Edge

A Novel

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Skipp Sudduth

Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Behind the well-known U.S. security organizations - the FBI and CIA among them - lies a heavily guarded, anonymous government agency dedicated to intelligence surveillance and to a highly specialized brand of citizen protection.

Shock waves of alarm ripple through the clandestine agency when Washington, D.C., police detective Ryan Kessler inexplicably becomes the target of Henry Loving, a seasoned, ruthless “lifter” hired to obtain information using whatever means necessary. While Loving is deft at torture, his expertise lies in getting an “edge” on his victim—leverage—usually by kidnapping or threatening family until the “primary” caves under pressure.

The job of keeping the Kessler family alive falls to a man named Corte, a senior federal protection officer known as a “shepherd.” Uncompromising, relentlessly devoted to protecting those in his care and a passionate board game aficionado, he applies brilliant gaming strategy to his work. For Corte, the reappearance of Loving—the man who, six years earlier, had tortured and killed someone close to him—is also an opportunity to avenge his friend’s death. The assignment soon escalates into a fast-paced duel between Corte and Loving, a dangerous volley of wits and calculated risks.

As he shepherds the Kesslers to a concealed safe house, Corte must anticipate Loving’s every step as the lifter moves in on his prey, and with the help of razor-sharp investigator Claire DuBois and his longtime ally, FBI agent Paul Fredericks, pinpoint which of Kessler’s seemingly insignificant cases has triggered Loving’s return. As the team digs deeper, each of the Kesslers comes under close scrutiny, and in captivity their family bonds are stretched to the breaking point—as the lifter draws near, Corte must ultimately choose between protecting his charges and exposing them to a killer in the name of long-awaited revenge.

©2010 Jeffrey Deaver (P)2010 Simon and Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Deaver unveils some nifty new tricks in this edge-of-your-seat thriller.... Deaver’s first first-person narrator, Corte, is an exciting new weapon in the author’s arsenal of memorable characters." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Fans of Deaver’s fiendishly clever suspensers... won’t be surprised by the nonstop deceptions, reversals, shocks and surprises, but this time they’re even more varied than usual, and, given the characters’ backgrounds, a lot more plausible. The result is his most successful thriller in years." ( Kirkus)

Is it the narrator or the writing that is boring?

I've been a Deaver fan forever , it seems and an Audible listener since the inception of Audible.com so I am accustomed to a wide variety of narration styles. This one is stilted and flat and I can't tell if it is that the narrator is used to only reading factual history texts or expense reports or if Deaver has lost his ability to write actual conversations between characters. I am only about a third of the way through the book and I"m not sure I can continue listening to the end.

Disappointing

I like Deaver's previous work and this book may be his best work ever but it's impossible to tell due to awful narration. The story was interesting enough to finish the book but just barely. Not only is the robotic delivery of this narrator bad but as others have said in previous reviews he pronounces "weapon" as wheppon and "rear" as rare. So not only bad but also annoying. If you buy this book you will beg for Dick Hill or Scott Brick within 20 minutes of listening.

Plodding and Predictable

I kept listening, only because I kept hoping something would happen that would surprise me. No suspense for me - the plot was very predictable. It took me a month to get through the listen and I only made it through because the narrator was fairly good.

Really bad narrator

I like Jeffery Deaver books, but I just could not make it through this book the narrator was so boring, I mean really boring. I've made it through books before that had bad narrators, but I just could not do this one.

Not a good listen

This book is the only bad - and TRULY BAD book I’ve listened to by Deaver!

5 star story, 1 star narrator

I go through 3 audio books a week while driving. Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors and I purchased Edge immediatly upon seeing it. It was only the strength of the story that kept me from giving up. The narrator, lets call him a reader as narrator would be decieving, had no emotion whatsoever. The guy at the end who says "we hope you have enjoyed the program" did 4 times the job. I'm guessing this must be a family friend of the producer, as I can't believe Mr. Deaver would treat his faithful readers so badly as to have approved this recording in advance. Go with the hard copy on this one, as the story is one of his best.

The book may be great. The narrator had a cold?

The book may be a good book. A great book, even. It's very hard to tell. The narrator's voice sounded as if he had phlegm in his throat throughout the entire book. That, added to his monotonous tone, made me dislike listening to it. And Jeffrey Deaver is normally one of my favorite authors. I literally had to turn off this book and start listening to a podcast on budgeting and saving money. And the podcast had 1,000 times the vocal inflection and vibrancy of this reader! Amazing!

Unrealistic story

Story was not realistic. The dialogue was very well
We boring. And it was not read well.

Fair Story Line not a great narration

I have to say this would be one of those books I would ask for a refund on!!! Storyline seems not bad, but the narration is far from engaging. If you think you can get over that try it! I am having difficulty with that..

Story 5 Stars. Narrator Zip!

After several years of being cajoled by my brother to join Audible, I finally relented and joined up with great expectations.
My first book...'Edge'...by Jeffery Deaver and narrated by Skipp Sudduth has almost required that I cancel my Audible account.
But wait...The book selection was terrific. My brother always has suggested fantastic authors to me and he hasn't missed yet. Since the Deaver book was just issued and as I was looking forward to a new book by him and I had just signed up for Audible, I decided that was the one to try first. Wow, was I disappointed. Not with the story by Deaver but the narrator Skipp Sudduth. It was very difficult for me to tell when Mr. Sudduth changed from one character to another and as I srtuggled through this Audible book I also struggled with whether or not to cancel my account. Then my brother finally convinced me that this was only one book and I should listen to the 'Bloody Jack' series narrated by Katherine Kellgren. NOW SHE'S A NARRATOR. I listened to 20 minutes of Ms. Kellegren and that convinced me to stay with Audible.
As for Skipp Sudduth, I think the publisher should find someone else to read Jeffery Deavers books especially the James Bond story soon to be published.
Please, no more Skipp Sudduth.