Not all down to the narrator

Many reviews have criticised the narrator but although he’s not the best narrator I’ve got in my Audible library, I think the text he’s been asked to read must take its share of the blame.

Any work of fiction mustn’t move too far away from reality to be believable but during this story Scott Pearce sustained enough injuries to kill a whole battalion of SAS soldiers and yet still came out on top every time. That was just from beatings. He must have had hundreds, if not thousands, of bullets fired at him by professional assassins none of which killed him but I didn’t keep a count of how many people he shot dead or killed with his bare hands.

I like a bit more balance in my thrillers. A bit more cerebral and a bit less crash bang wallop. I stuck it out until the end but I won’t be following Mr Pearce’s progress in the subsequent volumes.

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Wrong narrator for the title

Don’t get me wrong Jot Davies is a great narrator but in this instance I don’t think it worked.
I find his voice too relaxed for this type of book and kept losing track of the story

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5 people found this helpful

A Must Listen Story

This is a very very good book. Its underlying premises are very relevant to our daily lives. I am very much looking forward to what comes next. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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3 people found this helpful

Overall worthwhile, if a touch far fetched at points, and the narrator takes a while to settle

I prefer my espionage to have a little more John le Carre-esque subtlety and a little less weaponised gore-soaked action, but the political angle here lends just about enough maturity to elevate it far enough above pure page-turn trash to be worth a go.

Quite a few bad reviews of the narrator, and I agree that Jot Davies has done a better job elsewhere, but he gets better as the book wears on and overall my experience was that it was worth putting up with the early stages.

Overall, entertaining stuff. There’s no doubt the action scenes are compellingly and expertly described.

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Black 13

Best book of it’s genre I can remember listening to.
It has a relentless pace whilst not over cooking the storyline, I found it very difficult to put down at night and ended up listening into the wee hours, finishing it in two days. Jot Davies was as good as ever. This was the first book I have listened to by this author but it certainly won’t be the last. I am going to search for more by him now, and can’t wait for the next book in the Scott Pierce story.
For a fictional novel it carries a very real message, backed up by the authors note at the end of the book. Well done Adam Hamdy 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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3 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable and at time thought provoking

The main character manages to get himself out of way too many “dead-end” situations but thankfully this does not ruin the believability of the storey. This is a very well paced and engaging thriller which provokes thoughts of how this fictional piece isn’t really that far from truth in many places.

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Gripping

This is a great book to listen to. Had to listen at every opportunity. The story is plausible for about the first 7/8 but then it is if the author cannot find an ending and needs to add implausible to complete the story. Hope the next book of his makes you believe the story is not just wild fiction tagged onto a background of fact.

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More thoughtful than most in this genre

Very exciting. Sophisticated presentation of political issues that raises it above 'goodies' v 'baddies ' tropes.

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Good book with strong story line

Book is an excellent triller with every chapter having action that keeps you hooked for the next chapter

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Sorry

Really struggled to keep going with this narrator. it made me want to sleep. after about 10 chapters there was a reference to honey and I realised this guy should be reading big-time Winnie the pooh stories. Very poor.

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1 person found this helpful