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The Labyrinth Makers
- Narrated by: Simon Schatzberger
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
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The Labyrinth Makers
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Summary
Winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger.
When an RAF Dakota, presumed lost at sea in 1945, is discovered in a drained lake in Lincolnshire, together with its pilot and a cargo of worthless rubble, it falls to David Audley of the MOD to puzzle out just why the Russians are so interested in the discovery - and what the plane was carrying that is important enough to kill for.
Anthony Price was born in England in 1928. He became a captain in the British Army before studying at Oxford University, then became a journalist on the Westminster Press and Oxford Times. Price is the author of nineteen novels featuring Dr David Audley and Colonel Jack Butler, which focus on a group of counter-intelligence agents. Approximately twenty years elapse between the first and last novel in the series, and most of the plots are connected with one or more important events in military history. The first three novels were adapted into a six-part BBC TV drama in the 1980s, and The Labyrinth Makers (for which he won a CWA Silver Dagger) and Other Paths to Glory have both been produced as BBC radio dramas.
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What listeners say about The Labyrinth Makers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- catsatcastle
- 15-02-15
The first David Audley novel
What made the experience of listening to The Labyrinth Makers the most enjoyable?
I like the complex plot and the superbly written dialogue. It has the trademark historical connection that often features in these books.
The narrator is excellent and has a wonderful line in languid voices to suit the public school characters, of which there are a few of varying ages and they are all distinct. He also characterises Jack Butler (Sandhurst via Lancashire) well. He is to the life the career soldier, clever, disciplined and taking no nonsense. Other accents sound plausible to me and the female characters are not forced.
Price develops his characters in a very satisfying way. This is the first in a long series of books and David Audley features in all of them. He has made himself unpopular by being too clever by half and is thrust out into the field and away from his beloved research into the Middle East. He is not always likeable but is always interesting.
What other book might you compare The Labyrinth Makers to, and why?
The closest I can get is to the novels of John le Carre. They are similarly complex and beautifully written. Price's books differ though in that they are not suffused with a sense of betrayal although sometimes the people on the same side are not always being straight with each other. There is a lightness of touch and there are shots of humour too. They also tend to take place mainly in the mind and through dialogue but often with a sudden and unexpected burst of violent but not graphic violence.
Which scene did you most enjoy?
The final scene, which I can't explain fully without giving away the story. All of the themes come together in a very satisfying way.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
No, this is of that sort of book.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pete
- 25-06-17
Read years ago
This is the first in the Dr Audley series, and I am sure I will listen to more. I read the novel years ago, and enjoyed this rendering
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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
- Peter
- 03-04-15
A very good story
Starts as a slow ordinary story but gradually gains momentum and with a few good twists. The hero is awakened and gets his girl. An interesting tantalising story of a rogue and more .
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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
- Mr M D Devlin
- 12-03-24
A brilliant story with very believable characters.
This was a fascinating and intriguing story, made better by the excellent narration. It was a pleasure to listen to.
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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
- bibliophile
- 13-03-15
An excellent listen.
An intricate plot, and expertly read. I wish I had come across Price before; he is certainly an interesting writer. Very enjoyable!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Monica
- 16-04-13
The Labyrinth Makers
This was a very good book to listen to mainly because the Reader was soo good and you could hear every word. Please can we have some more Books read by him.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- DT
- 28-07-15
Back-room spy gets a life
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
I thought that the eruption into the plot of a internal Soviet coup was an interesting development.
Did Simon Schatzberger do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?
Yes.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Labyrinth Makers?
The love-scenes.
Any additional comments?
David Audley is a reluctant field agent (and lover) when a Second World War Dakota reappears in a drained lake in Lincolnshire in the late 1960s. This event attracts spies in a Cold War drama which has a few intriguing twists and turns. The broad mores of the late 1960s come across but the social and political feel of the age is disappointingly thin, particularly given that Price pitches his contribution at the historical and research end of the spy-genre. The Audley-Faith Steerforth relationship is contrived, plot-wise, and is generally embarrassing, though the latter applies to John Le Carré, as well, and I like most of his novels. Having said as much, and added that Audley’s back-story is not especially persuasive, he is an intriguing hero for a spy novel, and there are many sequels, of which I shall try a couple before deciding whether to keep going. I note an earlier reviewer’s advice that “this is the first book in Price's espionage series about British Intelligence's shadowy "Research and Development" department. It pays to read the books in order of publication - they get more complex as you go along”.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- andrew
- 02-03-13
Disapointed
This book was a disapointment. The story had a good start and looked to be promessing with what looked like a good plot. The plot fell apart at the end, the love story was beyond belief, as was the story behind it. The characters were pompous.
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1 person found this helpful