• From Russia Without Love

  • [#2] A Special Operations Group Thriller
  • By: Stephen Templin
  • Narrated by: Brian Troxell
  • Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (135 ratings)

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From Russia Without Love  By  cover art

From Russia Without Love

By: Stephen Templin
Narrated by: Brian Troxell
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Publisher's summary

SEAL Team Six veteran Chris Paladin left the Navy to become a pastor, but CIA spook Hannah Andrade pulls him back into Special Operations Group to locate the White House Chief of Staff's kidnapped son-in-law before he is executed by Greek terrorists. Cantankerous Army Delta Force operator Sonny Cohen reunites with Chris and Hannah as they race the clock to save the hostage.

In Athens, Chris and his teammates discover that Russia is secretly behind the kidnapping, part of a murderous plan to attack the flow of natural gas in Europe. The Cold War has heated up again.

Chris and his crew's rescue quickly changes into a mission to capture or kill a Russian spy.

©2015 Stephen Templin (P)2015 Stephen Templin

What listeners say about From Russia Without Love

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

B grade writing

It is kind of intriguing to have a minister go on spec-ops field trips as it allows the character to muse over what this sort of activity does to one's psyche or soul. It allows him to not kill in anger, and to be very careful about innocents. I guess it works.

What didn't work so well was the juvenile conversations and immature personality of the minister. He has an adolescent attraction to a beautiful woman who just happens to be the daughter of the #1 bad guy so he lets his guard down. When she eventually pulls a gun from under her skirt (didn't see that one coming, yeah right) he then describes her as "untrustworthy." That was a laughable line. I actually did laugh, and shake my head.

The actual take-down of said #1 bad guy was another head shaker. First our guy tracks him to a lonely cabin where an axe is seen on a chopping block. Our guy comments that this "really was a weapon of opportunity" but he doesn't take it! How stupid was he? Of course the bad guy does take it, but the axe is not the final weapon used. This ending could work out in real life I suppose, if the good guy is really, really lucky, but we usually expect our elite soldiers to win through skill and toughness. As a literary device, this scene didn't satisfy. This volume has ended my interest in the series.

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2 people found this helpful

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

SOG Thriller

Great continuation to the series! Can't wait to see what surprises the author has up his sleeve.

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2 people found this helpful

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

High energy thriller

Would you consider the audio edition of From Russia Without Love to be better than the print version?

I have not read the paper book version but I did really enjoy the audible version.

What did you like best about this story?

This story had so much to offer the reader. I enjoyed the depth of all the characters. Sonny's character was a comical relief to ease the tension of all the excitement throughout the book. Chris Paladins character brought some reality this read. A former navy seal turned pastor who has a dual "personality". Being a former elite operator and now a pastor you hear his struggles of his current life imposing on his old ways of a highly trained Navy seal. All the characters through the novel developed extremely well.

Have you listened to any of Brian Troxell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes I have listened to Tridents first gleaming and The life and legend of Chris Kyle.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved to but unfortunately not able to.

Any additional comments?

I am mainly a non fiction reader but I have enjoyed both of Stephen Templins novels.
Looking forward to see what he comes out with next.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Great author: will listen again

This was the first time for any Templin product. I'm very impressed with the story. The pace, action, and ideas. Highly recommended this book. The voices are done with amazing use for the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Super Fan!

Really well written. Hooked from the first chapter! Can't wait to start the next one!

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1 person found this helpful

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

Boring.... save your credit

Boring and monotonous. The characters were just not very interesting. And the New York queens accent of one of the characters got really old after a while.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling

Where does From Russia Without Love rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I loved listening to this book! I was only going to listen to a little bit the first night and just couldn't stop listening! I could never find the right moment to turn it off.

What about Brian Troxell’s performance did you like?

He did a great job but needs a little help with the ladies voices LOL

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1 person found this helpful

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

The Exact Opposite of 99.9999% of Zombie Apocalypse (read & you’ll understand)

If you’re familiar with the ZA genre and in the military or prior service, your #1 complaint about the vast majority of those books is that the protagonist has an inexhaustible cache of ammo and the protagonist NEVER misses.
This book in some regards is 180 degrees opposite of that. The protagonist, Chris, a former DevGru operator misses his target about 35-40% of the time, This happens in every engagement. Sometimes he misses because he’s slow (relatively speaking), sometimes he misses because Chris has a 45 second conversation with himself about shooting said bad guy and misses because the guy sucks, goes into a room or behind a tree. The other misses are due to rust. Now granted his rust is probably 110% better than your average civilian who hasn’t been in a gunfight, but for a former face-shooting SOF guy, he just misses too much. Another issue is like the story was backwards planned. Like the author thinks “I need to get my guys into this situation and do whatever it takes to get them there even if it doesn’t make sense. The RIB and coast guard scene is a story is a good example.

Now the rest of the book I enjoyed, that’s why I listened to it. Sonny being a Unit guy seems like an old crusty Veteran more so than someone from literally the most HSLD badass units in the world. Literally.
I guess it’s Stephen’s writing style but I get the same sense about authors writing military action/thrillers and failing to use terminology like rounds and ammo vs bullets. Nobody says I’m out of bullets, and NOBODY drops an M4 kitted with IR device and Aimpoint in the water bc it’s too heavy. Maybe you would, I never would.
Anyway, I really want to buy in 110% in three books, because I really do appreciate his telling of some good real stories, The narrator does an outstanding job. No doubt. The combo of a pastor and SOF operator is really ingenious and I think Stephen does probably the best job that could be done in describing the internal conflict so for that - he gets 4 stars.

Oh one last thing. And this is for every military action/thriller author: when your evil dude in your story is evil AF, and then you let Supreme Evil dude get smoked with one round to the T-Box and flip the light switch - you obviously have never listened to someone who has seen firsthand the aftermath of an evil person, because you would absolutely deliver the Hate on a next level basis. That fact is true for the majorityof the books I’ve read or listened to and those numbers are in the hundreds. This book is no exception. There is such a thing as a righteous anger beholden to those who display an exceptional aversion to evil and violence. SPOILER: in the end when Chris doesn’t split his melon like an overripe cantaloupe (for moral and allegedly godly reasons,) who then says “Make one move and I’ll kill you!!” (And the books says he meant it.). BULLSH*T. If you can’t do it then you won’t do it now or later. The book had a few of those instances where I just did not believe what Chris was saying and for a righteous preacher dude that’s a sad place to be in. But what do I know, I’m just an ordinary ol’ Veteran.

Just a last thought - maybe the author decided to let Abba/Jehovah exact revenge, which He is due, but homeboy - God doesn’t miss. Especially with lightening bolts.

Do I still recommend this book and the rest in the series? A solid 100%. A lot of folks may not make these connections and there is always the chance that I’m just wrong. So yes - buy, listen, and enjoy.

p.s. sorry for the misspellings and grammatical errors.

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

great story couldn't stop glistening

well written good plot twists. especially liked how Chris was prone to missing the shot struggled and not so perfect but determined.

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