The Cobra

By: Frederick Forsyth

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

An extraordinary cutting-edge thriller from the New York Times-bestselling grandmaster of international suspense.

Meticulous research, crisp narratives, plots as current as today's headlines - Frederick Forsyth has helped define the international thriller as we know it. And now he does it again.

What if you had carte blanche to fight evil? Nothing held back, nothing off the table. What would you do? For decades, the world has been fighting the drug cartels, and losing, their billions of dollars making them the most powerful and destructive organizations on earth. Until one man is asked to take charge. Paul Devereaux used to run Special Operations for the CIA before they retired him for being too ruthless. Now he can have anything he requires, do anything he thinks necessary. No boundaries, no rules, no questions asked.

The war is on-though who the ultimate winner will be, no one can tell...

©2010 Frederick Forsyth (P)2010 Penguin Audiobooks

Lackluster plot; halting narration

Ninety percent of the story is set up to a sting without a twist, obstacle or complication. The characters are so slightly sketched that they are impossible for me to identify with. The narration is halting and poorly edited to the point of sometimes being incomprehensible. I'll be hesitant about getting a Penguin audiobook again because of the poor production.

Not Sure

I'm a Forsyth fan but I'm not sure what to say about this one. I don't know if it's the material or the narrator or both, but I'm not enjoying it. I'm 3 hours in and I don't care to finish.

CRAP

A great writer delving into propaganda!!!!
Trying to put diamonds on a pig. This would go over will in certain parts of the middle east.

Awful

I was happy with the majority of the book; however, the ending of this book was awful, just awful!!!!

Blah! Blah!

The reading was boring and dry. It was if he were reading a report not a novel. Forsyth could have done much better. The premise was very intriguing and had my mind thinking of all the possibilities. In reality the book was without suspense or a thrill. Even the ending was dull and "matter of fact"

The Cobra

I was excited about hearing of another title from Forsyth. His books have always been great, except for The Cobra. The problem is with the narrator. He delivers a very dramatic presentation, which some like, others not. The issue is his delivery rythem. His oddly placed pauses, which were constant, were so disturbing that I concentrated more on his delivery than the story. I would hope Forsyth gave us another great tale, but I lost interest after 3 hours, feeling it just wasn't worth the effort. I would not recommend this offering.

Surface Level Story

This is more of a story about how a country (willing to invest billions) could slow down (not eliminate) the flow of cocaine in the world. It is not a story, it is a narration and a poor one at that. It was difficult to listen to a policy-wonk explanation of "how to" in the disguise of a novel. Save you effort.

Could Put it Down

Not one of Frederick's best. I normally enjoy his background research and how he infuses bits of historical fact into his storyline. With this book, the technical details actually derailed the story and I found myself wanting to cut my losses and not finish the book. I found the narration to be tedious and annoying. The dramatic pauses were at the wrong places, making it difficult to listen to. Like other readers, the ending was poorly thought out.