The Deceived

By: Brett Battles

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

“Unputdownable.” (Tess Gerritsen)

“Brilliant and heart-pounding.” (Jeffery Deaver)

“A tightly written page-turner.” (Booklist)

Brett Battles won rave reviews for his debut novel, The Cleaner, which introduced hero Jonathan Quinn. A freelance operative and professional "cleaner", Quinn knows better than to get emotionally involved in any of his jobs. But in this superb powerhouse of suspense, Quinn's latest job is different. A friend and old colleague has been murdered. A woman has gone missing. And for Jonathan Quinn, this time it's personal.

Anonymity. Trust. Professionalism. In his world, Jonathan Quinn has a few rules. He'll get rid of bodies that have to disappear; nothing ever gets traced back to him. But when Quinn is called to a busy Los Angeles port where a shipping container has just come in from the sea, it's clear his rules have been violated. Inside the crate is a dead man - a man who once saved Quinn's life. And while no one knows how CIA agent Steven Markoff died, Quinn has to do more than clean. He has to find Markoff's girlfriend, Jenny. To tell her that Markoff is dead. To find out why someone sent Markoff's body to him.

Until a week ago, Jenny Fuentes was an assistant to an ambitious congressman. Now Jenny is missing, too, and a lot of man power is making sure she isn't found. But Quinn has his own man power. He has tools that can pry into secrets held anywhere in the world. He has the skill to trade blows with killers and spies. And he has covert weapons: his eager and smart apprentice, Nate, and brilliant Orlando, his closest friend, who's saved his life more than once.

Racing from the corridors of power in Washington to the bustling streets of Singapore, Quinn won't stop until he uncovers the truth behind his friend's violent death, the astounding reason Jenny has vanished - and what she knows about the most explosive deception of all.

©2008 Brett Battles (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

Winner, Barry Award for Best Thriller, 2009

horrible narrator

the narrator is horrible. it took everything in me to listen past his voice to just the words. the book has a good plot just the wrong narrator.

Good story, but almost ruined by the narration

Where does The Deceived rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle.

Would you be willing to try another book from Brett Battles? Why or why not?

Yes, I like the Cleaner series, good characters, good story twists.

Would you be willing to try another one of William Dufris’s performances?

I will try to avoid them. I'd only listen to another one if it was a book I really, really wanted to listen to rather than read. His normal narration voice is excellent, but when he does character voices they are over the top, almost caricatures. "Tasha" in this book constantly sounds like she is whining. "Quinn's" voice is ridiculous. It would have been better to just read the dialog without differentiation, or with only minor variations.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Brett, get another narrator please.

Not the best.

The story was good. The narrator not so good. Most of this series is read by Scott Brick and he does an excellent job. I bought this one but was very disappointed in the narration.

Good thriller, will read more in the series

I like the stories - great character development. Good action, good narrator, basically a great stories. However, my big beef is with some very obvious errors in judgment. Why would the assassin not kill the target immediately when the opportunity was there. I do think that whole scenario could have been played a lot more realistically. Author's responsibility only. JMHO.

Not great

I like most Brett Battles books but the writing is clunky and the narrator is not very good.

Excellent

This was a very good story line. The plot twist at the end was good. I didn't see it coming.

The Deceived by Brett Battles

I ignored the bad review about the narrator and got this book because I had to go in order. I must say it was painful to listen to. If anyone reads these review from Audible, please get someone else to narrate. It was almost impossible not to grimace while listening. One review said he made Quinn sound like John Wayne and everyone else like southern belles. Painful!
The content of the book was really good. Not big on cursing so much though.

This Series is Amazing

I Love everything about Quinn, Orlando and Nate!! This series is real and engrossing. I was ok with this narrator. I read many reviews that it was horrible narration. Although he does not have Scott B’s voice it was still a great read. He gave his own nuances. I didn’t hear John Wayne as one review mentioned. I heard a great book.

Kept me guessing…

I liked everything about this Jonathan Quinn adventure! I read other reviews that really raked William Dufris over the coals, but I thought he did a fine job! Two of my favorite narrators are Dick Hill and Scott Brick but I’ll definitely be adding William Dufris to make it a trio!

A Good Read...

When this first started out, didn't seem to like it. As I kept reading, I started enjoying it. After I finished it I did like the book.