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The Veteran: Five Heart-Stopping Stories
- Narrated by: Bruce Boxleitner, Christopher Casenove, Patrick McNee
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories
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Icon
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- mary
- 24-01-15
Oh dear...
Brilliant writing, as ever, by Forsyth but utterly ruined by Patrick McNee as narrator whose monotonal, dirge-like slurring guarantees a good night's sleep
5 people found this helpful
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- S. Ward
- 25-05-21
Master story teller
I have 150 audible books in my library and I rate this short story collection as one of the best.
1 person found this helpful
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- NickUKbuyer
- 17-03-20
Great collection marred by narration
Usual excellent collection you’d expect from the master storyteller, only marred slightly by the almost impenetrable narration by Mcnee. He sounds so old he can barely form the words and his character voices are all ultra slow drawling like something you’d expect in a deathbed confession
1 person found this helpful
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- EJ
- 11-07-19
First story took my breath away
The Veteran, the first of the stories is Frederick Forsyth gold. Worth the purchase for that one story alone. Highly recommended.
1 person found this helpful
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- John
- 01-02-17
Great Last Story
Really enjoyed the last story narrated by Bruce Boxleitner great twist and read really well. But the narration of Patrick McNee was not great. Such a good actor and now gone from our screens but it was just so slow in delivery. Sorry Patrick
1 person found this helpful
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- Brian N. Dee
- 12-01-16
Terrible
The stories were drawn out and weak.
The narration - I thought someone was having a joke with those accents- artificial laboured
-the whole thing was terrible
3 people found this helpful
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- K. J. Bute
- 31-03-22
The kind of book that one listens to more than onc
I have always enjoyed Frederick Forsyth's longer books but had not read any of his short stories which are quite different. I was amazed at the variety of stories that he wrote but it was great fun listening to them. Most of them I listened to more than once having missed little bits the first time round. I so enjoyed them. Thank you!
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- Anonymous User
- 09-07-21
Really excellent
Absolutely fantastic stories. Great mix of such different tales. Well done Fredrick Forsyth. I would recommend the Veteran to all FF fans!!
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- Ibrahim G.
- 10-04-20
An excellent collection of short form fiction from the master storyteller
Frederick Forsyth is typically known for his espionage thrillers like day of the jackal, the Odessa file, the Cobra and more recently the Fox and has published a previous collection of short stories called no comebacks. I found this collection of short stories excellent, thoroughly entertaining and breathtaking in a couple of instances. The first story takes us to 1996 London and a gripping mystery resolved by two competent and likeable police officers. By the end of the story I wish that Frederick had spent more time with these characters developing them as they could so easily have become a series in their own right. The miracle which takes place in 1975 Siena was absolutely first class and took my breath away! The art of the matter is a predictable but very thoroughly enjoyable feel good thriller where the good guys win and whispering wind I thought was hauntingly beautiful. The only reason I gave this collection 4 stars is because I couldn’t get the hang of the citizen, a short story about a drug smuggling operation. It didn’t make any sense to me but I’m happy to thoroughly recommend this collection of short stories for anyone who either enjoys short fiction or want something a little light to take away with them. Patrick Mcnee is very slow to listen to so I recommend speeding this book up using the narration controls however he does a reasonable job of bringing the stories to life. The other narrators narrated the stories competently and I found them easy and enjoyable to listen to.
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- JamesDevon
- 25-01-19
Excellent - thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable
I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this, but it really does hit the spot! The stories are all very different and all very engaging; couldn’t put it down until finished.
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- Hadassah
- 13-09-20
Here is the index to the five stories
Since the publisher has not yet provided an index, here it is:
THE VETERAN - CH 1-26 - READ BY MCNEE
THE ART OF THE MATTER - CH 27-48 - READ BY MCNEE
THE STORY ABOUT SIENNA - CH 49-56 - READ BY CASENOVE
THE CITIZEN - CH 57-65 - READ BY MCNEE
WHISPERING WIND - CH 66-99 - READ BY BOXLEITNER
7 people found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 03-04-20
never disappointed by forsyth
5 great stories with a wonderful twist only forsyth could write. Highly recommended. expect to be surprised by each ending
2 people found this helpful
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- M. I. Wolfson
- 06-03-17
great stuff will work listening great stories
great stories and excellent narration
deserves 10/10 even the least story seemed unlikely to hold my interest but did
2 people found this helpful
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- Larry
- 27-05-21
Engrossing!
I thought I had the best of the best with Tom Clancy and LeCarre’. I’m so glad to have discovered Forsyth. He’s right up there with the best of them, at least in my humble opinion.
1 person found this helpful
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- peter
- 11-05-21
Good fun
If only for the first perfect story this is well worth the credit. Recommended highly
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 25-03-19
Masterful
Five brilliant short stories by the master, Frederic Forsyth. Highly recommended. Five stories are each completely different, but all have the Forsyth hallmarks of well-researched and gripping stories.
1 person found this helpful
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- frequent buyer
- 30-06-16
awful performance ruins some good stories
Patrick Macnee is a good actor but his reading for Audible is unbearable. He puts pauses in the wrong place and emphasis on incorrect syllables. He adds extravagant emotional content where clearly none was intended. I will not buy another audible book with him as the reader. unfortunately the audible table of contents does not note where one story ends and another one begins. As a result there's no easy way to get through a story you don't like or a reader you don't like.
5 people found this helpful
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- Shmuel M
- 01-05-22
A mixed bag
5 varied stories by Forsyth . While entertaining and filled with details typical of Forsyths extensive research most of the stories were just OK Each had a twist ending but I would not have called any of them “heart stopping”
The narrators were also a mixed bag Of the 4 different ones 3 were British but the lone American Bruce Boxleitner was by far my favorite
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- Diane
- 27-03-22
Not engaging
From a boring narrator to unengaging plots, this was a disappointing purchase. Day of the Jackal it was not.
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-07-21
veteran
Good narration, five great stories from one of my favorite authors. Enjoyed very much. Recommend.