The Cleaner

By: Brett Battles

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet Jonathan Quinn: a freelance operative with a take-no-prisoners style and the heart of a loner. His job? Professional "cleaner". Nothing too violent, just disposing of bodies. But in Brett Battles' electrifying debut novel, Quinn's latest assignment will change everything.

The job seemed simple enough: investigating a suspicious case of arson. But when a dead body turns up, and Quinn's handlers at "the Office" turn strangely silent, he knows he's in over his head. With only a handful of clues, Quinn struggles to find out why someone wants him dead...and if it's linked to a larger attempt to wipe out the Office.

Quinn's only hope may be Orlando, a woman from his past who may hold the key to solving the case. Suddenly, the two are prying into old crimes, crisscrossing continents, and struggling to stay alive. But as the hunt intensifies, Quinn is stunned by a chilling secret...and a brilliantly orchestrated conspiracy.

Furiously paced, filled with superbly drawn characters and pitch-perfect dialogue, The Cleaner confirms Battles' place as one of the most exciting new talents in suspense fiction.

©2007 Brett Battles (P)2007 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

2008, Shamus Award

"Brett Battles makes a grand entrance into the thriller scene with this unputdownable spy novel. The Cleaner has it all: exotic locales, James Bondian derring-do, and ingenious plot twists that will keep you sweating all the way ’til the end.”—Tess Gerritsen, bestselling author of The Bone Garden

“This book is a pure delight. Protagonist Jonathan Quinn is a unique and welcome addition to the world of crime fiction. The Cleaner is a brilliant and heart-pounding thriller; I’m on the edge of my seat, awaiting future installments of Quinn’s adventures.”—Jeffery Deaver, bestselling author of The Broken Window

“A page-turner that may remind some readers of the cult TV spy series Alias . . . .Quinn [is] a compelling protagonist. . . . Admirers of quality espionage fiction can look forward to a new series worth following.”—Publishers Weekly

Great Story....BUT, with a hearty recommendation!

Before I started this highly recommended Jonathan Quinn series, I decided to listen to Brett Battle's novella, Becoming Quinn, first. The decision made the first book of his series even more exciting. I'm hooked, and I know you will be too! Try it. You might just like it...a lot!

Excellent Series!!

I’m enjoying this series very much. Quinn is a great character with interesting stories and lots of suspense.

Refreshing

Really good story. Not really great but Scott Brick brought it to a great book

Average score for an average thriller

After all the hype about this first thriller by Mr. Battles, I really looked forward to listening to it ASAP. Master narrator Scott Brick delivers once again, even though he battles (no pun intended) a bit with the German phrases... as a native German speaker I´m willing to help here, anytime... free of charge.

The story itself is neither outstanding nor special; just an off-the-rack thriller penned by the likes of Ken Follett, Lee Child or Daniel Silva (who do seem to be able to make their characters overall somewhat more believable). Threat of a biological attack, some lukewarm love-interest and an abducted child - all gets solved by the ever-cool freelance hero in a matter of a mere 12 audio hours or approximately 350 book pages. If not for Scott Brick´s excellent reading performance I´d have even rated it only 2.5 and easily forgettable, even though this audio book will at least make your next traffic jam a little more enjoyable for its sheer entertainment value.

Good but

I really like these books and the narration is excellent. But I could do without the gratuitous sex scenes.

Entertaining but a little wordy

It did drag sometimes when it felt like there was too much description, but overall it held my interest . I usually avoid Brick’s narratives because of his tendency to emphasize a word in almost every sentence, but he used some restraint in this reading and only drifted into his usual melodramatic style a couple of times

Par for the Genre

This story follows the adventures of Jonathan Quinn - a private espionage specialist with a jaded past. The plot is about average for thriller in this genre - lots of action, foreign settings, conspiracys, and even has a few interesting twists.

Personally I felt that the writer should have edited this work a little harder. As it is, there are all sort of useless parts where the main character checks his email, eats, makes casual conversation and does other hum-drum stuff that doesn't advance the plot. Hence the story has some good meat, but you have to chew around a lot of grizzle. A good editor would have cut a lot of this out, leaving the good stuff. Perhaps the abridged version would be better.

The narrator puts far too much emphasis on "performing" the story, rather than just reading it. His tone borders on annoying at times.

Rich, Complex and Relentless

The plot moved along, twisting and weaving elements from past books and characters, while continuously driving towards a never predictable end. Scott Brick masters the narrative with perfection. A completely compelling thriller

An excellent start to a new series

Scott Brick provides a wonderful performance again (as usual). I'd been looking for a new series since I've finished most of my other ones, and I stumbled across this. Brett Battles has created a very interesting character in Quinn and I'm looking forward to seeing how future tales play out.

Great story!

I loved it! Scott Brick gave a awesome reading. Brett Battles has done it again! I highly recommend this entire series you won't regret it!! ENJOY