Divorcing Jack cover art

Divorcing Jack

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Divorcing Jack

By: Colin Bateman
Narrated by: Adam Moore
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Dan Starkey is a young journalist in Belfast, who shares with his wife, Patricia, a prodigious appetite for drinking and dancing. Then Dan meets a beautiful and apparently impoverished student. And then, terrifyingly, she is murdered. Is it because she was not exactly who she claimed to be? Is it the IRA? A Protestant extremist group? A jealous lover? Before long, Dan is a target himself.…

©1995 Colin Bateman (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd
Crime Fiction Espionage Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Political Suspense Funny
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

I Predict a Riot cover art
Dr Yes cover art
Mystery Man cover art
Papercuts cover art
Murphy's Revenge cover art
The Perpetual Astonishment of Jonathon Fairfax cover art
The Final Game cover art
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas cover art
A Man with One of Those Faces cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
The Last Dance cover art
Something Wicked This Way Comes cover art
Mind of a Killer cover art
The Stranger Times cover art
The Fallen cover art
Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume One cover art

Critic reviews

"Hysterically funny one-liners and sinister Kafkaesque developments..." ( Daily Mail)
" Divorcing Jack is richly paranoid and very funny, it manages to say more about the Troubles in 280 vivid pages than reams of earnest reportage ever could." ( Sunday Times)

What listeners say about Divorcing Jack

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    35
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    36
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable story ripped to shreds by a woefully inept narration

I read this book many years ago and decided to give the audiobook a try. Bad move! The narrator seemed to think it would be acceptable to portray a menacing terrorist in the style of a cartoon grasshopper having its tummy tickled. And without wishing to give anything away, this book’s title is based on a misheard name. When the narrator finally gets to that part of the tale he mispronounces it, making a mockery of the whole thing. A small child could have done a better job, although the gritty nature of the book doesn’t quite lend itself to that. Buy the paperback.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Spoilt by the narrator

... such a shame... had to switch off after a few chapters, the reading was so basic and bland that I just could not persevere. Absolutely loved the Mystery Man series, and was planning on delving into all the other books by Colin Bateman, but maybe I’ll save these for the kindle instead.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

If you haven't read Bateman Start here...

I have read all of the Mystery Man novels and loved them so I was quite keen to dive into the Dan Starky series. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed. This book was nowhere near as funny or engaging as MM, although it was a good listen. I wish I had started here as I would still have the MM series to get to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So funny

Love Colin Bateman's books. The humour, pathos and plots are always good value and good listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

5 stars

This book gave me my first shock moment in literature when I read it at way too young an age. I've re-read it from time to time ever since. This is my first time giving the audio version a go and it didn't disappoint. Same great story with excellent narration to accompany.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Rather an uncomfortable listen

What made the experience of listening to Divorcing Jack the most enjoyable?

I don't really know what to make of this book. The way it is written is quite lighthearted and often very very funny, but the story is far from amusing, and I found it difficult to square the one with the other. An odd one, definitely, and although I might be tempted to try the next in the series, I don't think I'll be listening to it anytime soon.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, let down by performance

The performance is stilted and doesn't flow well, which is a shame, because this is a great comic novel. It is a dark, black comedy and there are signs that it's not ageing well, but if viewed in context it's fine.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not his best work

I've always really enjoyed his books, in particular the Mystery Man series but this one didn't do it for me.

The narrator couldn't really do the american accent assigned to one of the characters but other than that did an ok job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful