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  • To Kingdom Come

  • Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 2
  • By: Will Thomas
  • Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
  • Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (94 ratings)
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To Kingdom Come cover art

To Kingdom Come

By: Will Thomas
Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
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Summary

When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard, all fingers point to the increasingly brazen factions of Irish dissidents seeking liberation from English rule. Volunteering their services to the British government, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn set out to infiltrate a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles. Posing as a reclusive German bomb maker and his anarchist apprentice, they are recruited for the group's ultimate plan: to bring London to its knees and end the monarchy forever.

Their adventures take them from an abandoned lighthouse on the craggy coast of Wales to the City of Light, where Llewelyn goes undercover with Maire O'Casey, the alluring sister of an Irish radical. Llewelyn again finds himself put to the test by his enigmatic employer as he is schooled in the deadly science of bomb making. Fraught with explosives, secret initiations, and vicious stick fights, and featuring historical figures such as Charles Parnell and W. B. Yeats, To Kingdom Come is a riveting sequel to Some Danger Involved.

©2005 Will Thomas (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A successful blend of fiction and fact, this is - as expected - expertly researched and skillfully plotted, with satisfying amounts of emotion (with a growing friendship between Barker and Llewelyn) and suspense." ( Library Journal)

What listeners say about To Kingdom Come

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

Someone Call Llewelyn an Ambulance!

This series already feels like it is settling down into a familiar and comfortable rhythm. The narration is smoothly consistent and the two main characters continue to develop and share a good chemistry. I was a little surprised that after the first book seemed to spend quite some time introducing an impressive array of characters in London very few of them made more than a small dent in this storyline which largely takes place outside of the capital.

That storyline is enjoyable though and we are introduced to another set of very interesting characters as Thomas delves into a terrorist plot. Once again he demonstrates that some of the problems that are besetting the modern world are actually nothing new except perhaps in scale and effect.

If things do carry on this way poor Llewellyn is going to have one of the most bruised and battered bodies in fiction. The book starts and ends with him in dire straits and he takes quite a battering in between.

I don't think this series will be everyone's cup of tea but I think if you liked the first book this one should also please and I'm going to enjoy sipping from it occasionally as it unfolds further.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 20-02-17

Shocking narration and an uninspiring plot

The fist instalment in this series actually promised much more than the sequel delivered. This second book in the Barker and Llewelyn series falls at the first hurdle with the really abominable narration by Anthony Ferguson. There are too many characters from different parts of the country and abroad, and his appalling attempts, specifically at Irish but in virtually all of the other accents required, made listening to this book a joke, and not in a good way. Surely anyone can do the good old stock German villain voice, think Goldfinger? Not Ferguson. A soupçon of French - think Antoine de Caunes from Eurotrash - we can all do that can't we?! Not Ferguson - you get the idea. Admittedly, Irish is hard for a layman (from anywhere but the Emerald Isle) to nail but a paid voice actor...

However, the disappointing nature of this novel can't be solely laid at Ferguson's door (although if I were Will Thomas, I'd want my money back). No, the plot is much more prosaic and predictable than the first book and the denouement is, frankly, patronising. The 'revelation' of the identity of the arch villain may have titillated a Victorian audience but a modern reader knew the outcome of the crime wasn't going to hold any surprises. The love interest bit was also tiresome.

The rest of the plot does jolly you along to a certain extent and it wasn't a total loss but this one only just misses out on being a total clanger.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Disappointed

Very disappointed with this second book, I had enjoyed the first one. I read a review prior to purchasing which said it was an acurate portrayal of Anglo - Irish history. and like I already said I had read the first book in thd series and it was very readable, which is why I returned to this author. The only acurate nature of this story is the mention of Parnell, home rule, and the American financial assistance to the IRB.
The narrators pronunciations are dreadful, which an almost unforgiveable mistake, all one has to to is a little research. The Irish accents sound like really bad Scottish accents and the German accent sounds like a combination of Nigerian and Jamaican, they were in fact farcical.
I honestly wanted to like the book as I'm a fan of Victorian detective fiction, now I feel like I've waisted a credit and don't think i want to listen to books 3&4...Sorry.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Like the men with principles.

Love the well drawn characters, including "Harm" a cantankerous pekingese, a true ankle-biter of the 1st order. The main character is particularly sympathetic and charmingly naive. Didn't like the world peopled by men exclusively. Only female in sight is the arch villainess-- bit of a cardboard cutout.

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

Good story, shame about the narration

The only thing wrong with this was the appalling accents. Apart from Barker's Scottish accent it was impossible to keep up with who was supposed to sound like what. I like this narrator but I pray there are no more accents to be tackled in the upcoming books.

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

Interesting story set in Victorian times

This is the second book in the series and I’ve enjoyed it just as much as the first one !! So I’m looking forward to book number three ! Good stories, good plot twists and I’m beginning to feel friends with Thomas !!!

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

Fab story but....

I’ve had to give up on the audiobook the narraters accents are just dreadful Really bad

I’ve had to finish it on kindle

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

Great listen

Wonderful book with lots of twists and turns can’t wait for the next episode in the series

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

Excellent books

These were a great find, I have enjoyed all of the books I have read in this series so far.

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

Alight

The narrator needs to learn how to pronounce welsh at the correct speed and with a welsh accent , he sounded like he was practicing welsh after opening a language book five seconds beforehand

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