Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Vets cover art

The Vets

By: Stephen Leather
Narrated by: Paul Thornley
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

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.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Tunnel Rats cover art
Triggers cover art
Spider Shepherd: SAS cover art
The Solitary Man cover art
The Chinaman cover art
The Fireman cover art
Tango One cover art
The Bombmaker cover art
The Eyewitness cover art
Nightfall cover art
The Hunting cover art
Pay Off cover art
Rogue Warrior cover art
Hungry Ghost cover art
The Shout cover art
The Birthday Girl cover art

Summary

Hong Kong: The British administration is preparing to hand the capitalist colony back to communist China with the minimum of fuss. But Colonel Joel Tyler has other plans for the British Colony, plans which involve four Vietnam War veterans and a spectacular mission, making use of their unique skills. Vietnam was the one thing the four men had in common before Tyler moulded them into a team capable of pulling off a sensational robbery. But while the vets are preparing to take Hong Kong by storm, their paymaster, Anthony Chung, puts the final touches on an audacious betrayal. At stake is the future of Hong Kong….

©1993 Stephen Leather (P)2012 Isis Publishing Ltd

What listeners say about The Vets

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    168
  • 4 Stars
    80
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    182
  • 4 Stars
    45
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    146
  • 4 Stars
    63
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Unputdownable!

I'm a Stephen Leather fan. Always have been, and after listening to this novel, always will be!



You read the synopsis and think you have a fair idea about what the novel will be about. You're wrong. You wont get it until Leather wants you to, which is right at the end.



Narrated really well by the usual narrator, whom I also love. You will too.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

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

One of Leather's Longest and Best Books!

What made the experience of listening to The Vets the most enjoyable?

So many subplots, the narrator, and detailed

What did you like best about this story?

Action, history, and the Sex!

What does Paul Thornley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Paul has always been one of my favorite narrators, his voice suits a crime story. His accents are great, even reading female characters are not awkward.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Umm over 20 hours? Probs not

Any additional comments?

Will highly recommend, but I'm not sure if people will like the lenth of this book. Maybe not the first book I will break them in with :)

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

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

A long book

An enjoyable book with many players who do eventually come together in a surprising climax which is as good as any other Stephen Leather book. It is a throwback to pre Chinese rule in Hong Kong which is a period of history I knew little about. Well worth sticking with, it is somewhat longer than I've come across before on Audible. Once again super narration by Paul Thornley.

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
    3 out of 5 stars

Leaden

I gave it three stars because, well, two would be harsh. The story isnt bad if a little predictable, although maybe I'm the only one who saw the end coming but no matter; my problem is with the characters and especially the dialogue, both of which seemed full of cliches and sterotypes - the dialogue between the banker's wife and the leading Chinese character was leaden and could have come from a 70s woman's magazine. The attention to deta was good, the basic storyline was okay but relied on all the victims being completely stupid and overly wide-eyed annd innocent

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

Superb

A mammoth multidemsional tale that keeps you enthralled throughout . fantastic narration that brings the many characters to life. of the many books i have listened to on audible this has to be on of my favourites

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

very odd narration, predicted ending about halfway

I cannot see the point of the staccato narration style, it prevented the story from flowing fluidly for me.
The ending was easy to see from about the halfway point.
Not Stephen Leather's best and I will be reading in future rather than listening to this narrator.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

A solid listen - good plot

I am a big fan of Mr Leather. The book is solid but for me lacks a little of the Nightingale / Chinaman / Kookie plot / humor of his other books. If you like Stephen Leather you will like this though.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 08-11-15

Enjoyable but nothing special

The story is more about Hong Kong, pre-China take over, than Vietnam Veterans. The story builds up gradually with plenty of time for The Vets and the ther main characters to build their personalities but unfortunatley the heights of the climax towards the end of the book aren't that great.

I couldn't buy into Anthony Chung who seems to be more skilled than James Bond in all capacities.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • h
  • 13-01-24

Another brilliant book by the best author around

Great story, great characters….great ending……fantastic narration as ever…..bring on the next Stephen Leather masterpiece!!

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

Another brilliant book by Stephen Leather

I hadn't listened to any of this author's books for a good few months, so chose this one. What a great listen, and 22 hours, none of which was boring or slow. The emphasis on what was going on and why moved around to various characters during the storyline, I highly recommend.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!