The Final Cut

A Brit in the FBI, Book 1

By: Catherine Coulter, J. T. Ellison

Narrated by: Renee Raudman, MacLeod Andrews

Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

From Catherine Coulter, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the FBI Thriller series, and J.T. Ellison, bestselling author and ITW Award winner, comes the first book in a brilliant international thriller series featuring a new hero: American-born, UK-raised Nicholas Drummond.

Scotland Yard’s new chief inspector Nicholas Drummond is on the first flight to New York when he learns his colleague, Elaine York, the “minder” of the Crown Jewels for the “Jewel of the Lion” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was found murdered. Then the centerpiece of the exhibit, the infamous Koh-i-Noor Diamond, is stolen from the Queen Mother’s crown. Drummond, American-born but raised in the UK, is a dark, dangerous, fast-rising star in the Yard who never backs down. And this case is no exception.

Special Agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich from Coulter’s bestselling FBI series don’t hesitate to help Drummond find the cunning international thief known as the Fox. Nonstop action and high stakes intensify as the chase gets deadly. The Fox will stop at nothing to deliver the Koh-i-Noor to the man who believes in its deadly prophecy. Nicholas Drummond, along with his partner, FBI Special Agent Mike Caine, lay it on the line to retrieve the diamond for Queen and country.

©2013 Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Almost GREAT!

The story and characters are well developed and the story is almost great...but. The somewhat sappy denouement is predictable and takes away from the potential of the characters and story.

Very predictable- narration was annoying

The story is predictable and a little too much make believe for me. The narration was annoying because two of the narrators were good and the others literally sounded like they read the cue cards. Very distracting...

Wonderful

Riveting story and wonderful characters. The books in this series are so interesting, it makes me sad when the ends comes.

Listener's thoughts ...

Be patient and take time to learn how to listen to this one. It's a little different and well worth learning to appreciate how the performance was executed.

The multiple narrators are doing an excellent job of capturing the feelings of the characters and being completely true to the written story. This is not the sort of dramatization you expect from a presentation of a play because the dialogs never mix into and on top of each other. I had to get used to this. At first I didn't like it. After I understood, I loved it. Great job! I hope they get all together and do this again, perhaps in a sequel!

Muddled narration, but great tale!

While this was another great story from Coulter, complete with intrigue and international destinations, the narration left something to be desired. The accents seemed somewhat muddled from character to character (sounding inauthentic). While the narration wasn't so great, I'd still recommend to others because the plot is intriguing. Would have been so much better with a "cast" of narrators with authentic accents - or one narrator without trying to feign accents.

Good read!!

Catherine Coulter, creator of two of my favorite characters, Savich and Sherlock, has now written a book (with J. T. Ellison) in which Savich and Sherlock play only peripheral parts. In The Final Cut, she introduces a new detective, chief inspector Nicholas Drummond from Scotland Yard, who arrives in the US to assist with the rather touchy matter of the death of a dear friend and colleague attached to an exhibit of the crown jewels at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This tale contains plenty of intrigue and edge of your seat moments, still with a few light moments to ease the strain, and the plot twists and turns in unbelievable ways. While I was somewhat sad that Savich and Sherlock played such a small part in this story, I must admit that I have come to love Drummond nearly as much and hope to see more of him in the future. A very good read!!

Another hit for FBI Series

This book kept my attention for almost 13 hours of driving across the plains. Story gets a little far fetched in the conclusion of what the diamonds when combined can do. Love the "good" thief. Which is written in such as way to actually make you love the thief. Having an aristocrat with the skills better than a navy seal was interesting and the desire to work with the FBI to solve and visa versa was an interesting twist. From what we see in press this might be a stretch. Being able to "perform" after being shot and cut seemed a bit over the top. However I loved how the characters interacted. I still found the book enjoyable

a must have to read

Loved it, enjoyed the intrigue and the history of the stone. Looking forward to reading and hearing more from this particular author.

Art and Jewel Heists . . . Clever Fox

I thoroughly enjoyed The Final Cut . . . it's different, weaving a tale of intrigue and mystery going back centuries. The diamond (Koh-i-Noor), part of the Jewels of the Lion exhibition belonging to Queen Mother in England is about to go on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. And despite every security precaution, it is stolen. The Koh-i-Noor hasn't always belonged to the Brits though . . . and legend has it that the diamond has healing powers . . . After listening to The Final Cut, I researched the history of the Koh-i-Noor, which is fascinating. This was a most satisfying and fun listen.

Somewhat corny

Much of the story was predictable and cliché. The performance was mediocre. I would not recommend this audio or book.