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The Queen's Man

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The Queen's Man

By: Rory Clements
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
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About this listen

From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes The Queen's Man, the sixth in his acclaimed bestselling John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series.

England is a Judas nest of conspiracyIt is 1582, and the conflict between Protestant and Catholic threatens to tear the country in two. While Queen Elizabeth I holds the reins of power, there are those whose loyalty lies with her imprisoned cousin, Mary Queen of Scots. On his first major mission for Sir Francis Walsingham, the young John Shakespeare is ordered to discover a conspiracy to free the Stuart queen from Sheffield Castle.

All too soon, he realises that the tentacles of the plot reach deep into his native Warwickshire and threaten his own friends and family. His duty lies with Elizabeth - but how far will he go to protect those he loves?

©2014 Rory Clements (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Fiction Historical Fiction Royalty England

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Editor reviews

"Does for Elizabeth's reign what C J Sansom does for Henry VIII's." ( Sunday Times)
Most relevant
I can never dislike a book this author writes. He keeps wanting to listen as much as possible!!!

The plot

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Enjoyed this book and am working my way through the series, have just downloaded book seven and can't wait to start it!

Not worried about how accurate the books are regarding period they are set in just find then thoroughly entertaining. Isn't that the whole point of a good book?

Another great book in this series

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If you could sum up The Queen's Man in three words, what would they be?

Very well set.

Who was your favorite character and why?

John Shakespeare. he reminds me of Shardlake in C.J.Samson's stories.

What about Gareth Armstrong’s performance did you like?

Extremely nice speaking voice. The narration was excellent.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cry. You do feel for the various characters and the hardships they go through.

Another Great Story

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Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this as I have enjoyed the previous Shakespeare audiobooks. Good, properly convoluted plot, danger, romance etc. This, however, was let down by bad editing/production and lost it a star from me. Most, if not all, chapters were cut short & ploughed straight into the next chapter losing important plot points, turns and cliffhangers that I've come to expect from this series. I hope future audiobooks in this series aren't marred like this.

Very good, except...

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Really enjoyed listening to this book. Very well read and easy to follow and know who was who by the intonation given to the different characters!

Worthwhile!

John Shakespeare

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Why has the order of the books in this series been wrongly numbered? I read books 1 to 5 and thoroughly enjoyed them but books 6 and 7 are the beginning of the story when John Shakespeare was first employed as an Intelligencer by Francis Walsingham and was still unmarried. It is impossible to enjoy reading books 6 and 7 out of sequence. Please rectify this mistake for the sake of other listeners, sadly it is too late for me now.

Beware - order of books wrongly numbered.

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Would you try another book written by Rory Clements or narrated by Gareth Armstrong?

No thanks

What will your next listen be?

Some thing by wilber smith or Jeffrey archer.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

So so...

Was The Queen's Man worth the listening time?

No !! With the mention of Queen Mary ,thought the story might focus around her.. Nope it didn't..

Any additional comments?

To many Dull people to listen too, the book was more like a "seek and find " story. Not thrilling at all..

The queens man

Having listened to the wonderful Tom Wilde series I was looking forward to John Shakespeare. I managed to get to Chapter 13 and gave up.
What I’m sure is a fine story from the Rory Clements stable was ruined for me by the absolutely dreadful narration. Rolling one awful accent into another was a complete turnoff for me. I also do wonder if this narrator has ever listened to a woman’s voice! Very disappointing.

Disappointing

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Found the characters overblown, the story confusing, and this writer has obviously never travelled from Stratford to Sheffield. If he had, he would realise you couldn't get there in one day on a horse. Come on! It'd take about two weeks, as Sheffield is situated in seriously rough country. Crossing Snake Pass is a hard road even in a car. Coming up the east coast would take ages. Research next time? Sheffield's a great place to visit!

Disappointing and unbelievable

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