The Escape Artists | Audiobook Reviews

The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War

By: Neal Bascomb / Narrated By: LJ Ganser

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Little known story of some genuine heroes

Okay, so there’s that: The Escape Artists is definitely about some truly persistent and courageous men, dedicated to getting out of the camps and back to their fighting units. But! There are a couple of things you should know.

First, I don’t know if it’s Neal Bascomb’s writing or if it it’s the narrators they choose for his audiobooks (this is my second Bascomb book, the first being The Winter Fortress), but at times, the end product can seem a tad underwhelming. There’s a lot of action, many, Many, MANY escape escapades, but at times it was, like, ho-hum. Either the writing lacks verve, or the narration does.

Second, an American narrator?!? For a story of mostly British airmen (with an Australian here, a Canadian there)? I mean, really! Whatthehell? And LJ Ganser affects British “accents” that are toe-curlingly painful to listen to. It totally takes away from the story, and you miss a lot of what could be wittiness, cleverness, wryness in the dialogue of the airmen.

Still, I guess it was a pretty decent listen, especially since I truly came to care about the men (which is probably why I feel choosing an American narrator was such a crying shame). They were an intelligent and rambunctious lot, rarely gave in to despair, and that’s plenty inspiring. Plus, military history buff though I am, I have to admit that I haven’t really dived into a lot of WWI works, so this was a fresh and enlightening jaunt into the era that I was pleased to embark on.

Expect a lot of escape attempts (I mean A LOT! Those men NEVER gave up!), some amazing feats of engineering, some really ingenious plots, some very creative men.

Just expect a lot of exasperation too as you listen to an American butchering British English through an entire audiobook.

Heroic men; less than heroic narration…