Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Angelmaker
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Angelmaker
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
From the acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World - a new riveting action spy thriller, blistering gangster noir, and howling absurdist comedy: a propulsively entertaining tale about a mobster's son and a retired secret agent who are forced to team up to save the world.
All Joe Spork wants is a quiet life. He repairs clockwork and lives above his shop in a wet, unknown bit of London. The bills don't always get paid and he's single and has no prospects of improving his lot, but at least he's not trying to compete with the reputation of Mathew "Tommy Gun" Spork, his infamous criminal dad.
Edie Banister lives quietly and wishes she didn't. She's nearly ninety and remembers when she wasn't. She's a former superspy and now she's... well... old. Worse yet, the things she fought to save don't seem to exist anymore, and she's beginning to wonder if they ever did.
When Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended.
The client is one Edie Banister. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis. With Joe's once-quiet world now populated with mad monks, psychopathic serial killers, scientific geniuses and threats to the future of conscious life in the universe, he realises that the only way to survive is to muster the courage to fight, help Edie complete a mission she gave up years ago, and pick up his father's old gun....
Critic reviews
"Angelmaker is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read in ages...a joyful display of reckless, delightful invention, on a par with the rocket-powered novels of Neal Stephenson.... Ideas come zinging in from all corners, and do so with linguistic verve and tremendous humour. ... It’s brilliantly entertaining, and the last hundred pages are pure, unhinged delight. What a splendid ride." (Patrick Ness, Guardian)
"It hangs together so brilliantly…It’s an ambitious, crowded, restless caper, cleverly told and utterly immune to precis…From its frantic oscillation between plausibility and fantasy emerges an odd, unique composite that deserves its own moniker. ...Angelmaker turns out to be a solid work of modern fantasy fiction, coupling credit-crunch anxiety with an understandable nostalgia for the mythical days of “good, wholesome, old-fashioned British crime." (James Purdon, Observer Guardian)
“Angelmaker is an intricate and brilliant piece of escapism, tipping its hat to the twisting plots of John Buchan and H Rider Haggard, the goggles-and-gauntlets Victoriana of the steampunk movement and the labyrinthine secret London’s of Peter Ackroyd and Iain Sinclair, while maintaining an originality, humour and verve all its author’s own… Angelmaker must have been huge fun to write, and it is huge fun to read.” (Daily Telegraph, five stars)
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Angelmaker
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- CherylK
- 02-02-14
Loved the beginning few chapters
Would you try another book written by Nick Harkaway or narrated by Daniel Weyman?
Yes
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Removed 70 percent of the sex scenes as they seemed to get in the way of the story rather than enhance it.
What about Daniel Weyman’s performance did you like?
Versatile, distinct character voices and pleasant to listen to.
Do you think Angelmaker needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?
Not too sure if it carries on in the same heaving bosoms vein
Any additional comments?
I loved the start of this story, in particular the characters Joe and Edie and really enjoyed the pace and writing style. Unfortunately it seemed to quickly descend into a never ending shag fest if not one set of characters then another. Have to admit the Polly toe scene was also the beginning of the end for me too. I soldiered on with a large part of the story of Edie's younger days but then lost interest.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- matt hall
- 18-05-18
Another great harkaway
This was great, full of verve and style. Lots to enjoy, although for me at least not quite as good as The Gone Away World. Still worth your time, though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- TonyP
- 03-08-18
Superb New ideas are rare nowadays.
well read and such a depth of story bringing the past and the future together
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- judy forbes
- 22-05-22
Wonderful
I was completely caught up by the story from start to finish. Inventive, fast paced, epic in scope.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Frangipani14
- 21-04-22
Brilliant
Utterly brilliant adventure tale with a social and moral lesson. Very well worth a listen. Bear with the first couple of chapters which may appear confusing. It will all come together. I promise.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nils
- 25-06-13
One of the strangest listens in a long time
This was a strange, but most impressive - listen. Very few books I have come across are as well-written as this one, ever on its toes with lightly humourous, occasionally flippant, details interspersed with scenes of cruelty and amazingly imaginative twists.
I dare any reader to forecast what happens next. I did not even try, and I wouldn't have had a chance. If comparable to any other books in its stunningly original style, numerous twists it must be to those of Haruki Murakami. Yet Harkaway is no copycat, but has a style very much his own.
The book is as far from Dan Brown as anything, but fascinates in so many other ways. It toys with its readers, and Daniel Weyman is absolute supreme in his narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
- J
- 15-12-12
Fantastic!
One of the best books I have ever read - clever and witty with a great story that keeps you hooked. More from this author on Audible please!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jo R
- 08-05-22
mixed bag
Enjoyed 1st half 5*.Last section rambled on, I couldn't wait for it to end. 3*
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs N
- 27-07-22
Helter-skelter ride!
Fabulous helter-skelter ride of a story. Unpredictable, shocking even in parts.
Brilliant writing with some astonishing and marvellous characters.
Encompassing many genres; spy, action, family saga, underworld,even steam-punk! Loved it!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joel Hardy
- 07-08-19
Buy, Buy, Buy.
Vast sprawling and joyous read from the first page until the last. Incredible characters that you will be wishing to hear of again. I cannot recommend this book enough, Harkaway writes with unparamounted style and flurry. Try putting it down I challenge you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!