The Collected

Jonathan Quinn, Book 6

By: Brett Battles

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

A cleaner’s tasks are simple: get rid of the body so that it will never be found, and make the scene of the kill look like nothing happened.

Rule Number One: Don’t get caught.

With Jonathan Quinn’s career in question, his apprentice Nate has successfully taken on the role of full-fledged cleaner, using Quinn’s name to keep the business working seamlessly in case his boss decides to return.But Nate’s latest job is not what it seems, and he finds himself on the wrong side of a trap.

With Nate suddenly missing, Quinn and his partner Orlando set out to find him, and learn the reasons for Nate’s disappearance are more atrocious than they anticipated.

©2012 Brett Battles (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

ARGH!

Great story and of course one of my favorite readers again, Scott Brick! But geeze! Talk about leaving me hanging! I'm already hooked you didn't have to do it!

Crazy Ending!!!!

This one will keep you on the edge of your seat. I can't wait for the next in the series.

Another great story in the Quinn Series!

Any additional comments?

Fast pace book.
Interesting plot.
If you have read and liked other books in the series, than you will love this book too.

If you like this book and are looking for good action books I recommend that your read:

"The Lion's Game" by Nelson DeMille also read by Scott Brick
"Dead I Well May Be" by Adrian McKinty
"Beat the Reaper" by Josh Bazell (6 hr book but very intense)
The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child

About me: I have 4052 titles in my Audible.com library. I don't write many reviews. I read everything from Young Adult (YA), Espionage, Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy. I

I love this series!

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

Yes, I recommend Brett Battles all the time! I can't stop listening until I am done with the book!

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick is Jonathan Quinn in my head.

Any additional comments?

Is the next book in the series ready yet?

The Quinn series never disappoints

What did you love best about The Collected?

Scott Brick

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jonathan Quinn, I love the way Scott Brick narrates his character

Which scene was your favorite?

Diffinately not the last.

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

Yes, the ending. I'm stunned.

Any additional comments?

Of course, how is the author going to fix this in his next book and how long do I have to wait to find out.

Keep the Series Going

What made the experience of listening to The Collected the most enjoyable?

The narration was well done. Listening makes the character's come alive.

What other book might you compare The Collected to and why?

The Collected could be compared to The Templar. One man wants control over another. The hate is not felt by both men, only one. The Collected has Romono (sic),who hates the men he has kept in the prison because he wants to right the wrongs he imagines were done TO HIM. He is an evil man who will go to any lengths to prove his power is sacrosanct. Quinn knows that Romono is evil but he has no desire to do him harm. The Templar's two men were de Roquefort, who wants the power and Mark Nelle who wants to be a gentle leader of the Knights Templar. Nelle doesn't want to murder and cause mayhem by having all power over men. However, de Roquefort will fight to the bitter end, not caring who or what he has to destroy to have the power over The Knights Templar.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

Nate was my favorite character as performed by Scott Brick. His words were at times not spoken so that other's could hear but being the listener, I did. I was able to feel his anguish and pain when the ice water was thrown on him after he had been whipped. I've experienced the need to get enough air into your lungs and be able to take a breath. Nate's appreciation to Quinn finding him could be heard in his voice. The hate he had for Juntis was powerful. I was able to understand that Nate did not have animosity towards the other prisoners being kept as a prisoner as he was. I was able to hear the men talking through the vents. Nate didn't talk too much but when he did, what he said was important for the other's to hear. Scott Brick was able to bring his personality to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment that moved me was when Quinn stopped and picked up his friend, Peter, by using a fireman's carry. He did not want to leave him in the prison. He used to run the Office at one time and provided clean-up jobs for Quinn.

Any additional comments?

The book was full of action and suspense from beginning to end. The book was an easy listen because the book started out good and stayed that way, right up to the end. Another book needs to be written and I hope that it comes out soon. Sometimes I have difficulty reading the last book in a series because it leaves me wanting more. The end reminds me of a weekly show on TV that ends on a high note but I won't know what happens until summer is over and the fall TV season starts. Having Scott Brick as the narrator for all of the books keeps the continuity of the characters seamless. Brett Battles knows how to make the scenes come to life. I've thought about the reality of having cleaner's as described in Battles books and I've come to the conclusion that they are a reality. I'm also quite sure that conflicts would arise. I'm glad to have found Battles books in my search and have read them.

3.5 Stars - Due to Liz and Janus

This book was enjoyable except the author made an odd, illogical, and unnecessary choice with Liz’s role. It impacted how I felt about the whole story. It was fine when Liz was placed in the story to report Nate was missing. That made sense. Later, however, her role was so unbelievably ridiculous that I was shaking my head and rolling my eyes (and I typically can overlook some of the unbelievable things that frequently happen in this genre of books).

Liz is just a grad student working on a masters in Paris who doesn’t like the business that Quinn and Nate are in. Regardless of “how smart” she is, she has no training in the ops world. Yet she decides she is going to follow Quinn and his team to wherever they go. More incredibly, she is able to follow eagle eye Quinn across some of the most dangerous areas in eastern Mexico without him noticing her until two cities later. Why, just why, did the author do this? Not that everything else in the story is believable but this was unnecessary and so ludicrous it seriously distracted from the story. I realize all of the computer hacking, worms, and tracking incidents don’t work as easily as it is written, but I can overlook those type of things. But having Liz follow Quinn over half of Mexico without his awareness contradicts everything previously written about Quinn.

*****SPOILER ALERT****

The other part of the book that left me disappointed was the last chapter. It was farfetched. There is no way someone as injured as Janus was described could do what he did. Even more outlandish was the fact that before the plane landed no one heard or saw him but then Quinn suddenly does after a loud plane lands. And when does Quinn and his team not check to be certain someone is dead, especially since they took so long to stage the room with Romero. Plus I thought it was a weak way to write Peter out of the series.

For me this book was 3.5 stars because of the last chapter with Janus and Liz’s trapsing around Mexico. I rounded up to 4 stars because I do like Quinn as a protagonist. I will definitely read the next book due to the ending of this book and I plan to continue with the rest of the series hoping that Liz is seldom involved.

As usual, Brick delivered a solid performance.

Great read!

Nate gets swept up by a net of revenge. Will the rest of the team be able to locate and rescue him in time? As always, Quinn books are suspenseful page turners and enjoyable reads.

Another great Quinn Novel

I have read all of the Quinn novels in order up to this one. So far this one was my favorite. I found myself listening every chance I could throughout the day!

About 4 hours too long.

I really like this series, almost everything about it. But the first four hours were kind of boring and repetitive. The plot twist at the end was not what expected and only annoys me slightly less than what I figured would happen. More and more far fetched.