The First Casualty cover art

The First Casualty

 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 First Casualty

By: Ben Elton
Narrated by: Jack Davenport
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
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

Brought to you by Penguin.

Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead, killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder.

Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.

Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions. What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle?

As the gap between legally-sanctioned and illegal murder becomes evermore blurred, Kingsley quickly learns that the first casualty when war comes is truth.

©2005 Ben Elton (P)2009 Random House Audio Historical Thriller & Suspense Mystery Fiction War
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Time and Time Again cover art
Meltdown cover art
Blind Faith cover art
Past Mortem cover art
High Society cover art
Identity Crisis cover art
Chart Throb cover art
The Brief cover art
Tell Me It's Not True cover art
Forgotten Voices of the Great War cover art
O Brother cover art
A Man with One of Those Faces cover art
The Final Game cover art
Goodbye Piccadilly cover art
Disaster Inc cover art
Ordinary Heroes cover art

Critic reviews

Riveting action scenes bristle with a queasy energy, the nightmare of the third battle of Ypres coming horribly alive as we follow Kingsley over the parapet ... unputdownable and disgustingly realistic ... But this unlikely novel is a reminder that Elton is a tireless thinker as well as a pundit, and as he grapples with the moral vacuum at the heart of the war to end all wars, he boldly goes exactly where he always does - to the heart of the matter. And he gives us a good many laughs along the way. (Melissa Katsoulis)
A work of formidable imaginative scope ... Elton has created an extraordinary moral atmosphere, eschewing the cliches and usual derivations from writers such as Sassoon, Graves or Manning ... the writing is so good, the language so surprisingly subtle and the characters so beautifully delineated (Toby Clements)
Elton writes a good crime story with lots of twists and excitement. (Henry Sutton)
...extremely good and compelling as Elton's graphic descriptions of the skinny strip of land that formed The Front truly bring alive the horror of that war and the unstoppable flow of young lives being snuffed out by the enemy's bayonet. (Lucy Clark)

What listeners say about The First Casualty

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

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

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for P. E. Haynes

A good listen

I normally rate a good book as 3 stars, so 4 is, for me, above average!



Excellent narration really helps this story come to life. Detailed, though-provoking, and well paced throughout. Recommended.

Report this

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
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Lee

The First Casualty abridged version

My first book by Mr Elton and it’s a joy. Loved everything about it so much so I bought the full version. Set during the First World War the description of trench life gave me a real sense of being there and throw in a really interesting character (policeman turned conchie) and it’s a cracking novel. Will read more from this author:)

Report this

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
Profile Image for Robert donnelly

superb, ben elton at his best

superbly read by Jack Davenport, this story is set during world war one and tells the tale of a moralistic detective dragged into the war effort against his will.
a whodunnit of first class proportions this story adds yet another string to the overflowing nib of Mr Elton.

Report this

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful