the region and its impact on the movements that swept across several Arab nations, including the setting of narration - Bahrain.
What sets this book apart is its ability to humanize the individuals involved, both within the CIA and those driving the Arab Spring. The author weaves together personal narratives and behind-the-scenes accounts, rooted in her own eyewitness experience, to create a vivid tapestry of human experiences amidst the tumultuous backdrop of political change. These personal perspectives lend authenticity and emotional depth to the story, making it resonate on a profound level.
The book not only explores the events as they unfolded but also lifts a curtain into the complexities of the Arab Spring. It offers a humane view of the socio-political landscape, shedding light on the aspirations, frustrations, and aspirations of the people who participated in the uprisings. By contextualizing the actions of the CIA within this broader socio-political framework, the book paints a bright and bold picture of a pivotal era in recent history.
Furthermore, the writing style is engaging and accessible, in the best traditions of espionage and geopolitical thriller genre, making it accessible to both casual readers and those well-versed in the subject matter. The author strikes a perfect balance between providing historical context, delivering captivating narratives, and offering insightful analysis. This combination ensures that the book remains informative, gripping, and intellectually stimulating throughout.
In conclusion, this book offers a riveting glimpse of the CIA's involvement in the Arab Spring, presenting a multi-faceted account that is both enlightening and entertaining. Its ability to humanize the events and provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamics involved is commendable. It has it all - a tale of human tragedy, a love story, espionage and covert operations, stories of travel. Whether you are interested in geopolitics, espionage, or simply seeking a gripping narrative that delves into a pivotal moment in contemporary history, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
Fantastic book. An insightful glimpse into a complex world of geopolitics and espionage through a lens of human vulnerability.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I can see this book being made into a movie
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
story too long
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.