The Limehouse Text

Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 3

By: Will Thomas

Narrated by: Antony Ferguson

In The Limehouse Text, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn discover a pawn ticket among the effects of Barker's late assistant, leading them to London's Chinese district, Limehouse. There they retrieve an innocent-looking book that proves to be a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery, containing lethal martial arts techniques forbidden in the West. With the political situation between the British Empire and Imperial China already unstable, the duo must not only track down a killer intent upon gaining the secret knowledge but also safeguard the text from a snarl of suspects with conflicting interests. Prowling through an underworld of opium dens, back-room blood sports, and sailors' penny hangs while avoiding the wrath of the district's powerful warlord, Mr. K'ing, Barker and Llewelyn take listeners on a perilous tour through the mean streets of turn-of-the-century London.

©2006 Will Thomas (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A wholly satisfying twist ends this outstanding entry in what is fast becoming one of the genre's best historical-mystery series." ( Booklist Starred Review)

Love this series

Great characters. I’m slowly getting into the series. Is it me or does the narrators European accents sound Jamaican? Still a great listen.

Not as good as the first in series but still Good

The characters are more interesting the first time you meet them. They are broadened here but now it is time to give them some depth

Interesting story

This is a much better instalment than the second in the series. The narrator did not attempt any outlandish accents and the story is quite interesting apart from the racial slurs.

LOST: a secret Chinese book detailing lethal techniques of dim mak, “the touch of death”

I read the first hardback of this series approximately 10-15 years ago, and I recently found the Audible version of “Limehouse Text,” which is the third book, on sale. I was able to listen to this as a stand-alone, because author Will Thomas includes enough backstory.

Antony Ferguson is an excellent narrator who is exceptional with accents, and he manages to make the characters sound unique. Bravo, Mr. Ferguson!

Outstanding Series!

You KNOW you've found a good series when you can't wait to download the next book in line. These are all stand alone books, with a different story for each one, but I would strongly suggest that you start with the first book for the background of the characters. There are 'laugh out loud' moments in all of the books, which is always great for myself.

The narrator could not be a better pick for the role of Thomas Llewelyn, the books are all told from his point of view. There is definitely 'some danger involved'

These books have more substance than a cozy novel, but still there are no graffic or too gory incidents (IMHO) and no objectionable language. I hope Will Thomas NEVER stops writing this series!
MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS SERIES!