A Killer's Game

Daniela Vega, Book 1

By: Isabella Maldonado

Narrated by: Almarie Guerra, Feodor Chin

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

An FBI agent with a background in cryptography. A brilliant game maker bent on revenge. A deadly battle of wits and wills. An ingenious thriller from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Cipher.

FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela “Dani” Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator. The assassin turned informant is Gustavo Toro. His code: hit the target and don’t ask questions. When Dani suspects a complex conspiracy, the only way to take down the mastermind is from the inside, forcing her to partner with Toro. Together they must infiltrate the inner circle at a remote facility.

Except it’s a trap. For all of them.

Locked in a subterranean labyrinth and held captive by an unseen host, Dani, Toro, and others must fight for their lives. Now Dani must stay undercover, unravel a bizarre conspiracy, and survive lethal puzzles. But will Toro be friend or foe? Because in this killer’s game, everything is real: the paranoia, the desperation, and the body count. And only one person can make it out alive.

©2023 Isabella Maldonado (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Almarie Guerra and Feodor Chin bring this fast-paced thriller to life. Guerra tells the story from the point of view of Dani Vega, an FBI agent whose undercover assignment to infiltrate a band of assassins goes terribly awry.… Chin voices Nemesis and the team members as they set out on a race against time to save Dani. Chin's characterization of Nemesis is particularly strong; his voice sounds slightly altered, the significance of which becomes apparent as the plot unfolds and races to its conclusion.”—AudioFile Magazine

“…virtually brought to life by the truly exceptional narrative storytelling skills of Almarie Guerra and Feodor Chin…an unreservedly recommended pick.”—Midwest Book Review

“…Maldonado keeps the plot boiling and the bodies dropping to the end.”—Kirkus Reviews

Gripping and couldn't put it down.

Great story and narrative, I enjoyed the characters and their development. The author and her stories are amazing.

GREAT BOOK END TO END EXCITEMENT!!

Great book!! End to end excitement!! Like watching a movie, I couldn’t stop listening!! Definitely recommend!!!!

Great story, action and plot

Excellent. I couldn’t stop listening. Draws you in and keeps your attention. Can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Wild Ride!

First let me say Isabella Maldonado is at the top of my favorite suspense thriller authors list. All of Maldonado's books are fascinating, and this one is a wild roller-coaster ride from minute one. Intrigue, super smart, a relevant plot, villains you love to hate, best of all a kick-ass female lead--this first book of a new series is one I will continue, without a doubt.

Not an easy listen

one of the male narrators is flat. Takes away from story. I don't think I would hv purchased if I heard it before I made the selection

Action-packed FBI thriller!

I was trying to complete the 2023 Summer Kindle Challenge and one of the challenges was reading a book for Hispanic Heritage Month, A Killer’s Game happened to be on the list of books that would complete the challenge and by coincidence I had the book in my library, so A Killer’s Game became my introduction to Isabella Maldonado’s writing/story telling. I enjoy well-written law enforcement related thrillers and this book certainly filled that bill. Daniela Vega is a very well-developed character with plenty of baggage but enough fortitude to do whatever it takes to get the job done. The overall story is well laid out and very entertaining – especially since I was able to get the audiobook for a reasonable price and was able to listen to Almarie Guerra and Feodor Chin do an excellent job narrating this story. I enjoyed it enough to preorder the second book in this series and to pick up both the Kindle and audible copies of the first book in Isabella’s Nina Guerrera series. I guess after reading The Cypher I’ll have to decide which of these characters is my favorite.

Good listen

Gets you into it right from the start and just keeps going, overall good to the end.

A little over the top

My first novel by Isabella Maldonado. Read as part of a reading group as part of Hispanic Heritage Month.

A Killer's Game gives nods to Squid Games, Saw and Die Hard, with a tough female character and sprinkles the whole lot with cheese. Daniela Vega is hard as nails and super smart to boot. I found her to be a bit too perfect; every time she came up against a problem, physical or mental, she chewed it up and spat it out immediately, which after a while began to dilute any tension. From reading other thrillers of this type (Hollywood springs to mind), and watching films of this type (Hollywood again), I realise there is a big market for such gung-ho goings on, and I understand why.

It dragged a bit in parts, and it was a little far-fetched but still gripping and suspenseful. The plot border on implausible, especially in the last half. If fast-moving, fairly predictable action tales with a whip-smart badass lead is your thing, you'll find plenty to like here.

Love this Author!!!!

This book is an extremely good read. I would go on to say more but in the past two - three weeks Audible has removed 7 of my 5 star reviews and I don’t want to put time into something they are just going to remove for no reason.
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Another great book

The book started a little slow, but once it gets going it is fast and furious action.