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The Blade Artist
- Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
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The Blade Artist
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Summary
Reprising the same powerfully perceptive writing style that made Trainspotting such a hit, Irvine Welsh delivers another successful blow with The Blade Artist. Graphic and shameless, it's complemented by Tam Dean Burn's skillful performance.
Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life - and is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters in an affluent beach town in California. Some say he's a fake and a con man while others see him as a genuine visionary.
But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values. When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge.
But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies - and, most alarmingly, his former self - Francis seems to have other ideas. When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California that indicates her husband's violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad very quickly.
The Blade Artist is an elegant, electrifying novel - ultraviolent but curiously redemptive - and it marks the return of one of modern fiction's most infamous, terrifying characters: the incendiary Francis Begbie from Trainspotting.
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What listeners say about The Blade Artist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- stuart davidson
- 21-07-21
loved it!
Loved the book, flew through it. Maybe my favourite one of the series!! Highly recommended
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-01-20
loved it what a character Begbie is
loved it just waiting on the film ruining it now. Bit funny with the American accent sometimes from Tam Dean Burn but no other person can read any of the series for these books
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jay
- 19-06-16
Quality Book. Another by Irvine Welsh!
I really enjoyed this book. Was a bit slow to start with but the usual twists and action built up. would definately recommend for fans of irvine welsh and Francis begbie!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anthony Healy
- 07-06-19
Excellent
Welsh at his best, I couldn't stop listening, top drawer stuff.
I want a sequel; NOW!!!!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- M. Owens
- 08-10-21
My wee review
Not a bad wee story if a bit too violent for my tastes especially the ending that seemed unnecessary and went on too long. The book is really well performed however... Overall if you're a fan of the Trainspotting gang you won't be disappointed
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- alan coyle
- 25-05-16
Tam Dean Burn my third book narrated by him
need to see what else he's narrated.
couldn't believe the Luke warm reviews the book gets. it seems to be a victim of the strength of the Beggbie character in previous books. These dissenting views seem to revolve around the unrealistic reformation of the psycho beggars, but as he descends again, the changes in his accent and morality are ver subtle.
Let's face it, if your a fan of skag boys, trainspotting and porno, then you have no choice but to read this, so you might as well emerse yourself in it and have faith in the auther.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- gerald brogan
- 30-05-16
A must listen for any Welsh Fans.
A top book from Welsh. Full marks for content & narration by Tam Dean Byrne.
Nice little cliffhanger in the very last minute of the book... To be continued.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jim
- 15-09-17
An exquisite performance!
Tam Dean Burn is a true master. Welsh's story adds a completely new layer of complexity and meaning to the whole "Trainspotting" narrative. The character study of Frank Begbie is nuanced and truly memorable, elevating him to the status of true legend worth going down in literary history. This novel is a gift to anyone who relishes good fun, rank violence and unflinching studies of human nature.
The only slightly disturbing thing about this audiobook is that every once in a while certain parts of some sentences were obviously "corrected", and since those parts had different acoustics and tone of voice, hearing those parts felt like hitting a bump in an otherwise smooth flow of narration.
But it doesn't matter. All in all it didn't ruin the experience of listening to this audiobook. Excellent work. Don't hesitate for a second. This audiobook is a gem!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-11-22
Great read
Absolutely loved the previous books and can’t wait to read the next one, couldn’t stop listening
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Wras
- 08-04-16
The first cut is the deepest
We have met Francis Begbie before he was in Trainspotting, then again in the sequel Porno, then in the prequel Skagboys but now he has a new identity and a new name Jim Francis. He lives in california with a beautiful wife and two daughters, he adores them and would do anything to protect them; and he does.
He carries two lives in him, one is normal the other one is pure violence, controlled restrained but never too far never too controlled when is safe to let go, in that moment in that instant he reverts to the enjoyment of absolute destruction of a rival, perceived or real.
This is an ultraviolent tale with no moral compass, or redeemable characters Irvine Welsh is the most nihilistic of modern writer and presents us with a world that is amoral and one second away from barbarism. He enjoys his depictions of a brutal Scotland or Edinburgh, even taking digs at Glasgow gangsters for liking publicity.
Entertaining is fast paced and violent to the extreme, with no redeemable values or lessons of any kind, this is a book that enjoys the milieu it inhabits and celebrates the machismo it exudes from every pore.
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6 people found this helpful