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Beware This Boy
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
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Beware This Boy
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Summary
November, 1940. Tom Tyler, Detective Inspector of the small Shropshire town of Whitchurch, is a troubled man. The preceding summer had been a dark one for Britain, and even darker for Tom's own family and personal life. So he jumps at the opportunity to help out in the nearby city of Birmingham, where an explosion in a munitions factory has killed or badly injured several of the young women who have taken on dangerous work in support of the war effort.
At first, it seems more than likely the explosion was an accident, and Tom has only been called in because the forces are stretched thin. But as he talks to the employees of the factory, inner divisions - between the owner and his employees, between unionists and workers who fear communist infiltration - begin to appear. Put that together with an AWOL young soldier who unwittingly puts all those he loves at risk and a charming American documentary filmmaker who may be much more than he seems, and you have a pause-register novel that bears all the hallmarks of Maureen Jennings' extraordinary talent: a multi-faceted mystery, vivid characters, snappy dialogue, and a pitch-perfect sense of the era of the Blitz, when the English were pushed to their limits and responded with a courage and resilience that still inspires.
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What listeners say about Beware This Boy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- struggling
- 17-11-21
Narrator ruined it.
If only the narrator from book 1 had been used for this book. This narrator's voice is not quite as bad as Dick van Dyke's infamous attempt at Cockney, but it's not good either. His regional accents travelled around the country from vaguely rustic to an attempt at Brummie which kept slipping into vague Liverpudlian. From "noo" for "new" to "d" for "t" in the middle of words he committed all the mistakes that an American trying to sound "English" almost invariably makes. Just find someone English, or preferably use the previous narrator instead of fobbing us off with an ersatz (good wartime word, that) British accent.
The story - well, it's WWII, so everything is very grim. Very very grim, in fact, what with the factory explosion and the policeman who is unhappy in his marriage. Very grim.
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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
- Jane
- 13-09-16
The mastery that is Ms Jennings
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book to everyone
Any additional comments?
I enjoy Ms Jennings' writing , this is another great story, set in an era that is of interest to many...what is not to like?
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1 person 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
- Bannell
- 22-10-21
A lot of detail making an interesting story
Narrative very good and easy to follow.
Storyline very realistic the sort of thing that no doubt went on in war time Britain.
Looking forward to reading another of the books
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fussy
- 08-01-18
Great story shame about the accents
This is a well constructed story, telling a different side of the war effort during WW2. The characters are interesting, the plot well thought out and kept me listening despite the truly terrible accents ascribed by the narrator to the Brummie characters. The narrator has a pleasant voice but his North American twang is not appropriate for this very English story. You dont have to l
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- The Curator
- 18-01-20
Where do I start?
The story itself is fine and the characters are interesting (although the trope of men in unhappy marriages unable to keep it in their trousers is becoming too prevalent). What struck me about the book was that although it’s set in Britain it’s author probably isn’t and some phrasing jarred. Who the hell ever called it a ‘mail slot’?
But no, what destroyed it for me was the narrator. There are a lot of accents in the book and he was pretty much terrible at all of them! The book is set in Birmingham and people are described as having a strong brummie accent. Most of these sounded like Dick Van Dyke cockneys with a few straying towards Merseyside 🤦🏼♀️
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