• Hawke

  • Alex Hawke, Book 1
  • By: Ted Bell
  • Narrated by: John Shea
  • Length: 16 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,973 ratings)

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Hawke  By  cover art

Hawke

By: Ted Bell
Narrated by: John Shea
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Publisher's summary

"Hawke is a fast-paced adventure...truly an exciting listen", says Nelson DeMille. "Rich, spellbinding, and absorbing, Hawke is packed with surprises", raves Clive Cussler. Listeners beware, this stunning, high-caliber thriller is not recommended for the faint of heart.

Lord Alexander Hawke is a direct descendant of the legendary English pirate Blackhawke and highly skilled in the cutthroat's deadly ways himself. While still a boy, on a voyage to the Caribbean, Alex Hawke witnesses an act of unspeakable horror. Hidden in a secret compartment on his father's yacht, Alex sees his parents brutally murdered by three modern-day pirates. It is an event that will haunt him for the remainder of his life.

Now, fully grown and one of England's most decorated naval heroes, Hawke is back in the same Caribbean waters on a secret mission for the American government. A highly experimental stealth submarine, built by the Soviets just before the end of the Cold War, is missing. She carries 40 nuclear warheads and is believed to be in the hands of a very unstable government just 90 miles from the American mainland. Hawke is in a race against time. His mission: Find the deadly sub before a preemptive strike can be launched against the US, and confront the murderous men behind the personal nightmare that haunts him before they find him first.

Featuring breathtaking action, international intrigue, and a hero worthy of the very finest adventure fiction, Hawke heralds the exciting debut of a bold new talent.

©2003 Theodore Bell (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

What listeners say about Hawke

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    1,062
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  • 3 Stars
    194
  • 2 Stars
    76
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Performance
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Story
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    470
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    76
  • 1 Stars
    91

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So great I couldn’t stop listening

I am so happy that Ted Bell released the first book in the Hawke series. John Shea is a fantastic narrator, especially for this group of characters. I almost listened to this whole audiobook non-stop. Ted Bell is an amazing writer and the combination of writing and aeration was some of the best I’ve ever heard.

My only complaint is that it seems like the production quality of this audiobook is poor in comparison to almost all other books on this platform. It sounds like Shea is recording into a phone. It's not bad once you get used to it, but it definitely threw me off at first. It might be worth taking a listen to the sample before purchasing.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excelent

A riveting novel, start to finish.
The biggest problem is putting it down. I could spend 100 hours listening.
This is a mix of good adventure, British charm and real feelings.

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23 people found this helpful

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

Simply Dreadful ....

So disappointing. The reviews I read sounded so good, the ratings were in the 4+ range so I took a chance on this author. After listening to this book for hours (and not finishing it) I wondered if I listened to the same book as the reviewers or if I had mixed up and downloaded the wrong book. The story seems forced with different cliche James Bond, Batman, Pirate adventures, espionage shoved into a contrived story. Plus we know things ABOUT the characters but we don't know the characters - can't connect to them, their feelings, they are flat. I listened to about half the book waiting to get drawn in and finally asked myself, why am I torturing myself listening to this book? So I stopped. John Shea does do a good job.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Is the narrator the voice for Winnie the Pooh?

My god... I feel like my grandfather is telling me this story. The writing is terribly old school & Not in a good way.

I really do feel like Christopher Robbins was going to pop up in the story somewhere, The narrator wants to put me to sleep.

I listened for an hour hoping... But I'm calling it quits

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10 people found this helpful

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

Good story-excessive use of God's name in vain

The incessent cursing destracted greatly from the story. Its overuse didnt add anything too the character development, just a bit of saddness that it was considered necessary here where in previous books it was absent and much enjoyed. Hopefully the author and editor will learn and return to preious quality. Be well.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Newbie to Mr Hawke

I’m an avid fan of Nelson DeMille, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, and similar writers in this genre. Hence I can spot a winner. Ted, where have you been all my life! This book was a fantastic read. I just downloaded the second in the series. You won’t be disappointed!

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7 people found this helpful

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

I don't usually write a review, but...

The narration by John Shea was masterful! He was a cast of many, accents were right on for the character, English, Irish, latin, Russian, you name it, he had it down! I will get more of this series to enjoy his next performance. Oh yeah, the story line was pretty well done also.

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6 people found this helpful

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

John Shea

John Shea was brilliant. Good story! I lovedAlex Hawks and Stokely. Look forward to the next installment

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Story and Performance

I have listened to all of Ted Bell's books. They are all excellent; however, this is my favorite. John Shea is a master narrator. I do hope the wait for the next one is not too long.

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6 people found this helpful

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

Sophomoric

I have to question the validity of any review that gave this title more than 2 stars. Seriously. The story might have appealed to a 10 year old - but not a high achiever. Granted, the narrator had little to work with, but he managed to use a cheesy British accent along with his Cheeto Bandito accent to make it even worse. I listened to almost two hours of this disaster before deleting it from my library. I'm hopeful that my IQ has not been permanently damaged.

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5 people found this helpful