• First to Kill

  • By: Andrew Peterson
  • Narrated by: Dick Hill
  • Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (7,432 ratings)

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First to Kill  By  cover art

First to Kill

By: Andrew Peterson
Narrated by: Dick Hill
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Publisher's summary

When you're the best at what you do, it's not always easy to walk away. Nathan McBride was retired. The trained Marine sniper and covert CIA operative had put the violence of his former life behind him. But not anymore. A deep-cover FBI agent has disappeared along with one ton of powerful Semtex explosive, enough to unleash a disaster of international proportions.

The U.S. government has no choice but to coax Nathan out of retirement. He's the only man with the skills necessary to get the job done. But almost as soon as Nathan reluctantly accepts the assignment, he finds himself caught in the middle. On the one side is a ruthless adversary with a blood-chilling plan - and on the other are agents who will stop at nothing to see their own brand of justice done.

Also listen to the sequel, Forced to Kill.
©2008 Andrew Peterson (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A high-powered thriller from a magnum-force writer." (David Dun, author of The Black Silent)

What listeners say about First to Kill

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,360
  • 4 Stars
    2,661
  • 3 Stars
    983
  • 2 Stars
    249
  • 1 Stars
    179
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,305
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    672
  • 2 Stars
    177
  • 1 Stars
    159
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,922
  • 4 Stars
    2,081
  • 3 Stars
    774
  • 2 Stars
    194
  • 1 Stars
    125

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Ed
  • 06-17-09

Sniper thriller par excellence

It's hard to find a sniper thriller these days, much less one that manages to feel technically authentic while having 3-dimensional characters. This novel does all of that, and it also avoids recycling typical terrorist or serial-killer thriller plotlines. This is an original, well worth the price.

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Find!

I tend to stay with my "tried and true" authors, but took a chance on this book and was truly amazed. Mr. Peterson has a formula that could easily bring him into the Lee Child, John Sandford, Jeffrey Deaver class of author. Highly entertaining and worth more than one listen, lets hope Mr. Peterson stays with this winning formula.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting story and fun to listen to

Dick Hill (the narrator) did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life. I've heard he is one of the best in the industry. It was pleasure to listen to.

As a fan of action novels I had read that this is the debut of author, Andrew Peterson. The story starts right out with adrenaline pumped action, and the first chapter tells you the bad guys aren't fooling around. The remainder of the novel has lots of action, and introduces us to a new character (Nathan McBride). It's fun to be reading the first in a series.

McBride is a special forces type who can shoot straight and hit what he aims for. Lots of technical information for those who like to know about weapons, helicoptors, etc, but not over the top. Lots of deeper questions are examined which make the topic very current. How far can or should we go to protect the innocent?



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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A True Thriller!

I thought Dick Hill did a superb job. The characters were believable, the dialogue sharp, and the plot kept me listening. The romantic involvement was low key and tastefully done. It wasn't immediate or forced. I didn't have a problem with it at all. I hope to see more Nathan McBride adventures from this author!

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good First Effort

The first book by this author was a very enjoyable listen. If you are a fan of Lee Child's "Jack Reacher novels" you should enjoy this book. As a matter of fact the combination of Peterson's writing style and Dick Hill's narration this book is almost indistinguishable from the Reacher books. Same style, same story line, same everything (Child may have a lawsuit on his hands)... The Reacher series being one of my favorites I consider it high praise that this author was able to mimic it so closely. I look forward to the next book from Peterson and I hope he decides to make this a series and they choose Dick Hill to narrate again. Listen and enjoy.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

First to Kill

1st book I have listen to by Peterson, and its great. The plot is rich ingood scenes but does not get bogged down. Characters are very good. This is one of thoses books you can not put down until your done. If fact I have listen to it again and still love the book and characters, in fact I have gone out of my way to tell others.
Dick Hill is excellent and put life into the characters.

I really hope that Peterson has more books of this quality coming to us in future

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Well Worth The Time, Great Listen

This was a new author for me and I was a bit skeptical at first, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Right from the beginning I was drawn into the story and the characters. I thought the reader/narrator was excellent and gave each person a very distinct personality. OK, perhaps the story line was a little far fetched, but that's why it's called fiction. I am looking forward to another selection by this author.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

First to Kill.....PLEASE KILL ME NOW!!!!!

Been looking for a good action-thriller series...unfortunately, I'll have to keep looking. Main character Nathan McBride is a confident no limits protagonist, fairly common for the genre, but for all his bluster makes dumb move after dumb move usually resulting in the death/injury of those he is working with or civilians in the nearby vicinity.
The author dedicates a surprisingly large amount of time to developing the relationships between McBride and his various colleagues which is admirable in theory, but in practice the dialogue is quite forced and often not very believable.
But don't take my word for it.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Good

Move over Jack Reacher! Very good action packed book! I wish Dick Hill could do a better job at women's voices but over all a very good summer thriller.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

a real thriller

enjoyed this book..the protagonist was believable given his background and while the ending was a bit flat, it opened the way for a sequal...most characters were weaved well into an absorbing story...

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18 people found this helpful