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The Surgeon’s Mate

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The Surgeon’s Mate

By: Patrick O’Brian
Narrated by: Robert Hardy
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In this abridged audiobook, in a time of war and divided loyalties, loving someone can be the greatest risk of all.

Ordered home by despatch vessel, Captain Jack Aubrey and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin have been tasked with bringing the news of the latest victory in the war with America back to the government in Britain. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought upon the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers who pursue their ship soon become menacing.

In this man's world of seamanship and war, will a dangerous but fascinating woman redress the balance?

‘I have no particular interest in the sailing or fighting of square‐rigged ships, but I’ve never been so attached to any fictional characters in my life.’
MAILE MELOY

‘A swelling tide of intrigue and adventure in the best tradition.’
Guardian

Action & Adventure Espionage Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Medical Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense War & Military Fiction War Exciting Military Pirate Mystery
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Critic reviews

‘If O’Brian’s novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive. . . They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action.’
Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph
‘The Aubrey–Maturin novels, by Patrick O’Brian, are so addictive that after I finish one I have to hide the next from myself for a little while in order to do anything else but read.’
Louise Erdrich
‘In Aubrey and Maturin, Patrick O’Brian has created two of the most enjoyable characters in twentieth-century fiction. Their relationship sustains an absorbing and thrilling sequence of naval stories, unrivalled in their complexity, full of impeccable detail and psychological insight. O’Brian switches from the intimate to the epic with equal assurance. One of the greatest authors to sail with.’
Michael Palin
‘My hero is Patrick O’Brian. It’s basically impossible to write that well.’
David Mamet
‘One of the most compelling and brilliant novelists of his time . . . Beyond his superbly elegant writing, wit and originality, Patrick O’Brian showed an understanding of the nature of a floating world at the mercy of the wind and the sea which has never been surpassed.’
Max Hastings, Evening Standard
‘I devoured Patrick O’Brian’s twenty-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.’
Christopher Hitchens
‘Written with most engaging enthusiasm that can’t fail to give pleasure to anybody who enjoys historical adventure flavoured with more than a dash of realism.’
The Sunday Times
‘One of the most brilliantly sustained pieces of historical fictional writing this century.’
James Teacher, Spectator
‘Patrick O’Brian brings depth to his sea-stories with outstanding dialogue, characterisation, humour and a golden thread of romance. You don’t have to love books about naval battles to become entranced.’
Katie Fforde
All stars
Most relevant
A very good story but if you can get the American edition read by Tim Piggot-Smith he really brings the story alive with his vast ability to make each character individual, so that you believe it is a whole cast of actors that are reading, - not just one

THE SURGEON'S MATE

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