Kill Decision

By: Daniel Suarez

Narrated by: Jeff Gurner

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The shocking techno-thriller that cements Daniel Suarez's status as the heir to Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy - a terrifying, breathtaking, and all-too-plausible vision of the world's near future.

Unmanned weaponized drones already exist: they're widely used by America in our war efforts in the Middle East. In Kill Decision, best-selling author Daniel Suarez takes that fact and the real science behind it one step further, with frightening results.

Linda McKinney is a myrmecologist, a scientist who studies the social structure of ants. Her academic career has left her entirely unprepared for the day her sophisticated research is conscripted by unknown forces to help run an unmanned - and thanks to her research, automated - drone army. Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into the faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention.

Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power, because for thousands of years the "kill decision" during battle has remained in the hands of humans - and off-loading that responsibility to machines will bring unintended, possibly irreversible, consequences.

But as forces even McKinney and Odin don't understand begin to gather, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save humankind from destruction at the hands of our own technology.

©2012 Daniel Suarez (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Well researched and action packed

Really gripping story, great characters, and excellent performance. This is the first book from this author that I have bought, I will certainly check out his other books now.

Top notch performance by Jeff - Great book

Daniel Suarez does not disappoint. Although this is my least favorite book of the 4 that he's written, it was still great. It contains less futuristic / rampant AI type concepts and focuses more on the present day technologies with a militaristic type focus, which is fine. The narration is top notch - my absolute favorite part is when Jeff sings the christian music that is on the radio - that was a real laugh out loud moment and may be my favorite part of the book because of it!
It was exciting all the way through, the characterization was great and the story and climax were fantastic.

Very good!

Great narrator and very interesting sci-foo story. I have liked all of his books.

Perfomance weak

Would you consider the audio edition of Kill Decision to be better than the print version?

Good story . .unfortunately the reader made the female lead sound like a whiney 17 year old. His men's voice were either goofy or gruff. . .This would probably be a lot better with a different reader. . . at times I felt like I was listening to a book written for very young adults.

Techno_Thriller.exe

Disclaimer: Fans of Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, or Robert Ludlum will thoroughly enjoy this book. Now, on to the review.

This was my first experience with both the author as well as the narrator. Both blew me out of the water, and I can't wait to read more of Daniel Suarez' work. As I stated in my disclaimer, the ability of Suarez to create a believable and thought-provoking thriller is something on par with the best techno-thrillers out there. The cast of characters were all unique but convincing in their roles, and the lead protagonists had a very interesting relationship throughout the novel. I'll definitely think twice about going outside without looking up at the sky from here on out, and that's a somewhat terrifying feeling to have after reading something that could in deed be on the horizon of reality.

Jeff Gurner really stood out to me as someone that I want to hear more from, and this was a great introduction to his method of narration in my opinion. The accents weren't always 100% accurate, but he gave the vast amount of characters a personality and life-like vocalization to the point that I could picture the characters in my mind's eye. Awesome sound effects were also added to the reading of each chapter title to further get the point of robotic adversaries across.

I was hoping that this pair of author and narrator would continue to uphold the standard I just set for them after finishing this book, and judging from the reviews, I'm looking forward to another round of top-notch action & espionage.

Daniel Suarez: Best Thriller Writer Out There

Would you listen to Kill Decision again? Why?

Yes, I will listen to this again in a few years. Daniel Suarez does it again, Couldn't stop listening to this book!

Who was your favorite character and why?

There are two main characters in this book - Odin and Professor McKinney. I'll say I like Odin more, because he's got this "Die Hard" refuses to die even when the odds are stacked 1000-1 against him quality. He does not give up.

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't want to spoil it. But the climax was pretty good.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, neither laugh nor cry. But I couldn't stop listening to it. I had to listen to it before going to bed, and listen to it over lunch at work. Went through the book in 3-4 days.

Any additional comments?

Daniel Suarez is an amazing writer, and Jeff Gurner does a good job bringing the book to life as the narrator. I would buy any book Daniel Suarez writes.

What's that droning sound?

This was a lovely, fast-paced technothriller in the tradition of Michael Crichton. The science was really fascinating and it had all the twists, turns and deceptions you'd expect from a thriller of this sort.

The only reason I didn't give it a full five stars is because I found the main female character a little unevenly written. She seems to swing a lot between cowardly scientist and super-heroine, depending on what the plot demands at the moment.

Nonetheless, it was a good engaging read. Had me hooked and listening pretty obsessively all the way through.

The narration was pretty good. Not perfect, but definitely listenable and did not take away from my enjoyment.

I Hate Part 1s

Suarez did this to me before with "Daemon". It was the first in two part story. "Kill Decision" finishes but doesn't end this story - leaving too many threads unravelled. His quirky skepticism throughout the first half of "Kill Decision" is really intriguing. And Suarez is a master of futureTech. Once again though, he goes way to far over the top in his cinematic battles. Somehow I wish he'd ended this book in the center. Certainly I wish the finish had been the end. Sadly neither happened.

If this was a revue from me to myself before purchasing - I'd say, don't buy it Ted. The ending second half is weak and the finish disappointing. Oh yeah, Jeff Gurner reads it all goooood

Builds with excitement and thrill!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Another fantastic book by Daniel Suarez, his accuracy in blending real world technology and hardware with such a great story line leads you to question yourself on what if this really happened, or has it already happened....better yet is it happening now.
The Narrator; Jeff Gurner does a fantastic job yet again for this techno thriller that will leave you fully immersed in the world feeling as if you living the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Odin, hands down the mysterious special ops figure you come to know, and question yourself initially, friend or foe...but his patriotism and loyalty to his comrades shines through in the story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The cabin, where they had to repel a swarm of killer bots and survive.

Another excellent high tech adventure from Suarez

A great story about a small elite special forces strike group that takes on the well connected and well financed forces of high tech evil.

What I enjoy most about this and other Suarez books is this author's extremely cynical view of the people manipulating power behind the scenes in America, and how advances in technology could give unscrupulous elites the means to eliminate American democracy. It really makes you look at current events in a whole new light.