The Infidel Stain

I read the first in the Avery and Blake series last year so it was very fortuitous that I won the audiobook of the second installment. Rather than taking place in India like the first one, this one is set in the grimiest parts of London. Jeremiah Blake and Captain Avery haven't seen each other in three years, but their daring exploits in India made them very popular and a wealthy aristocrat wants to hire their services. Two printers have been murdered in rather gruesome ways and the police are doing nothing about it. He wants Blake and Avery to look into the matter and find the killer. Things quickly go awry and the plot thickens as deep as the smog. An enjoyable romp through the underbelly of nineteenth century London and full of unforgettable characters. The narrator does a great job with voice accents and it is definitely worth a listen.

I received this book for free from Librarything.

Audiobook Review for the Library Journal

Thackeray, William Makepeace. Barry Lyndon. 11 CDs. unabridged 13 ½ hours. Naxos Audiobooks. 2013. ISBN 9781843797081.

In this 1844 classic, English author William Makepeace Thackeray, delights readers with the tale of Barry Lyndon, a classically "unreliable narrator." Lyndon is an Irish rogue who joins the British army after an ill-fated love affair and then goes on to fame and fortune as a fashionable gambler. As in his masterpiece, Vanity Fair, Thackeray presents his characters accurately and realistically. His portrayal of the dissolute, unscrupulous Barry, a degenerate who thinks he is royalty amongst men, is masterful. Barry Lyndon may be unlikable, but the beauty of the words and the depth of the story make for a fantastic read.  British voice artist, Jonathon Keeble, also helps brings this amusing tale to life with his rich and wonderfully faceted voice. Recommended for all fans of classic English literature. – Erin Cataldi, Franklin College, Franklin, IN