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Divorcing Jack

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About this listen

Dan Starkey is a young journalist in Belfast, who shares with his wife, Patricia, a prodigious appetite for drinking and dancing. Then Dan meets a beautiful and apparently impoverished student. And then, terrifyingly, she is murdered. Is it because she was not exactly who she claimed to be? Is it the IRA? A Protestant extremist group? A jealous lover? Before long, Dan is a target himself.…

©1995 Colin Bateman (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Crime Fiction Espionage Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Political Spies & Politics Suspense Thriller & Suspense Funny

Critic reviews

"Hysterically funny one-liners and sinister Kafkaesque developments..." ( Daily Mail)
" Divorcing Jack is richly paranoid and very funny, it manages to say more about the Troubles in 280 vivid pages than reams of earnest reportage ever could." ( Sunday Times)
All stars
Most relevant
This book gave me my first shock moment in literature when I read it at way too young an age. I've re-read it from time to time ever since. This is my first time giving the audio version a go and it didn't disappoint. Same great story with excellent narration to accompany.

5 stars

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... such a shame... had to switch off after a few chapters, the reading was so basic and bland that I just could not persevere. Absolutely loved the Mystery Man series, and was planning on delving into all the other books by Colin Bateman, but maybe I’ll save these for the kindle instead.

Spoilt by the narrator

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Love Colin Bateman's books. The humour, pathos and plots are always good value and good listening.

So funny

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The performance is stilted and doesn't flow well, which is a shame, because this is a great comic novel. It is a dark, black comedy and there are signs that it's not ageing well, but if viewed in context it's fine.

Great story, let down by performance

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I read this book many years ago and decided to give the audiobook a try. Bad move! The narrator seemed to think it would be acceptable to portray a menacing terrorist in the style of a cartoon grasshopper having its tummy tickled. And without wishing to give anything away, this book’s title is based on a misheard name. When the narrator finally gets to that part of the tale he mispronounces it, making a mockery of the whole thing. A small child could have done a better job, although the gritty nature of the book doesn’t quite lend itself to that. Buy the paperback.

Enjoyable story ripped to shreds by a woefully inept narration

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