The Calypso Directive

A Novel

By: Brian Andrews

Narrated by: Ray Childs

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

For 155 days, Will Foster has been locked in medical quarantine without his consent. The doctors claim he is infected with a deadly virus, but this is a lie. Encoded in his DNA is a mutation that provides immunity from disease for all who possess it, source code that Vyrogen Pharmaceuticals aims to commercialize as a multi-billion dollar gene therapy.

Against all odds, Foster escapes his laboratory prison and steals a virulent strain of bubonic plague as insurance. To help him unravel the mystery inside him, Foster contacts the only person he can trust - a former lover and microbiologist living Vienna - and the two become fugitives, hunted across the heart of Europe.

Under the guise of averting a plague pandemic, Vryogen hires an elite, underground Think Tank to track down Foster. But when the team sets a trap for Foster, they discover they're not the only ones in the hunt. In a race against two deadly assassins, can the brilliant minds of the Think Tank unravel the truth before time runs out for their quarry?

In a novel where conscience clashes with greed, loyalty with suspicion, and paranoia with reality, The Calypso Directive deftly explores the issues of genetic exploitation and piracy. Captivating, controversial, and courageous, Andrews debut is sure to thrill and leave you wondering what secrets are locked in your DNA.

©2012 Brian Andrews (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great Storyline - but a couple of misses

First huge fame of Andrews and his storylines (when not military) always blow my mind. They don’t immediately associate in my mind with the Andrews & Wilson ones I love - however that just shows how talented the author is.
So no issues with storyline or development. But I did have 2 misses that kept it from being a 5*.
1) The RA stuff. As a listener who multitasks during an audio, it became complicated to know who was speaker. There was a delay because all of their titles were RA something. It would’ve been easier if last names were just used instead.
Second was narrator. He wasn’t bad but he didn’t have a range of contract especially when speaking as a woman. He was a little more monotone than I’d hoped for an 11 hour read.
None of these two kept me from enjoying the book. I’m wondering if this might become a series?? If so maybe the author will consider some of these misses.

RS Annoying

Not a bad story, but having the narrator constantly saying RS social, RS technical, RS physical and RS biological every time one of these characters speak, write or think is WAY TOO MUCH! I could not finish listening to RS this &RS that.

Thought provoking

The scenario depicted in this book not may not be so far fetched, which ups the scare factor. We the people would be none the wiser if what happens in this book were to happen in reality. Even though some of the bad guys are a bit cartoonish I think it's worth a read.

Underwhelmed

I’ve been a fan of Andrews and Wilson’s books, and thought I’d give this a listen. I was disappointed. The story was decent, but the narrator was horrible. Perhaps this would have been a better book to read rather than listen to.

Promising but tuned out

I’m glad this was a free Audible book and I found the Dempsey series first! Overall, I think the story has great potential but a poor listen. I am switching to Kindle. There’s a deal for both kindle books~$10. Paperback is cheaper.

1. Good plot, realistic and mind gamey! Reminiscent of Bourne; with Medical research, big pharma, military, government, and shadows. I think the story was set in the 90/00s which brought back some memories.
2. I listened @1.1x because it was really slow for me. I cannot find something positive to say about the narration which is rare. To me it sounded like it was being read to kindergarteners and the character voices we’re all too similar; particularly the females. I haven’t listened to other Ray Childs narration before so I have none of his work to compare to.
3. When listening to the book: between the medical terminology, conversation style, and different parties it was difficult for me to stay in the plot. I zoned out many times making it difficult to feel the action, intrigue, and connect with the characters.
4. At the end, I was hoping I had an understanding of the big picture for the world this story was set in but sadly no.

Like I stated, I will try the Kindle version.

Should’ve read

I love this author, I really liked this story, but I wish I had read it. This voice actor really detracted from the story. He should only read crime books set in the 1920s with only one character.

Solid Start to a likely series

started a bit slow for me, but second half was intriguing... Good story with a solid grip on the science of gene therapy...

sounds much older than it is

By the narrator's voice and style, I'd have thought this was an early 90's book. He sounds like Dick Hill at his worst, and I mean that most scathingly.

The story is pretty good. It's just that one group seemed to be the bad guys, but turned out to be the good guys, while the entire group of real bad guys boiled down to one person and a contracted rogue hit team. The hit team was unbelievable since they kept claiming to not be assassins. They might have come across more sinister with better narration, but as is they were quite comical, blundering idiots, but with piano wire and broken fingers.

Brian Andrews is a great writer elsewhere, but this didn't quite measure up. It does end on a Twilight Zone, Kafka-esque note that nevertheless leaves room for a sequel if the author chooses, but it's been nearly 20 years, so probably not.

storyline was ok

but the narration made it almost unbearable. I almost stopped listening several times. every character sounded like an 80 year old flabbergasted englishman. it really took away so much from the story that it was hard to enjoy.

need better narrator

It had promise. narrator wasn't very good & if had known ending I wouldn't had listened to at all. won't try the next book because of it & bad narration.