Ray

So sorry to write such a scathing review, because I had high hopes for a fun adventure novel. However, this book is just one long string of escapes from impossible situations. Again and again we find the three groups of heros or main characters in a death-defying run from the bad guys. This wouldn't be so bad if the escape sequences actually built something into the story line, but most don't. Couple this with the unbelievable appearance of sat phones, cell phone boosters, laptops with secret files just sitting on a desk in the middle of a firefight, and polar bears that attack and defeat an army of bad guys on snowmobiles... Well, you get the picture.
If you can suspend all rational belief and just want an adrenaline rush without the need to engage your brain, this is a fine read. Otherwise, it just gets tedious. Check out Follet's Pillars of the Earth or Wilbur Smith's African sagas for a much more engaging read.

Like the other reviews, I also enjoyed the story line and near immortality of Jason Bourne. The ONE major issue I have is with the reader. Scott Brick has a compelling voice and is masterful in his voice changes, tone, and pace. However, he continues between "segments" of chapters that change scenes with not even a microsecond of a pause.

He'll be reading about Jason eluding an assasin's bullet in one sentence and describing a CIA operative's exploits in Budapest in the next sentence. The book, of course, has a new sub-segment started as noted by a blank line. Brick, however, keeps on reading without taking a breath.

I found myself backing up thirty seconds or so on nearly every CD because I'd been caught daydreaming a few seconds and was catapaulted into a new scene of the book not knowing the seque to get there.

Other than this glitch, the book is well worth the effort and cost. Enjoy, but pay attention or you'll be left behind.

I've read and listened to many books, but none with such tedious narration and chopped dialogue. Fully a fourth of his conversations are clipped in the middle of the sentence, making listening a chore. Such as......

"How could you think that I ...... Do you mean to say that you believe I would just waltz in....... You can't say things like...... Now I'm really......"

None of these sentences were finished; they were just clipped as righteous indignation, which runs rampant in this book.

The main characters are all certified paranoid schitzophrenic! Nora is a loony-tune, Michael needs a surgically implanted backbone, his friends are untrustworthy, and the evil boss is just that: evil.

I just finished with the ninth CD of this tome, and decided to put it away. I just can't go any longer thinking this thing will pick up soon and get interesting.

Honestly, if the dialogue wasn't so incredibly tedious, I think I'd have given it a better chance of improving. But Meltzer just keeps on writing the same words coming from the same insecure characters in the same unlikely situations.

A book I read called "Difficult Conversations," (a five star read)defines the parts of a conversation. First is "WHAT ARE THE FACTS." Second is "WHAT WERE THE INTENTIONS." This book spent more than 10 hours so far in conflict about "THE INTENTIONS" and so little on the story line.

One brief outing yields hours of psycho-babble about why someone did this or that. Exceptionally untidy writing.

Sorry to write such a scathing review. I'm a real fan of this author and this theme, but this book is a total bust.