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The Silver Pigs
One fine day in 70 AD, scruffy, working-class informer Marcus Didius Falco literally runs into a beautiful 16-year-old girl on the steps of the Forum. Sosia Camillina is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after rescuing her, Falco wants to find out why. It soon becomes clear that Sosia knows a dangerous secret about a stockpile of silver ingots—or "pigs"—and there are those who will stop at nothing to prevent her telling what she knows. Hoping for future favors from Sosia's rich, influential uncle, Falco embarks on an intricate case of smuggling, murder, and treason that reaches as far as the Emperor's palace, and beyond the seven hills of Rome. Soon, Falco finds himself in an inhospitable outpost of the Empire called Britain, where the weather is filthy, the natives restless, and the women angry. There he meets Helena Justina, a spirited aristocrat who becomes an important part of his life. But if he does not tread carefully, the treacherous puzzle of the silver pigs could be the death of him.
Anton Lesser stars as Falco with Fritha Goodey as Helena Justina in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatization of Lindsey Davis's first Falco novel, first broadcast from 5 March to 26 March 2004.
Anton Lesser stars as Falco with Fritha Goodey as Helena Justina in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatization of Lindsey Davis's first Falco novel, first broadcast from 5 March to 26 March 2004.
2 pages, Audio Cassette
Published February 7, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 31, 2011
This was a fun little dramatization to listen to. It shouldn't be mistaken for an unabridged audiobook by any means, though. It's definitely a radio play, and great chunks of the text have been left out in order to fit it into two hours. Sit back, listen, enjoy, and then go get the full book in whatever format you like to find out all the other bits.
April 8, 2021
Liked both versions: BBC and regular audiobook. Nice first step into a lush ancient world that is both strange and utterly familiar.
May 22, 2018
'Anton Lesser stars as Falco with Fritha Coodey as Helena Justina in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Lindsey Davis' bestselling novel.
One fine day in AD 70, scruffy, working class informer Marcus Didius Falco literally runs into beautiful sixteen year old girl on the steps of the Forum. Sosia Camillina is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after rescuing her, Falco wants to find out why.
It soon becomes clear that Sosia knows a dangerous secret about a stockpile of silver ingots - or 'pigs' - and there are those who will stop at nothing to prevent her telling what she knows.
Hoping for future favours from Sosia's rich, influential uncle, Falco embarks on an intricate case of smuggling, murder and treason that reaches as far as the Emperor's palace, and beyond the seven hills of Rome.
Soon, Falco finds himself in an inhospitable outpost of the Empire called Britain, where the weather i filthy, the natives restless and the women angry. There he meets Helena Justina, a spirited aristocrat who becomes an important part of his life. But if he does not tread carefully, the treacherous puzzle of silver pigs could be the death of him....
The first novel in the acclaimed Falco series.'
Borrowed from the works library - and the one that got him hooked on the series!
One fine day in AD 70, scruffy, working class informer Marcus Didius Falco literally runs into beautiful sixteen year old girl on the steps of the Forum. Sosia Camillina is on the run from a couple of street toughs, and after rescuing her, Falco wants to find out why.
It soon becomes clear that Sosia knows a dangerous secret about a stockpile of silver ingots - or 'pigs' - and there are those who will stop at nothing to prevent her telling what she knows.
Hoping for future favours from Sosia's rich, influential uncle, Falco embarks on an intricate case of smuggling, murder and treason that reaches as far as the Emperor's palace, and beyond the seven hills of Rome.
Soon, Falco finds himself in an inhospitable outpost of the Empire called Britain, where the weather i filthy, the natives restless and the women angry. There he meets Helena Justina, a spirited aristocrat who becomes an important part of his life. But if he does not tread carefully, the treacherous puzzle of silver pigs could be the death of him....
The first novel in the acclaimed Falco series.'
Borrowed from the works library - and the one that got him hooked on the series!
May 7, 2018
Wasn't as revealing as I expected.
I have really learned to love historical fiction - I enjoy the stories told as a fiction rather than non-fiction which for me tends to be a bit dry - but at the same time I usually get a sense of the time and learn a bit of the history and how things fit together. This one was a little odd to me. It was sort of like a modern story set in historical times. I didn't get the sense of the time and place. The story was OK. The presentation was interesting and entertaining.
I have really learned to love historical fiction - I enjoy the stories told as a fiction rather than non-fiction which for me tends to be a bit dry - but at the same time I usually get a sense of the time and learn a bit of the history and how things fit together. This one was a little odd to me. It was sort of like a modern story set in historical times. I didn't get the sense of the time and place. The story was OK. The presentation was interesting and entertaining.
March 18, 2011
BBC Hörspiele an sich sind ja schon eine Qualitätsmarke. Die Sprecher sind toll, auch wenn ich mich erst einmal an Anton Lesser als Marcus gewöhnen musste, ich hatte mir Marcus Stimme so ganz anders vorgestellt. Besonder witzig finde ich, wie die verschiedenen Arten des Latein in verschiedenen englischen Dialekten wiedergegeben werden. Anstrengend für Fremdsprachler aber dennoch genial.
January 31, 2018
4 Star for the BBC Audiobook. I stumbled on this while searching for books narrated by Anton Lesser.
December 17, 2018
Painful. It was an audio and the background noise was terrible. The story was meh. And not even remotely surprising.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews