Kill Zone

A Sniper Novel

By: Jack Coughlin, Donald A. Davis

Narrated by: Scott Sowers

Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

*This program is abridged*

An American general is captured in the Middle East. They threaten to behead him within days. But moments before he is rendered unconscious during the attack, the General realizes that his unseen captors are American.

Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson, a top level Marine sniper, receives top-secret orders to rescue the General. But upon landing in the Iraqi desert his men come under ferocious attack and Swanson is the only one left alive. How did the enemy know details of a mission known only to a few top government officials?

Swanson soon realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless and dangerous enemy—American mercenaries working with the White House. They're part of a clandestine conspiracy whose agenda is nothing less than total control of the American military. Full of the kind of action author Jack Coughlin lived during his career as a Marine sniper,

Kill Zone marks the audiobook debut of an extraordinary writing team.

©2007 Jack Coughlin with Donald A. Davis (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

“The new writing team of Coughlin and Davis offers a gripping account that is sure to enthrall listeners with its authentic approach and suspenseful plot twists. Narrator Scott Sowers delivers a solid and commanding performance...Capturing the urgency of the story through his terse, unwavering tone, Sowers breathes life into the characters and credibly delivers the heart-pounding action. The story becomes instantly believable and all the more thrilling with Sowers's performance and Coughlin's personal experience as a Marine sniper.” —AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

“The 3rd Battalion has a veteran sniper, Staff Sergeant Jack Coughlin, for whom the war in Iraq was only the latest of many wars; he fought in Mogadishu, too. On the first day of battle at the Diyala Bridge, he had eleven kills. He is one of the best snipers in the Marine Corps, perhaps the very best. When I asked one of his commanders about his skills, the commander smiled and said, 'I'm just glad he's on our side.' ” —Peter Maas, war correspondent and bestselling author of Love Thy Neighbor

Hats off Gunny

This book was filled with real examples of warfare and some old sayings I heard from Gunny Coughlin a few times during my deployments to Iraq with 3/4. I enjoyed this second book as much as I did the first, probably more so than most of the civilians who read it because I understand the language being spoken by the Marines. I laughed out loud many times during the read. Damn fine book.

Enjoyable

I will say that this book reminded me of another book I have read/listened to, but I can not recall the title. I will say it was perfect for a nice long drive to listen to.

A Bit to predictable and PC

Fun book but the characters aren't developed much. Good and Bad guys are black and white with almost no grays. Story is set in present day with a story about wanting to privatize the army something which the Bush Administration was doing to avoid using the draft and thereby being voted out. Of course the writer couldn't write about a President that was a C student, who lived off his fathers name, and was a draft dodger because that would not sound like the kind of president America should have. Instead this president is a scholar, a war hero, and actually had a mind of his own. It spoiled the story for me that he had to make such a fairy tale of a President as if he were writing your typical spy thriller in the 50's and early 60's.
The reader was great but some of the material was a bit dry and trying to be to technical ala Clancy but without his flair.
Fun escapist read if that is what you are in a mood for but don't expect to think about it much afterwords.

Contrived transparency

I will start off by saying, if you have a few hours for a good exciting read… Buy it! That said, having read these authors other work I am amazed at the magnitude of transparency between the real Jack Coughlin (Mastery Gunny SGT/ Marine Scout Sniper ) and the main heroin. At some points you can’t help but shake your head and sigh, this book is like a fanciful overlay for Jack Coughlin’s book “Shooter” a historical account of his experiences in Iraq. If you are looking for a book about war, snipers, marines, ext I would highly recommend Shooter the authors other book however, this book is excellent!