SPOILER ALERT: Don't read this if you plan to read the book......

An earthquake and an MRI machine cause a man with cancer to become a telepathic savant. Italians who are actually Islamist fundamentalists want to infiltrate the West with perfect spies based on his accident. They capture his italian (almost) girlfriend who has a weak mental ability that didn't identify the bad guy she works for. The savant has a friend who happens to be ex-military and can arrange for a kick-ass extraction team. The savant wins 6 million Euros while in the company of a Saudi prince who offers him the use of his palace. The Italian-Islamists are actually from a secret village in Afghanistan. The village contains a secret alien artifact, which the savant activates.

I was waiting for the Nazi mermaids from atlantis. Seriously?? How many cliches can you cram into one book?

Did anyone not notice "Ahmed the Dead Terrorist" almost immediately? Did anyone not guess that the parachute stuck on the cliff would stop his fall?

Weak writing to cover a bad story line.

And too much disbelief to suspend. We've got Jason Bourne with added supernatural abilities, terrorists using scientific experimentation and brain implants, the hero and his friends are so well connected they can form their own SEAL team.
Okay. Sure.
Then the final "twist" is a major leap that will send the sequels spiraling in a totally different direction.

The new mental abilities were something unique and kept me interested.

Main heroine was wimpy -- ended up crying a lot and screaming in fear and had to be rescued and carried. She had mental abilities that were barely used.
Overall -- interesting enough. Not interested in the sequels.

This was just plain painful to get through. The author loves similes, and sprinkles ridiculous ones so liberally that you could make a drinking game of waiting to hear "like a...". Unfortunately, the narrator wasn't much better. His female voices, and others, are cringe worthy.

Near the top for sure.

Every chapter nearly, always a near impossible escape from death or destruction.

Jake

Action Thriller

R.C. Bray is the best, and uses new voices in this from the Arisen books. He really does narrative well, voice acting.

The story has nice plot surprises that keeps you guessing most of the time, which makes for a good read.

A 4 star rating might be a little bit generous for this book. I went back and forth with how I felt about it, but I'll stick with 4 stars and if I get around to listening to the sequels I'll be tougher on them.

Would I recommend this book to anyone? Well, that depends. If you are like me and have the time, the financial means and the inclination to listen to several audio books a month then, sure, pick this up and give it a try. However, if the time and money you have is more limited and you only want to hear the very best audio books then I'd tell you to skip this.

The plot to this story is great. The execution of this story is lacking quite a bit. It seems as if Mr. Bard wanted to write something people would call "fast paced" when I think that the subject matter and storyline really demanded that it be slowed down and carefully fleshed out. As it stands, the characters are often acting in strange ways to keep the story moving. They except things way too quickly and there emotions are either too extreme or not extreme enough. The dialogue is often weird as well. Plus, the science behind the science fiction is nearly nonexistent.

I realize that there are millions of people who love "fast paced thriller" novels, and I'm not belittling that. I guess I'm just realizing that I'm not one of those people. To me it just feels lazy when you have a great idea that makes an awesome premise for a novel and you don't take the time to do it right.

At the end of the day I was entertained by this book. That's why I give it 4 stars. There were quite a few elements in it that had me thinking, "yeah that would be really cool." But it's a begrudging 4 star rating because I did a lot of eye rolling as well.

R. C. Bray does a stellar job as always. He's the main reason I finally bought this book, and he's a large part of what made it entertaining. I think I could listen to him read sterio instructions.

I have other silly opinions posted at unhelpfulreviews dot com for those of you who aren't depressed enough.

This was an excellently written story that kept me on the edge of my seat. I missed out on sleep trying to listen and finish the book. The narrator was captivating and even managed to speak the female parts without sounding ridiculous. I can't wait to begin the next book in the series.

I finished this book and it was ok. There was no shocking twist or climax. Overall I would not recommend this book.

Best reader I've ever heard. Story was filled with action very fast paced and great detail. Just didn't expect the weird ending, it didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the book.

This story had so much potential and just kept missing the mark. If you're looking for a great airplane or beach read/thriller, this is your book. But if you're looking for a Clive Cussler or Dan Brown thriller, this is a bit of a disappointment. There are just too many improbabilities and the execution was silly.