Too Bad to Die, Francine Mathews
Too Bad to Die, Francine Mathews
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Too Bad to Die

Author: Francine Mathews

Narrator: Matthew Brenher

Unabridged: 11 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/03/2015


Synopsis

A tense and enthralling historical thriller in which British Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming attempts to foil a Nazi plot to assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin.  

November, 1943. Weary of his deskbound status in the Royal Navy, intelligence officer Ian Fleming spends his spare time spinning stories in his head that are much more exciting than his own life…until the critical Tehran Conference, when Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Josef Stalin meet to finalize the D-Day invasion.

With the Big Three in one place, Fleming is tipped off that Hitler’s top assassin has infiltrated the conference. Seizing his chance to play a part in a real-life action story, Fleming goes undercover to stop the Nazi killer. Between martinis with beautiful women, he survives brutal attacks and meets a seductive Soviet spy who may know more than Fleming realizes. As he works to uncover the truth and unmask the assassin, Fleming is forced to accept that betrayal sometimes comes from the most unexpected quarters—and that one’s literary creations may prove eerily close to one’s own life.

Brilliantly inventive, utterly gripping and suspenseful, Too Bad to Die is Francine Mathews’s best novel yet, and confirms her place as a master of historical fiction.

About The Author

Francine Mathews is the author of more than twenty novels of mystery, history, and suspense. Her historical thriller The Alibi Club was named one of the fifteen best novels of 2006 by Publishers Weekly. A graduate of Princeton and Stanford, she spent four years as an intelligence analyst at the CIA and presently lives and works in Colorado.Matthew Brenher is an audio narrator and voice-over actor. Brenher has narrated a wide range of audio books including romance novels, biographies, adventure stories, self-help, and philosophy titles. He studied at The Actors Studio and The Mountview Theater School. He is the winner of the 2015 SOVAS Audio book award in Hollywood for Best Narration for a Romance Novel. He lives in Los Angeles.


Reviews

Goodreads review by David

Ian Fleming is best known for creating one of literature's most exciting characters. But where did he come up with ideas for such a man. A man confident and capable of taking on the toughest challenges. Not many know Fleming's background. As a child he proved to be something of a rebel. He moved aro......more

Goodreads review by Mark

"Too Bad To Die" (wouldn't Lee Child have loved that title?) is so brisk and light on its feet, that you’ll be sucked right in to this whirling plot involving British Naval Intelligence Officer Ian Fleming and the Tehran Conference of 1943. Told with fast-shifting points of view and a library’s worth......more

Goodreads review by Mal

Imagine an espionage novel starring Ian Fleming, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Alan Turing, Josef Stalin, Lavrenti Beria, Churchill’s daughter and daughter-in-law, one of Roosevelt’s sons, and a passel of other recognizable characters thrown together at a fateful time in 1943. Oh, an......more


Quotes

“Absolutely marvelous! This novel masterfully weaves fact and fiction into a high-pitched thriller that keeps us spellbound from the very first pages. Great plotting, exotic locales  and  historical characters who positively come alive on the page, with some delightful sly winks along the way.”
—Jeffery Deaver

“In this complex, remarkable and suspenseful novel, Francine Mathews combines the genius of Ian Fleming with the drama of World War II and concocts a stunning tale of intrigue and deceit.”
—Jed Rubenfeld

“[Ian] Fleming is a complex character with an active imagination and a store of hidden courage. Replete with recognizable characters from history, this look at a crucial period of World War II will satisfy history buffs and mystery lovers alike.”
Library Journal

Praise for Jack 1939

“The pace is so propulsive that you’ll read every word…Mathews’s ability to weave fact into her tale is nothing short of remarkable…there are precious few entertainments this captivating.”
The Washington Post

“One of the most deliciously high-concept thrillers imaginable.”
The New Yorker

“A brisk thriller that defies the odds…It’s no small feat to take a historic figure who looms as large in real life as John F. Kennedy, place him in an improbable fantasy, and not strain credulity. But in this case, Mathews has accomplished her mission.”
USA Today