Stroke of Luck cover art

Stroke of Luck

A short story

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Stroke of Luck

By: Mark Billingham
Narrated by: Mark Billingham
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About this listen

So many things that could have been different. An almost infinite number of them: the flight of the ball, the angle of the bat, the movement of his feet as he skipped down the pitch. The weather, the time, the day of the week, the whatever.

The smallest variance in any one of these things or in the way that each connected to the other at the crucial moment and nothing would have happened as it did. An inch another way or a second or a step and it would have been a very different story.

Of course it’s always a different story, but it isn’t always a story with bodies....

During a summer cricket match, Alan meets Rachel, and they start a relationship - but soon Alan discovers he is having an affair with a married woman. Though not a happily married one. Rachel's husband abuses her physically and psychologically, and Rachel is at her wits' end. Alan vows to protect her - but her husband is not the only one who is a threat. Rachel is being secretly watched....

©2015 Mark Billingham Ltd (P)2015 Hachette Audio Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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loved this short story, could have been a little longer to find out what happened when Rachel gets home

Excellent book!

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Not to the usual Mark Billingham standards! I was becoming deeply involved with the story line the protagonist the role of the perilous lead female hanging on in there.
Then NOTHING !!!
I get the dichotomy of the evil characters, and there interactions and I get the "there but for the grace of God " lottery style I feel he is reached for ??? h.mm
I cant help feeling let down !

deep winding and complete let down !

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I'm not entirely sure why this has to be out there as a story at all, let alone an audio.

I do enjoy Mark Billingham's Thorne series, which is why I thought I'd try this. Except... there's not really a story. None of the characters are appealing, either as a protagonist, or antagonist. It just sort of exists. The type of tale with which some pub bore might annoy the regulars.

Billingham's own narration is fair enough, much in line with the reading of his latter Thorne novels - but it's nothing like enough to save what is such a poor story.

I definitely would not waste a credit on this.

Hard to understand why this exists

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