My Friend the Mercenary cover art

My Friend the Mercenary

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
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.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

My Friend the Mercenary

By: James Brabazon
Narrated by: James Brabazon
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

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

James Brabazon is narrating this story of war, violence, and political intrigue. He wanted a war. And, for his sins, he got one. James Brabazon was an ambitious young war reporter when he entered the chaos of the Liberian Civil War in 2002. Running with the infamous LURD rebels, he survived numerous deadly ambushes, the privations of dysentery and a dramatic two hundred-mile escape from Government troops through dense equatorial jungle. He even had a bounty put on his head. Surrounded by child soldiers, cannibals and ruthless rebels, Brabazon was accompanied by Nick du Toit, a South African mercenary with a dangerous past.

They quickly became best friends. Before long, Nick promised James the scoop of his life: a front seat, beside Simon Mann, in an audacious coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. And the offer was too good to refuse....

©2010 James Brabazon (P)2011 Audible Ltd Adventure Travel Political Science Politics & Government Scary Thought-Provoking Inspiring

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Very Bad People cover art
Killing Zone cover art
Cry Havoc cover art
We Were Warriors cover art
Children of the Night cover art
High Risk cover art
A Rumor of War cover art
The Shattered Lens cover art
The Fall of the Roman Empire cover art
Semper Fi cover art
Frontline cover art
Helen of Troy cover art
The Winds of War cover art
Colombiano cover art
Killing England cover art
North and South cover art

Critic reviews

“An outstanding memoir about the power of friendship in the morally complex theatre of war. James Brabazon is a fearless reporter and a brutally honest narrator. I couldn't put this book down.” (Andy McNab)
All stars
Most relevant  
Just a brilliant, sad, and emotion listen about mercenary life in Africa. Shocking, heart warming, and very well read and written. You need to listen to this if you only listen to one book this year. Excellent

My friend the mercenary

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved it. A great listen. I've ordered the hard copy. Can't wait to read it again

Very enjoyable story. Hard to stop listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An incredible story of James Brabazon's experiences in Liberia and how Nick du Toit (a South African) kept him alive. A small section of the book is focused on the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea which was really interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Gripping story of war in Africa and being on the front line in Liberia

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastically narrated!
The twists and turns this story takes at times seem to be lifted from a metal gear solid plot line!
From start to finish it’s incredible no holds barred thrill ride into the depths of conflict and Cous.

Wow!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very interesting story very well told. It was like a real world version of the Dogs of War by Forsyth

Highly recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is a must listen. It had me captivated from start to finish and gave me a great insight into places we don't even think about.
How lucky are we to live in relative calm , where in other parts of the world they live a nightmare we simply cannot comprehend.

What an Amazing Memoir

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Read this when it first came out, I was so surprised at how well it's been written. Read many books on this subject _mercenaries _ a lot from South Africa, they all included Nick De Toit, he really is a man of war. Well worth listening too or reading, even though it's written by a journalist don't let that put you off, it's up there with some of the best, well done to the author....!!!! 🍀💯

"Excellent read, a truly good book"

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
James Brabazon delivers his story better than many professional readers. it's an amazing yarn of adventure, intrigue, and mystery, set against the backdrop of a civil war. highly recommend this harrowing story of survival, journalism and friendship.

from the horses mouth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found the fact that James Brabazon had to blow his own trumpet at the beginning of this book very off putting. He did not need to tell us all how wonderful he is or how well he has done, the narrative of the book said all that and more. If only he had left it to the more subtle references, in the book, to the prizes he won for his documentary work, one would have felt much more inclined to think him less of an egotistical big head.

However, I cannot begin to imagine how I would have felt witnessing some of the horrors that he did during his time in Africa. He writes very well telling the story of his wish to record the war in Liberia, his ventures with his friend Nick, the mercenary, into Liberia and escape out after a disastrous campaign by the LURD, his illness and bodily weakness, which took many months to overcome. It was a horrifying tale of violence and mindless cruelty witnessed by someone who could do nothing to stop some of the terrible acts of inhumanity.

Brabazon reads the book so very much better than Simon Mann read his own book about mercenary life 'Cry Havoc' but it would have been better read by a competent actor. You will find some reference to the plight of Mann, in this book as this tale relates the horrors of the time his friend Nick has, after capture, during the failed coup d'etat they were both involved in.

Not a book for the weak of stomach but a witness to some of the terrible inhumanity of man to man.

Another shocking venture into the cruelty Africa

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is a great story a must listen for anyone that can handle the truth of world politics and how history and what. We know today and thought we new then is Enlightening to day the least
There is no good guys just lambs
An honest account of a friendship being made through war or adversity . James gives his thoughts without holding back

Well done and thanks !

Wow!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews