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Once a Pilgrim cover art

Once a Pilgrim

By: James Deegan
Narrated by: Joshua Manning
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Summary

John Carr has recently left the SAS, after a long and distinguished career, and is now working for a Russian oligarch in the murky world of private security. 

But an incident from his past - in which three terrorists were brutally killed - suddenly comes back to haunt him. 

Tracked by a hit man out for revenge, John Carr is forced to step over the line to defend himself and his family. It's a cruel and violent world - and one he thought he'd left behind. 

But some wars never end. 

Patriot Games meets Taken in Once a Pilgrim. John Carr shows all the Reacher-esque hallmarks of a cold-blooded antihero doing what needs to be done, whatever the consequences. 

James Deegan MC is a fantastic new voice in the thriller genre, writing with unprecedented authority and authenticity. 

Including an exclusive interview with the author. 

©2017 James Deegan (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"As close as it gets to the real thing." (Mark 'Billy' Billingham, MBE, former SAS Warrant Officer and star of TV's SAS: Who Dares Wins)
"Authentic detail and heart stopping narrative grips you from the outset bringing the shadowy world of today's special forces bursting in to life in a way that other authors of the genre couldn't hope for. The best thriller I've read in years." (Major Chris Hunter, QGM, author of Eight Lives Down and Extreme Risk)
"Exposes the raw with the reality. This is a gripping high intensity drama." (Bob Shepherd, ex SAS Warrant Officer and best-selling author)

What listeners say about Once a Pilgrim

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Simply epic

I love this genre and this is simply the best book I have ever read.
And I have read a lot.
I cannot praise this book more highly.
Massively recommended.

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5 people found this helpful

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Outstanding

Probably the best military fiction I've read/listened to as I read the book on my kindle at home and listened to it on audible when commuting. It's very realistic and a real page turner. The narration into different accents gave the story much more realism and authenticity and I found myself totally emerged into it. Already purchased the second novel and looking forward to starting it.

Only slight chritisism is where the character refurres to 22 SAS as "Twentytwo SAS" however it is actually reffered to as "Two-Two SAS" and when he uses callsign 19 he says "Nineteen," however the military says "One-Nine" when using callsigns.

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  • Overall
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  • 30-01-19

superb follow up to once a pilgrim

fantastic thriller. anyone who likes military or special forces books you will not be dissapointed. can not wait for the follow up.

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  • Overall
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A great listen

Got this to listen to whilst decorating, ended up leaving the decorating as i was so gripped by the book! Had to speed the narration up slightly but this was due to personal preference. Hope there is more to come from Mr Deegan as this book was fantastic

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Poor Narration

Not a bad storyline however the narration requires some work. There are a lot of place names which were not pronounced correctly. The narrator was easy to listen to but a bit of research around how to pronounce the names of locations would have made this a better listen.

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  • Overall
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Brilliant story

don’t often write reviews but felt compelled to. Brilliant and really enjoyed. Would recommend. Difficult to stop listening and found lots of excuses to listen to the story. Well worth the money. Can’t wait for the next one. Would make a great movie or series .







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Fantastic

This is the best book I've heard in a long time. Great story and very well written with loads of good atmospheric details. some errors in the narration but I knew what he meant.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Great book 📚😉👍🏼

A great book enjoyed the story and narration not to bad although the narrators accents need a bit of practice 😀👍🏼

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fast paced action thriller

Great fun, thrilling, fast paced action with a character who could be the lead in a series of books that should do very well not only on paper, but with the right actor on board a set of movies to rival Bourne (Tom Hardy would be excellent). Not just Military based fan fiction as the experience of the author shines through which only adds to the story. Been a long time since I've read anything like this and it really made me glad I jumped in. Looking forward to the next one.

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

A brilliant captivating listen & well narrated!

I was surprised by the amount of negative reviews around the narrator. I found him brilliant and loved the listen. I’ll definitely get the next one.

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