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  • The Operators

  • On the Streets with Britain's Most Secret Service
  • By: James Rennie
  • Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
  • Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (297 ratings)
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The Operators cover art

The Operators

By: James Rennie
Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
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Summary

Few outside the security services have heard of 14 Company. As deadly as the SAS yet more secret, the operators of 14 Company are Britain's most effective weapon against international terrorism. For every bomb that goes off, 14 Company prevent 12. The selection process is the most physically, intellectually, and emotionally demanding anywhere in the world. This is the true story of one operator and of some of the most hair-raising military operations ever conducted on the streets of Britain.

©2016 James Rennie (P)2020 Pen and Sword Military

What listeners say about The Operators

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A good listen but...

A good listen, really interesting but didn’t like the narrator, which spoiled it for me. He sounds very robotic and a bit dull....

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14 people found this helpful

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

Not sure how the narrator got the job.

This book is really very good if you have an interest in N.Ireland and the British army. It can come across as a little confusing if your not familiar with the lingo but it’s a very good read. By that I mean just buy the book and read it yourself. The narrator of this story is awful. His voice and pronunciation of words he clearly has no knowledge of just ruins the listening experience. Yes I would recommend this book but in paperback. You will have a better experience.

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12 people found this helpful

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

When you order your narrator from Wish

Great book spoilt by terrible narration.

I read this book a long time ago and decided to visit revisit it with the Audiobook.

What can I say? it's still a great book but ruined by the narrator. He seems to switch schizophrenically between accents for the same character, sometimes all in one sentence. The main character for example seems to switch freely between a sort of gruff sounding 'mockney' to what you might call a stereotypical army officer accent. Other failed attempts at accents are too numerous to list.

The recording seems to have been done in a single take with some simple words misread or mispronounced. This would be forgiveable if the same words were not read correctly later in the book. This give the impression that having known a mistake was made earlier, no one could be bothered to go back and edit!

Some simple research wouldn't have hurt either. the book features a lot of radio voice procedure. This was again completely unbelievable and came across more like a supermarket tannoy announcement.

If you can put all that aside, this is a great book.

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7 people found this helpful

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

Great but change the narrator

Really enjoyed this book apart from the photography section which was too technical. Fascinating insight with great detail and very human touches.

However, I’m afraid that the narration almost spoilt it especially in the first half. Accents changed mid sentence, pronunciation was regularly distracting - I’m sure a more suitable narrator could have been found. I was close to giving up because of it.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Narration lets it down

Decent book badly narrated.
Pronunciation of some of the areas, cars etc were so bad it was laughable.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Awful accents by the narrator.

Good, solid book, but the narrator seems to be stuck between Clive James, Worzel Gummidge and a member of a Korean pop group.
So hard to understand Northern Ireland when it sounds like the locals are members of Camberwick Green on speed!

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4 people found this helpful

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

not bad

like mentioned i don't think the American guy should have narrated this, his knowledge of military acronyms was lacking, the book story was good but I can see it could be confusing for anyone who hasn't used brevity code

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2 people found this helpful

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

Ingesting book, awful narration

A really good insight into the training and work of the operators in 14 Company. Unfortunately the narration really let it down. For some bizarre reason the narrator kept attempting regional accents that he was totally ill equipped to perform.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Great book, wrong narrator

Great book but the narrator was the wrong pick, just didn't fit with the book

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2 people found this helpful

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

Sounds like Alexa reading you a story

Personally I didn't find it engaging and struggled to force myself to finish, overall and I suppose due to the sensitivity of the role of an operator it is exaggerated and not factually accurate

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2 people found this helpful