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The North Water

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About this listen

A 19th-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that grips like a thriller.

Behold the man: Stinking, drunk, brutal and bloodthirsty, Henry Drax is a harpooner on the Volunteer, a Yorkshire whaling ship bound for the hunting waters of the Arctic Circle. Also aboard is Patrick Sumner, an ex-army surgeon with a shattered reputation, no money, and no better option than to embark as ship's medic on this ill-fated voyage.

In India during the Siege of Delhi, Sumner thought he had experienced the depths to which a man can stoop and imagined he'd find respite on the Volunteer, but now, trapped in the wooden belly of the ship with Drax, he encounters pure evil and is forced to act. As the true purposes of the expedition become clear, the confrontation between the two men plays out in the freezing darkness of an Arctic winter.

©2016 Ian McGuire (P)2016 Simon & Schuster Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Sea Adventures Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Polar Region Adventure Scary Exciting Sailing Mystery

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Critic reviews

"Fast-paced, gripping. A tour de force of narrative tension and a masterful reconstruction of a lost world." (Hilary Mantel)
"Utterly convincing and compelling, remorselessly vivid and insidiously witty. A startling achievement." (Martin Amis)
Most relevant
A perfect storm of story, characters an narration. Not for the physically or verbally squeamish - a no holds barred of life on a whaler. I hope the movie is brave enough to capture its grittiness.

Brilliant

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What did you like best about The North Water? What did you like least?

The central story, the descriptive passages and the main character's rememberances were well crafted and compelling ... BUT ... way too much needless, grating and gratuitous swearing. It may be an acceptable (and possible historically accurate) way of establishing the base and crude nature of the whaling men, but when ALL the characters - including businessmen, priests and eskimos - constantly, casually and needlessly pepper their dialogue with the F-word and the C-word, it becomes exasperating and severely detracts from the otherwise faultless narrative.

A good story ... spoiled

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Sounds,sights and smells abound in this tale of sea skullduggery. Keatings narration adds further to the tale.

Great story, read well.

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The story grips you from the start and the visceral description of brutality and inhumanity you hear is but a taste of scenes to come. You can feel the dirt and taste the muck of the voyage north. Its heart is the story of a man who is not special but perhaps lucky - although he wouldn’t agree. The characters are well rounded and some are truly menacing.

Immersive story with enthralling narration.

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from first to last page it gripped you, not for the fainted hearted .Narrator was excellent .

BEST READ IN A GOOD WHILE

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There were bits of this book that made for uncomfortable reading - cruel, mean and harsh, however, the story was brilliant and i found it has to put down. Excellent narration.

Brutal but brilliant

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What was most disappointing about Ian McGuire’s story?

Heavy going, disjointed and no real continuity

Have you listened to any of John Keating’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I haven't but would certainly do so again

Was The North Water worth the listening time?

No - Because of my health I spend a lot of time listening to audio books and have about 190 - I would put this in the bottom 10

Not for me

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Brutally honest in its depiction of whaling but equally candid in the treatment of the violent and contemptuously harsh characters contained within. Expect foul language and fouler acts, no one here can be considered anything but deeply flawed.

Viseral in the rendering of a lost world

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Gripping story well written and read. Some brisk language which could offend some. Cleverly constructed sequence of events.

Great adventure tale

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A great story, brutal and graphic. Compelling listening. Performance was good, well delivered. Not the best at changing characters with different accents.

Compelling listening

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