The Blade Artist cover art

The Blade Artist

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Blade Artist

By: Irvine Welsh
Narrated by: Tam Dean Burn
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Reprising the same powerfully perceptive writing style that made Trainspotting such a hit, Irvine Welsh delivers another successful blow with The Blade Artist. Graphic and shameless, it's complemented by Tam Dean Burn's skillful performance.

Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life - and is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter and sculptor, he lives quietly with his wife, Melanie, and their two young daughters in an affluent beach town in California. Some say he's a fake and a con man while others see him as a genuine visionary.

But Francis has a very dark past, with another identity and a very different set of values. When he crosses the Atlantic to his native Scotland for the funeral of a murdered son he barely knew, his old Edinburgh community expects him to take bloody revenge.

But as he confronts his previous life, all those friends and enemies - and, most alarmingly, his former self - Francis seems to have other ideas. When Melanie discovers something gruesome in California that indicates her husband's violent past might also be his psychotic present, things start to go very bad very quickly.

The Blade Artist is an elegant, electrifying novel - ultraviolent but curiously redemptive - and it marks the return of one of modern fiction's most infamous, terrifying characters: the incendiary Francis Begbie from Trainspotting.

©2016 Irvine Welsh (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks
Literary Fiction Thriller & Suspense Marriage Fiction Scotland Exciting Suspense Funny Witty
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

T2 Trainspotting cover art
Glue cover art
Catholic Guilt (You Know You Love It) cover art
Rambling Man cover art
The Young Team cover art
Psycho Alley cover art
O Brother cover art
Dragonplague cover art
The Remorseless Trilogy cover art
Meantime cover art
Julia cover art
The Sunshine Cruise Company cover art
How to Be a Rock Star cover art
Whisky from Small Glasses cover art
By Any Means Necessary cover art
Blood Falls cover art

What listeners say about The Blade Artist

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    452
  • 4 Stars
    172
  • 3 Stars
    57
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    460
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    31
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    375
  • 4 Stars
    167
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it!

Loved the book, flew through it. Maybe my favourite one of the series!! Highly recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

loved it what a character Begbie is

loved it just waiting on the film ruining it now. Bit funny with the American accent sometimes from Tam Dean Burn but no other person can read any of the series for these books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Quality Book. Another by Irvine Welsh!

I really enjoyed this book. Was a bit slow to start with but the usual twists and action built up. would definately recommend for fans of irvine welsh and Francis begbie!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Excellent

Welsh at his best, I couldn't stop listening, top drawer stuff.
I want a sequel; NOW!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

My wee review

Not a bad wee story if a bit too violent for my tastes especially the ending that seemed unnecessary and went on too long. The book is really well performed however... Overall if you're a fan of the Trainspotting gang you won't be disappointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A fascinating character study

An engaging, dark story and fascinating character study. The audiobook is also very well performed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Tam Dean Burn my third book narrated by him

need to see what else he's narrated.
couldn't believe the Luke warm reviews the book gets. it seems to be a victim of the strength of the Beggbie character in previous books. These dissenting views seem to revolve around the unrealistic reformation of the psycho beggars, but as he descends again, the changes in his accent and morality are ver subtle.
Let's face it, if your a fan of skag boys, trainspotting and porno, then you have no choice but to read this, so you might as well emerse yourself in it and have faith in the auther.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

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

A must listen for any Welsh Fans.

A top book from Welsh. Full marks for content & narration by Tam Dean Byrne.
Nice little cliffhanger in the very last minute of the book... To be continued.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

An exquisite performance!

Tam Dean Burn is a true master. Welsh's story adds a completely new layer of complexity and meaning to the whole "Trainspotting" narrative. The character study of Frank Begbie is nuanced and truly memorable, elevating him to the status of true legend worth going down in literary history. This novel is a gift to anyone who relishes good fun, rank violence and unflinching studies of human nature.

The only slightly disturbing thing about this audiobook is that every once in a while certain parts of some sentences were obviously "corrected", and since those parts had different acoustics and tone of voice, hearing those parts felt like hitting a bump in an otherwise smooth flow of narration.

But it doesn't matter. All in all it didn't ruin the experience of listening to this audiobook. Excellent work. Don't hesitate for a second. This audiobook is a gem!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great read

Absolutely loved the previous books and can’t wait to read the next one, couldn’t stop listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!