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  • Commando

  • Combined Operations, Book 1
  • By: Griff Hosker
  • Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
  • Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (43 ratings)
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Commando cover art

Commando

By: Griff Hosker
Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
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Summary

It's 1940, and the British Expeditionary Force is caught ill prepared for the onslaught of the German Blitzkrieg and its deadly panzers. Caught in the desperate retreat to Dunkirk, Tom Harsker, son of a World War One ace, discovers that he is a natural soldier. Escaping to England and with complete disaster narrowly averted, Tom is selected to join the newly formed Commandos. With Britain standing alone and the seemingly inexorable German forces massing across the Channel for invasion, Tom and his fellow Commandos must battle against all odds in daring raids to buy precious time.

©2015 Griff Hosker (P)2015 Tantor

What listeners say about Commando

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

POOR DIALOGUE AND NARRATION

I could just about cope with the hero being lifted straight from the pages of 1950s boys jingoistic comics, but it was the dreadfully stilted dialogue that finally made me stop listening.
It was an unfortunate decision when the author chose to put received pronunciation into the mouths of working class Mancunians.
I served 3 decades in the army as soldier and officer and never heard a soldier not use verbal contractions nor swear..
The narrator too tells the story in a manner more suited to telling bedtime stories. His regional accents made me cringe.
The author doesn't understand the reality of 20th century soldiering and makes up for his deficiencies by sprinkling anecdotes lifted from memoirs.
It doesn't work.
In particular, he fails to grasp battlefield how relationships between ranks relax on active service. Officers and NCO's often call their men by first name or nickname.
I might have stayed with the tale had a more talented narrator been employed.
I read 50+ audio books each year and this was the first truly poor book I've purchased.
I blame the editors.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Really good

I really enjoyed the Informative story. I would be interested of any follow up books.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Style of delivery

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

Good pace of reading and clear diction, however the story was rather spoiled by the "wooden" narration of the speech taking place within the story it is as if it were being read by a non English speaker with no true understanding of spoken English and how working conversations take place between colleagues. Very strange really because the Lancashire dialect and also the Scots was pretty good. It may be that it was narrated with a foreign speaking audience in mind.

What did you like best about this story?

The action scene depiction is pretty fair even if it does appear to be rather unlikely

Would you be willing to try another one of Antony Ferguson’s performances?

Not with this style of narration, I found it to be rather annoying, tending to spoil the story.

Do you think Commando needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, a "boys own" style but gripping none the less. I will be looking for any follow-up.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well researched

poor performance. Weak accents that became annoying and lots of wrong emphasis. Storyline was a bit too 'boys own' compared to true commando or sas accounts.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • AB
  • 22-02-24

Great fun, super hero

He could join the cast of Avengers Superheroes, but a fabulous read and kept me well entertained. The narrator was very poor and wooden, and he almost spoiled the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

This would be a great yarn if it wasn't for the fact that British soldiers really actually did this stuff. Quite sobering.

The characters are well written, if a little stereotypical. (T)officers, salt of the earth and a Beau Geste class hero. But don't let that put you off. Great story.

The readers accents are hilarious. Worth listening just for that. The Germans sound like West Indians! The UK regional ones are also funny. This can spoil some productions, but not this one. hence 4*

Enjoy!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Bloody awful narration, it was read like a child would read it! so wooden it was almost unlistenable

ok story ruined by the most pitiful narration. would have been better read by a 10 year old. How I wish they would get better narrators for these books!!!!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Commando

All in all a very good listen
If you are interested then I say Go for it

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Terrible stilted narration

Potentially an excellent story, spoiled somewhat by the protagonist being a little too ‘perfect’
I found the narrator to be stilted, with no skill for the use of contradictions, it would have been far more interesting and believable with characters speaking in a more natural manner. A shame as I thought the story had so much promise.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Griff at his best

Narrator did great job, throughly enjoyed this audible bought characters to life hopefully narrating book 2 in the series.

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