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The Devil's Bargain

By: Stella Rimington
Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
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Summary

Bloomsbury presents The Devil's Bargain by Stella Rimington, read by Penelope Rawlins.

'I wanted more' DAVID GILMAN

One lie put the nation at risk. Another might save it.

Harry Bristow: policeman, father, chauffeur, fraud.

In 1988 Harry made one mistake: he took a bribe, letting a man he knew as Igor into Britain – and he’s regretted it ever since. So when he recognises Igor many years later as his newly-elected MP, he knows he has to come clean. But the MP recognises him too – and Harry fears what he might do next.

Peter Robinson, MP: salesman, politician, bachelor, spy.

It was easy to get into Britain in 1988 as an illegal, working deep undercover, but the break-up of the Soviet Union cut Robinson off from his homeland. He’s inching closer to Britain’s levers of power – but now the one man who knows his secret has reappeared. With no way to contact Moscow, he must act fast to preserve his position and reap its rewards – at any cost.

Manon Tyler, CIA analyst, has just boarded a plane to London – with a report on Russian illegals to read.

'Intriguing and very cleverly-plotted' ALEX GERLIS

'Races along at breakneck speed. Packed with insider information, this is not one to miss' M. W. CRAVEN

©2022 Stella Rimington (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Critic reviews

"Damn good." (Daily Telegraph)

"This is something rare: the spy novel that prizes authenticity over fabrication, that is true to the character and spirit of intelligence work." (Mail on Sunday)

What listeners say about The Devil's Bargain

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Popcorn read

Fun story awfully read
Not up to the usual standard at all far fetched at times

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The most annoying narration ever

Am on chapter 4 and have had to break off to let you know this is the most annoying and cringey performance I have ever listened to. I’m quite enjoying the story which is a relief seeing as I’ve paid for it but I recommend you give this a miss and never ever listen to a book read by this narrator.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Tatiana

easy to listen to. Interesting plot but the ending was a bit thin and petered out

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable

In the vein of Liz Carlyle, the story keeps you hanging on for bad things to happen that don't and then doo when you are least expecting it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The weakest storyline of all books so far..

This is the 1st book I have listened to from Stella, which is not part of the Liz Carlyle series. Sadly, this did not live up to the series. In places it seemed confused and the characters were not as well developed as in previous books.
That said, it was a reasonable book and I stayed with it till the end.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent book; shame about the narrator.

The story was great spy stuff, but spoiled by the questionable voices and accents affected by the narrator. Do the people who commission these audiobooks ever listen to them, I wonder.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good book but prefer previous voice over

Prefer the artist that did the previous books. This one is a trying too hard and it’s distracting. Very staccato style so not relaxing to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Believable confusion within the truth and lies

I wonder whether at times the Russians were dumber about UK than I'd expect.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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The accents

I loved the Liz Carlyle series but found this a tough listen, the accents were particularly grating but the story itself seemed to miss everything that made the Carlyle stories so brilliant.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Disappoint ing and irritating narration

I felt the story was not up to Dame Stella’s previous works - it was formulaic and predictable. Other spy writers are now vying for Le Carre’s mantle with far more nuanced and intricate plots and characterisation. But most of all, the narration kept me constantly irritated - male voices particularly accented are not this lady’s forte. Perhaps the stories of Manon will develop - I hope so

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2 people found this helpful