Carol

I'm a huge fan of Brad Thor and the Scott Harvath series. I've listened to just about all of the series before going back to this first one. Having listened to the others, this one doesn't feel as polished as the others, but that makes sense for the first in the series.

The story is typical for the Harvath series, good details and building up of the characters. It doesn't have the strength of following books but it's still a Thor so it's a great listen!

The story line is a bit far fetched with the details of the President's kidnapping; what was done to him and where he was held. I won't share details to spoil the story! But the rest of the story makes up for it.

Had I followed this in order I would still have continued on to the future books in the series and been happily surprised as they only continued to get better and better.

The Team brings an interesting, and amazingly true, concept to the war on terror. A "baseball team" used as a front. Though this is the premise, the actual mission they are sent on does not have anything to do with the team going somewhere to play, it is just what brings them together. It's a good story, not as detailed as some, though the "details" of what the jungle people did is described rather gruesomely. Other than that it was a "light read".
My only real issue was the sound and music used in between the chapters. It was louder than the normal sound level thus irritating when it arrived. I am truly not fond of music and sounds being used in this manner, so keep that in mind if you feel the same way.
The narrator did a good job, it was good to have "real" female voices at times as well. Though it was odd that only one of the 2 main female characters had the female voice. The male narrator was used for the other.

I was anxiously waiting for this next in the series to come out. It didn't take long to get into the story, It's one of the best in the series. It's interesting how all of the characters that we are familiar with are weaved throughout the story. Many of the previous stories have a strong focus on one or two. This includes eveyrone nicely.
Great action and details!

This was truly an "experience" for the listener. What a true patriot and amazing man Marcus is. It must have been the challenge of a life time for him to share his story.
One of of the things about this book that hit me hard was my personal thoughts and beliefs on some of the frightening challenges presented to our nation's safety were truly validated and brought out crystal clear in this book. When the liberals, both in government and the media were putting our nations brave and best on "trial for murder" I was sickened. To see how this affected Marcus and his team...I can't find the words to describe how infuriating it is.
Thank you Marcus for your service to our country and for keeping us all safe and free, regardless of those who, without a clue about your reality, tried to put you on trial.

This story could have been much better if the characters were "allowed" to interact...this is more of a true narrator watching the story and describing it rather than the individuals actually conversing. It was well into the story before you actually get the conversation of characters. The story could be much better if they were developed and you could get to "know" them. Later in the story when there is a bit more interaction the "best of the best" Navy SEAL sounds like he doesn't know what to do...and the terrorists, described as the "best" have conversations where they clearly have no clue how to be a terrorist.

Much of the storyline could have been excellent as the atmosphere of the government etc. rang true in many ways. Descriptions of the liberal media, government , judges sounded real. Unfortunately the story wasn't cleaned up/edited to make it the believable and exciting storyline it could have been. I was most disappointed in this because the SEAL star could/should have been used in a far more awesome way than he was.

This was the first audible book that I've had technical difficulties with-not sure if it would be consistent to other "downloaders" but just a heads up. Also-there were several times when the same sentance was repeated...gives you a "deja-vu"...This didn't affect my rating though.

I'm a Clancy fan, have enjoyed many of them through audible. This one isn't his best in my opinion. It may have had something to do with the narrator. He was too "smooth" for my liking. It was difficult to distinguish between characters with his spoken tone. I think it took away from my ability to enjoy the story/listen.
The story line was more tame compared to others in the series and other Clancy novels. I would recommend it if you're a fan of the series, but definitely not if you're looking to check out Clancy, it's not a good first representation of his writing abilities.

This is a Clancy style book where you hear a good deal of history and character building at length before the "action" starts. Many reviewers had trouble waiting for the action to begin. But if you're a fan of Clancy's you realize this is truly his style. I too had a few somewhat-bored moments but they were few and far between as I enjoy the building of the history & story.
If you prefer knock down/fighting throughout, this isn't for you.
This book in the series is in the beginning of Jack Ryan's presidency. There are many different story lines that build up throughout the beginning leading to a few "oooohhh, I get it" moments when they come together. It is also the first time I actually got a little queasy at some descriptions of the "birth" of the ebola virus that is brewed to take out the United States. I can handle a great deal of "ick" but the descriptions combined with the thought of what was being planned was well done-thought provoking. Clancy has a serious "grip" on the threats that could be imagined against our country. He also has an incredible knowledge of the inner workings of the Secret Service/CIA and other agencies that are sworn to protect all of us. There was only one story line that needed a bit more to beef it up & make it "fit" better-the SS agent who made it to the "top", don't want to spoil anything further so I'll stop there...
If you enjoy Clancy, this is another well done story. If you want a thriller from page one, then this probably isn't the author for you.

Unlike other books in the series, this one is a lot of "office" work, meetings etc. The action, or "operations" are minimal and don't arrive until well into the book. There were times when I thought of ending my listening, but it did at least keep my interest until the end. Mostly because I was waiting for the "action" to arrive.