The Panther

By: Nelson DeMille

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Nelson DeMille returns with another heart-pounding John Corey thriller—this time including Corey’s FBI agent wife Kate Mayfield...and their mission is to catch an elusive terrorist mastermind before he catches them.

Anti-terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen—one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: A high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders—and the US Government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don't know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment than meets the eye—and that the hunters are about to become the hunted.

Filled with breathtaking plot turns and told in John Corey's inimitable voice, The Panther is a brilliant depiction of one of the most treacherous countries in the world and raises disturbing questions about whether we can ever know who our enemies—or our allies—really are.

©2012 Nelson DeMille (P)2012 Hachette Audio

A little slow, but enjoyable

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

Not as good as the previous John Corey novels

Would you recommend The Panther to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Scott Brick always hits a home run.

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

Yes, but I just wanted to fast forward got get past all the pontifications.

Great sarcasm and storytelling

If you could sum up The Panther in three words, what would they be?

Sarcasm, Comedy, Tragedy

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

The Lion. Same characters, similar circumstances, funny and sad at times, and plausible story line.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Outstanding narrator! Great inflection and ability to present multiple characters.

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

No. Too much information and sarcasm for one sitting. Best absorbed in multiple smaller doses.

Any additional comments?

We would like Kate to become a more active character. She has the potential to bring much to the story but her role seems stifled.

Sometimes there is TMI and sometimes not enough

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Could have been shorter. Some of the details are excellent but then sometimes it is just way to many details. Mr. Demille needs to leave more to the readers imagination.

Would you recommend The Panther to your friends? Why or why not?

Yeah if you enjoy this series than of course, for those who don't have the time spare it and go with a Vince Flynn novel.

Which scene was your favorite?

When they were tracking the panther in the Al Quada village.

Could you see The Panther being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No to many details.

Simply love Nelson DeMille / John Corey

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

Absolutely, John Corey is absolutely the best character I've come across in many novels. Narration by Scott Brick is excellent!

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

Other books with John Corey from Nelson DeMille

Not my favorite

Love Demille but lost interest at times in this one. Maybe the Mid-East location and setting.

Intelligent and Entertaining

I love Nelson DeMille’s John Corey novels. They have just the right amount of intrigue, predictability, and entertainment. John and Kate are people I would enjoy knowing.

Thrilling

As always, I love these books and can’t wait to listen/read the next one!

John Corey book # 6 my least favorite of this series.

I couldn’t stay interested. Not as good as the previous 5 books. John Corey is who he is. You either like him or you don’t. He stays the same. Hopefully book 7 will be better. The ending was anticlimactic.

Best audiobook of 2012!

I've loved every one of Nelson DeMille's books -- read them all, listened to all but a few. But this one is the best. It's funny, it's fascinating, it's informative -- one of those books it's just impossible to stop listening to.

Aside from the fact that anything with John Corey is great, this book is -- as are several of DeMille's books, actually -- very timely. He set this book in Yemen, with John and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, traveling to Yemen as "bait" to smoke out -- and kill, if possible -- a deadly Al qaeda terrorist known as "The Panther." But what I found absolutely fascinating was DeMille's description of Yemen, mostly because it sounds a good deal like Libya -- two different countries, obviously, yet they share many similarities in terms of impoverished, hopeless population, dangerous, barren landscape, with radicalized terror groups mostly running things. All I could think of, listening, is that this must have been what life was like for the late and still-mourned US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, who, together with four other US officers, was killed several months ago in a situation not terribly different from what DeMille gets his protagonist into, in this book. Right -- it's not exactly the same, of course. But life for US diplomats, life for US citizens who travel to these dangerous positions in radicalized Muslim countries, must have been very much like what DeMille describes here. It's absolutely fascinating.

Not that it's just educational -- Corey is at his witty best, with lots of laugh out loud one liners, performed to perfection by Scott Brick. Example? At several points in the book, things look grim indeed for the embattled group of Americans. "What's your evacuation plan?" one asks, wondering what the last-ditch plans are for getting out of the country, if need be. "Breaststroke," Corey says. Ah, right! That'll work.

It's a great book, a brilliant audiobook -- not to be missed, and one I will enjoy again and again.

Just what you expect - a great book!

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

Great mix of current day technology, Cory and Brenner wit, and a captivating story. Can you call an audio book a "page turner"....?

What did you like best about this story?

sarcasm