The Island of Sheep

A Richard Hannay Thriller, Book 5

By: John Buchan

Narrated by: Peter Joyce

The last of John Buchan’s thrillers and the final appearance of Richard Hannay, now in retirement reverie deep in the comfortable Cotswolds.

However, he and Sandy [Lord Clanroyden] are roused to action once more to help the son of a recently deceased treasure hunter, called Haraldsen. The heir is receiving threats from Lancelot Troth, a man who believes himself ill treated financially by Haraldsen’s father and seeks revenge and reparation. The mission is complicated when the villain is aided by accomplices prepared to use extortion and child kidnap to achieve their aims.

The action moves from Norfolk to the Scottish Borders and on to the Norlands where the conspirators are finally confronted in a thrilling climax with Hannay’s son and Haraldsen’s daughter involved in the resolution.

Beautiful descriptive passages written by a man obviously at home in the natural world and some philosophic reflections about finding personal peace and contentment make this a fitting end to both Buchan’s important contribution to the genre and the history of Brigadier General Richard Hannay-a man of his time but with an everlasting popularity.

About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as ‘excellent’, ‘remarkable’, ‘entrancing’, ‘superb’, ‘magic for sure’, ‘masterly’, ‘wonderful’, ‘a class act’ and ‘a splendid example of audio at its best’.

©1995 John Buchan (P)2009 Assembled Stories

Critic reviews

"Peter Joyce is the most remarkable one-man band in audiobook publishing. Joyce, an experienced actor, reads them all himself." ( The Independent)

The Final Richard Hannay Adventure

I’ve loved reading John Buchan’s stories since I was a kid and this last adventure in the Richard Hannay series did not disappoint. But there were several challenges to listening to the audiobook, as opposed to reading. I found that I had to slow the narration down, and that it was often necessary to check what was being said in the printed version of the book in order to make it intelligible (I purchased the Kindle version of the book to do this). Much of the vocabulary and many turns of phrase are becoming more archaic and obscure with the passage of time, and Buchan seems to take delight in going into some depth on subjects with which most of us in this day and age will find unfamiliar, such as the terminology associated with falconry! No complaints, but once again a printed (or Kindle) version of the book is a necessary companion (the Kindle version makes it easy to look up any unfamiliar words).

Also, the audiobook is divided into arbitrary “chapters” that differ significantly from the chapters in the printed book (which have titles that are ignored in the audiobook). Add to this that the Kindle version and the audiobook will not “sync” with each other, so you must search through the Kindle version if you want to keep up with the audible edition. Despite these inconveniences, it is a great story and well worth any extra effort that may be required to enjoy!

Fantastic story!

This audiobook is well worth your time as this is a wonderful continuation of adventures!

A splendid thriller from the dawn of the genre

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Buchan's ability to make you feel as if you are in the most beautiful parts of the British countryside is unsurpassed. The action is entertaining, the prose splendid.

Another great Buchan story!

I am a big fan of John Buchan. This is a great story. Great reader too!

Great Buchan adventure with new and old friends

Even though it had Richard Hannay it had my favorite character Sandy lord Clanroyden, who is more multifaceted. Not forgetting their old friend Peter who should have gotten his own story. It was great to see Hannay's son Peter John be a pivotal character with an independent personality from his father. Also to see new enemies and old ones. I believe the narrators only weakness was the voice of a 13 year old girl but it did not affect the story. I believe Peter joyce is the best interpreter of John Buchans books.