The Rhythm Section

A Stephanie Patrick Thriller, Book 1

By: Mark Burnell

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

Length: 14 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

An innocent woman goes deep undercover to hunt down those responsible for her family’s death in Mark Burnell's The Rhythm Section, an action-packed international thriller—and the basis for the major motion picture from the producers of the James Bond film series, starring Jude Law and Blake Lively.

Stephanie Patrick is devastated after her whole family dies in a plane crash. But when she discovers that the downing of flight NE027 wasn’t an accident but an act of terrorism, Stephanie enters the fight of her life to achieve her one goal: revenge.

When she’s recruited by a covert intelligence organization, Stephanie sees a means to an end. Now, with nothing and no one left to lose, Stephanie undergoes rigorous training to become “Petra,” a mercenary terrorist based out of Germany, and “Marina,” an international businesswoman based in London. Her immersion into the world of international espionage teaches Stephanie how to numb her feelings and act on instinct alone. But as her missions become more brutal, and the stakes grow ever higher, she begins to question everything she knows about flight NEO027. Is her organization telling her the truth about what really happened? Is avenging her family worth the risk of her own life? And if it isn’t, will those who created her ever let her go?

©1999; 2018 Text copyright Mark Burnell; Afterword copyright Mark Burnell (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"The female Jason Bourne you never knew you needed." —EW

"Stephanie is a tough, resilient heroine...entertaining." —Booklist

"Mark Burnell has created a rounded literary character and a memorable heroine. But who is she really? A fine debut." —The Economist

Meh...

I expected this story to be better than it was. With the movie coming out soon, I thought it would be much better. There were too many characters to keep track of. The first part which explained the setup was the best part. Once she became an assassin it went downhill for me.

Narration could be better

This story may have held my interest if it wasn’t for the narration. I’ve realized that I need to research the narration of the audio version of the story before purchasing. The story might be halfway decent but a bad narrator can kill it.

Thrill Ride

Very well told exciting clandestine female spy adventurous journey. Take this adventure, excellent narrated novel.

Lost me

I stopped listening about 1/3 of the way in. The story just didn't grab me.

A fun listen

I enjoyed the story. The pleasure of listening was diminished by the softness and witness of the narrator’s voice. It seemed she was just above a whisper often making it hard to understand even with the volume turned all the way up.

Loved it

Wasn’t sure what to expect other than what I’ve seen in movie trailers. The life poor Stephanie has endured is almost too much to believe. I’m not going to say much about Frank, except that I had a feeling about him...

I will likely continue with the rest of the series.

Beautiful writing and narration

Here’s the best thing I like about this book. The writer Mark Burnell had put the story first.The writing blew me away and the narration top notch.

Not really a thriller. More about prostitution.

Could not continue poor read. Stuck on the sleazy side of London. Not anywhere close to an action story.

Narrator, just read the book!!!

The story was great, but...

I felt like I was visiting a prostitute the whole time. The hushed tones at the end of each and EVERY sentence... STOP IT!!! Just read the book!!!

I almost retuned it on the first two minutes. Not looking forward to listening to the rest in this series. I’ll be paying the devil while I’m driving. LOTS OF EXPLETIVES!!!

save your money

I felt the story lacked focus, wandered and stalled often. I think the author needs to learn more about spy craft to improve the details of her writing. There were so many implausible situations I couldnt immerse myself in the book. Overall a avg to poor quality story with a weak ending.