Shadows in Bronze cover art

Shadows in Bronze

Falco, Book 2

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Shadows in Bronze

By: Lindsey Davis
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £15.05

Buy Now for £15.05

Summary

I was the new boy, so they saddled me with the worst jobs. Rome, AD 71. Against his better judgement, Falco secretly disposes of a decayed corpse for the Emperor Vespasian, then heads for the beautiful Bay of Naples with his best friend Petronius. He conveniently forgets to mention to his companion that this will be no holiday. They have been sent to investigate the murderous members of a failed coup, now sunning themselves in luxurious villas and on fancy yachts.

The idyllic seaside location further complicates his seemingly doomed romance with Helena Justina. The deeper he probes, the more it seems Helena is inextricably connected to the elite plotters, in ways that the smitten Falco cannot bear to contemplate.

©1991 Lindsey Davis (P)2014 Audible Studios Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Thriller & Suspense
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
The story (as with all Lindesey Davis) is hilarious and very well written. The narrator is terrible. Personal peeves include:
- the extensive list of words the narrator can't pronounce
- the narrator hasn't noticed this is supposed to be humorous
- the fact that he just isn't Christian Rodska.

It's only worth listening to this so you don't miss out an installment in the Falco saga. However, if you can just read the novel and skip onto the next book narrated by Christian Rodska then i'd recommend that.

Brilliant book and a terrible narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I thoroughly enjoyed Book 1 in the Falco series and really liked the narration by Christian Rodska. The storyline of this book is good, the pace fast, but why did the narrator change? This narration feels lifeless, too middle class, too old and does the character of Falco no favours. Such a shame! Falco is a bit of a ducker and diver, but with morals. The quality of the narration, specifically that told by the lead character, should reflect that, not a rather distant account lacking passion, fear, anger etc..... I will continue with the Falco series as I enjoy the stories and characters, but I miss Rodska’s narration!

A good story somewhat spoilt by the narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I like M D Falco as a character. This was my second book and it is a fun tale because Falco does not take himself seriously. I am looking forward to the next.

Enjoyable tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you listen to Shadows in Bronze again? Why?

I enjoyed the story - the quirks of Falco's character voice and the vividly real people and places he encounters.
I missed Christian Rodska so much, though. He was the perfect voice of Falco in the first volume.

What did you like best about this story?

Characterization; sense of time and place.

What three words best describe Gordon Griffin’s performance?

Dull. Old. Errors.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, but it would be a spoiler to say who gets hurt.
I did like Falco's care of the less fortunate - his seemingly endless family, and especially the sacred goat.

Any additional comments?

If Lindsey has any input on the choice of narrator, please, I beg her to insist on Christian Rodska.

Bring back Christian Rodska

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really disappointing after the thrill of the first in the series. Didn't understand the plot at all (I mean, I did, but it didn't really work), but nice to hear the characters again. Shame they ditched the great reader of the first book for someone who made all the characters sound like a slightly bored and out of touch Oxford Classics Don. Very bad move. Cheaper? Probably.

Much, much less good that the first one

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews