The Director

By: David Ignatius

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In David Ignatius' gripping new novel, spies don' t bother to steal information...they change it, permanently and invisibly. Graham Weber has been director of the CIA for less than a week when a Swiss kid in a dirty T-shirt walks into the American consulate in Hamburg and says the agency has been hacked, and he has a list of agents' names to prove it. This is the moment a CIA director most dreads. Weber isn' t sure where to turn until he meets a charismatic (and unstable) young man named James Morris who runs the Internet Operations Center. He' s the CIA' s in-house geek. Weber launches Morris on a mole hunt unlike anything in spy fiction - one that takes the listener into the hacker underground of Europe and America and ends up in a landscape of paranoia and betrayal. Like the new world of cyber-espionage from which it' s drawn, The Director is a maze of deception and double-dealing - about a world where everything is written in zeroes and ones and nothing can be trusted.

©2014 David Ignatius (P)2014 Recorded Books

Vintage Ignatius

This is a story about the devious ins and outs that meet a new C.I.A. director as he pursues an information leaker and mole. The narrator is excellent but his voice is so low I sometimes could not catch everything even with the volume on my earphones turned up.

Exceptional Political Cyber Thriller

George Guidall’s narration is superb. A brainy and riveting political thriller. An absolutely convincing world. Wholly unpredictable.

Post-Wiki-leaks spy story

Although I wouldn't say this is exactly 5 star writing in the way that every sentence is interesting, it's so close to 5 stars otherwise, I decided to go for it anyway. I read many spy books from earlier eras, which I will continue to enjoy, but a very good exploration about how and why espionage might happen in today's world, I had yet to read. And for me, this book is it. In some ways, it's the best book I've read for awhile for that reason. There may be a tiny difference in how this author sees the world and how I do (and how it IS, in my opinion), as the forces opposed to a transparent world in the novel weren't as compelling as they could be. That difference was tolerable to me, but might hold me back from reading his other books. George Guidall is outstanding, of course.

A Real Possible Threat

Would you consider the audio edition of The Director to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Director?

When the director is kidnapped and stuck in an elevator.

What about George Guidall’s performance did you like?

His voice fits the story, and I was able to distinguish the different voices of the characters. Nice reading.

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

The whole story spoke to me in that cyber hacking is a real present day threat. The idea that there are super computer-intelligent young people out there using their skills for manipulation is scary.

Any additional comments?

However, I do see the hackers idealistic motivations for keeping cyber space free and an end to government "big brother" spying. This is a good story that caused me to think.

Loved it

This book is one that keeps you on the edge of your feet from the start, this example by David Ignatius is the true definition of the term “Page Turner” once you start this book it truly is hard to put down. I wanted to keep listening and never leave. If anyone is in the search of a true Cyber thriller/espionage piece of literature, then I would look no further because you have indeed found one.

Robin Hood in the 21st Century? Hackers with heart

a great story of international computer hackers with misguided allegiance and a civilian CIA Director trying to sort it out.
a worthy listen.

Well modulated performance

There is a diverse cast of characters in this compelling page turner that are well performed by George Guidall. Vivid and modulated, he brings this cyber-thriller alive and makes it a very entertaining read.

Anticlimactic

Slow throughout and a bit disappointing at the end/climax, but still an entertaining story. As usual, George Guidall does not disappoint, amazing narrator.

The Deep State

A chilling look at the Deep State and ways it operates. I'm sure Ignatius as a reporter for the Washington Post knows about such things. I'm glad his book turned out well with the Bad Guy getting what he deserved and the Good Guy triumphing. Unfortunately, this most likely doesn't often happen in real life, sad to say.

New genre for me and I love this book!

I don't usually listen to this kind of spy suspense novel but I think because this one was about cyber crime, it made a difference. It was really good and I didn't guess the outcome, which is my way of judging whether a book was really good or not. the narrator was really really good to which added to the success.