Red Cell

A Novel

By: Mark Henshaw

Narrated by: Rob Patterson

Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Red Cell follows Kyra Stryker and Jonathan Burke, two outcasts in the Agency who are brought together in the Red Cell, the agency’s out-of-the-box think tank. Stryker is a young and beautiful agent who’s struggling to recover from a job gone bad during her first assignment in Venezuela, while Burke is a straight-laced analyst who’s pissed off all his colleagues with his knack for always being right, political consequences be damned.

When a raid on Chinese spies in Taiwan ends in a shootout, CIA Director Cooke turns to the Red Cell to figure out why China is ready to invade the island nation without any fear of reprisal from the U.S. Navy. Stryker and Burke’s only lead is the top CIA informant in China, codenamed Pioneer, and they’re tasked with extracting him before the Chinese can get to him.

From the White House to a Navy battleship in the South China Sea, Henshaw takes listeners on a whirlwind race against time as Stryker and Burke try to save Pioneer and discover the hidden threat to America’s power and keeping the peace: China’s top secret weapon, the Assassin’s Mace.

©2012 Mark Henshaw (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Story good. Performance and editing awful

Maybe even the worst performance ever. No voice characterization in dialogue and heaven forbid multi person conversations: you’ll have no idea who is saying what. Many little editing issues too

Good story.

Buy the Book Not the Audio

The story was good and I wish I had read the book. The narrator was in such a hurry and he didn't vary the voices or the narrated portions at all. I can't remember the last audio book that was this poorly narrated. I'm spoiled by all the other great narrators and I'll remember to avoid ones Rob Patterson does unless he improves. The story was pretty good, however.

Sounds Too Real!

Would you consider the audio edition of Red Cell to be better than the print version?

Yes, I can listen while I drive. But this is true about all audio books.

Any additional comments?

A believable spy novel.

Moves along at an ok clip

Was Red Cell worth the listening time?

A plausible story and good suspense level. A decent way to while away the commuting hours.

Reviewers wrong

I almost didn’t buy this book because of the bad reviews about the narrator. I’m glad I ignored them. The narrator may not be George Guidall, my favorite narrator, but who is? And the story is great. The whole series is.

Very good story ruined by an awful reader

I've been an Audible member for over ten years (607 downloads) and I'm hard pressed to think of a worse read than this one. Every conversation sounded the same, whether deciding what to eat for dinner or staring down an incoming missile. Men, women, Americans, Chinese, all sounded the same. This was particularly frustrating when men and women were talking because you had to listen especially hard to figure out who was who.

I don't know who Rob Patterson is and what he's done before, but it's as if they pulled some random guy off the street and said, "here, read this novel." "Never done it before?" "No problem."

The biggest shame is that the story is actually quite good. Put in the hands of even a competent reader, and it would have been fabulous. As it was, I put this down three or four times and had to push myself to finish it.

Interesting and entertaining story

The book was quite good. Interesting subject, the story seemed well researched and therefore very plausible.

But, this is one of the few times I have been very disappointed with the reader of an Audible book. It was read in a monotone, almost computer like way, lacking any kind of understanding of what was being read. Especially dialogues were very difficult to follow. My apologies to the reader, but it just was very distracting.

A Different Spy Series

As many have said the narration isn't the best but not bad enough not to listen. The narrator didn't handle dialog well; ok he sucked at dialog sections, but luckily there isn't much back and forth dialog. While this isn't the strongest book it is a good start and I can see potential. I have listened to the second in the series and the author has tightened up his writing and there is a different narrator. While you don't need to listen to this book before the second book, I do recommend it.

Terrific first novel...performance only average.

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

A truly excellent first effort from an "insider's" perspective (Henshaw was a former CIA analyst). Also adds some Tom-Clancy-like military action.

What three words best describe Rob Patterson’s performance?

Choppy reading in places; poor transitions (e.g., often provides no audible pause when scenes change.)

(Sorry...three words just didn't work!)

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

No, but it gave me goosebumps a few times -- some of the scenarios were way too plausible!

Any additional comments?

Reallly looking forward to Henshaws next effort. I'll buy it for sure!

excellent

best story i have read in a long time. cant wait to read the others!