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The Silent Boy
- Narrated by: Leon Williams
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
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Summary
From the number-one best-selling author of The American Boy comes a brilliant new historical thriller set during the French Revolution.Paris, 1792. Terror reigns as the city writhes in the grip of revolution. The streets run with blood as thousands lose their heads to the guillotine. Edward Savill, working in London as agent for a wealthy American, receives word that his estranged wife Augusta has been killed in France. She leaves behind 10-year-old Charles, who is brought to England to Charnwood Court, a house in the country leased by a group of émigré refugees.Savill is sent to retrieve the boy, though it proves easier to reach Charnwood than to leave. And only when Savill arrives there does he discover that Charles is mute. The boy has witnessed horrors beyond his years, but what terrible secret haunts him so deeply that he is unable to utter a word?
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- Olwen
- 29-08-23
A riveting mystery
A really good historic mystery. Beautifully read, despite some mispronunciation (e.g. gabble for gable) which was distracting.
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- Geriwood
- 08-08-22
Cracking good tale!
I've read most books by Andrew Taylor and this one's definitely in my top ten!
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- Robert J. Punton
- 01-11-18
Delightful A must to hear
This is a delightful book a modern classic of Dickens Tale of Two Cities Great characters the central figures a delight Charles's story told as if in his mind a great idea, Savill a plausible hero. A brilliant twist at the end. Well done to the author Mr Taylor..I highly recommend you lend your ears to hear this tale. Let us not forget the narrator Leon Williams for his brilliant performance
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- Ali
- 23-02-22
Disappointing narration
The mispronunciation of some relatively common words was irritating,eg gable pronounced as gabble. I’m surprised that there isn’t a proof listening.
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- Padraig
- 22-01-17
Great Narration.
Great twists and turns. I found it a very good listen and would recommend it to anyone.
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1 person found this helpful
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- J C Clark
- 06-08-16
Narrator spoils enjoyment
How could the performance have been better?
The narrator spoils my enjoyment of this novel. His mispronunciations show his lack of knowledge of the english language; he fails to read ahead, so certain sentences lack sense, the stresses being in the wrong places; and there is no, or little, differentiation in the various voices, so it's hard to tell who is talking. His voice is hard, and lacks timbre and tone.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 16-11-19
as good as Dickens.
excellent. both the story and the narration. I have never heard of this author before but I am pleasantly surprised at his ability to bring history alive as he does. The descriptions of old London are as good as dickens. It is also a good mystery with horrible villains and the an incite into the way a little boy would look at a world full of pain and sadness. I will "read" more by this author.
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- Jean Mc
- 23-11-23
Excellent story.
I loved this book literally could not put it down. The narrator was good except for his habit of mis pronouncing certain words. Are these books not checked before release?
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- SEB
- 16-02-15
Super story, poor narrator
What did you like most about The Silent Boy?
The tale is atmospheric and rattles along
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Silent Boy?
The discovery of the corpse in the boathouse.
How could the performance have been better?
Too many mispronunciations:
gable pronounced gabble, gavel pronounced gavelle, primly pronounced prime-ly all occur within one hour!
Failure to read ahead leads frequently to dmeaning being misrepresented.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
no
Any additional comments?
Look out for more written by Andrew Taylor, but only if there is a different narrator.
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4 people found this helpful
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- museumkate
- 27-08-16
The Silent Boy- excellent but not perfect
This is a fantastic Andrew Taylor story that drags you in and keeps you imprisoned until the last, final shocking twists.
The narration is better than some I've heard but I was annoyed at the repeated mis-pronunciation of "gable" as "gabble", "purlin" as "purelin" and "gavel" as "gavelle", to name but a few. Not enough effort was made to use different voices for different characters and the character with the most distinct voice, Rampton, mysteriously lost it towards the end of the book. I've heard other Audible books where the editing has been a bit slap-dash so I don't blame the narrators. I hope others will be able to look past these faults and see the story unravel in all its Eighteenth Century glory.
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1 person found this helpful