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Where Eagles Dare

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Where Eagles Dare

By: Alistair MacLean
Narrated by: Jonathan Oliver
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About this listen

 The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense.

Winter 1943, and US General Carnaby has been captured by the Nazis. He is being held in a fortress high in the Bavarian Alps. headquarters of the German Secret Service, and in his head are plans for the invasion of Normandy.

A special team of British commandos, a US Army ranger and a female secret agent is hurriedly assembled. Their mission: parachute into the area, break in to the alpine Castle, and rescue General Carnaby before the Germans can interrogate him.

But unknown to all, there is another mission, and someone in the group is a traitor…

(P)2017 Alistair MacLean Action & Adventure Classics Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense War & Military Thriller Fiction Technology Suspense War Military

Critic reviews

"A real humdinger. The best MacLean." ( Daily Mirror)
"There is a splendid audacity about Where Eagles Dare, in which a handful of British agents invade an 'impenetrable' Gestapo command post...MacLean offers a real dazzler of a thriller, with vivid action, fine set pieces of suspense and a virtuoso display of startling plot twists." ( The New York Times)
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Possibly not. I love the story, it is a classic, and possibly Maclean's best work... but.. it is only a good listen if the narrator can recreate this. The producer/editors should also take some of the blame to. This recording is not upto the standard of the 40 year old cassette version!

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jonathan Oliver?

Anyone! (David Rintoul, Toby Longworth, Matt Addis, but as they are soooo good and therefore possibly to expensive to employ).. how about Colin Mace who read 'Nomad' so well ? ...actually that is a bit unfair, but Oliver struggles much like with 'The Guns of Navarone' with accents. The German ones all sound the same and like a cliched parody more akin to the BBC's 'Allo, Allo!', and the female voice of Mary, nearly made my ears bleed. The american accent for Schaffer is identical to Dusty Miller in Guns of Navarone, the germans the same, and I can only thank god that there were no greeks in this story. He seems to only be able to recreate one version of an accent. His fluency is in question as well, as he struggles to turning that into a coherent and not disjointed experience (lots of unnecessary pauses, or bad edits?). The problem here is that this is repeated from previous books, and although I believe he delivers this one slightly better, it is still a long way off from good, let alone perfect.I originally listened to this on cassette read by Martin Jarvis...the cassette, even in it's 40 year, mangled state is better!

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

I nearly cried in places when the accents assaulted my ears!

Any additional comments?

Oliver's performance in Fear is the Key, was a lot better (less accents), so I will be looking at 'When Eight Bells Toll' in the future, but will be weary of acquiring other Maclean works, that he reads. It is a real shame as I like Maclean's work, but it is only good if delivered to the same standard.

A great story, not dealt justice

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I read this when I was 11, but hearing it again 50 years later was a pleasure. This was a novel adapted from the screenplay, so a lot of the events in the film are illustrated here. However, McClean allowed some human sympathy. As you read this, do a body count, you will be surprised, especially if you compare it to the film. There are occasions when the characters could easily have killed every enemy soldier they meet, but Smith prevents this from happening, A great novel that requires little thinking, and is very descriptive.

Action packed, and a wonderful reminder

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As good if not better than the film (which was excellent ). Excellently narrated by Jonathan Oliver who sounds like Richard Burton when he wants too!. Good fun........

Boys Own Adventure .

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Such a dull narrator, with terrible accents. Ruins the wonderful story that gamely tries to shine through.

terrible narrator

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So sweet they get married at the end agent smith is so bad ass the movie is amazing too

It was brilliant

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