The Starling Project

An Audible Drama

By: Jeffery Deaver

Narrated by: Alfred Molina, full cast

Length: 4 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award, Original Work, 2016
Audie Award Finalist, Audio Drama, 2016

New York Times best-selling author Jeffery Deaver will make your ears tingle and your pulse race in this Audible Studios original full-cast audiodrama starring Alfred Molina.

An aborted raid targeting a major arms dealer. A hostage standoff at a bank that may not be what it seems. A plot to spring a former African dictator from prison. What is the threat that connects them all? And just who is the mysterious mastermind, The Starling? From Mexico to Washington - from London to Marseille to Prague - war crimes investigator Harold Middleton and his team of Volunteers risk their lives to follow the trail of clues. But how can they stop The Starling - when he always seems one step ahead?

With more than 80 speaking roles and state-of-the-art sound and music design, The Starling Project is an immersive listening experience written by a master of the thriller

About the Cast

Alfred Molina ("Harold Middleton") has won acclaim for his memorable roles in the movies, on TV, and on the stage, receiving both Emmy and Tony Award nominations. Molina made his film debut in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Since then, he's played such diverse characters as the mayor in Chocolat, and the evil Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2.

The cast of The Starling Project also includes:

• Lisa Stathoplos as "Sonya Tadic"
  
• David J. Curtis as "Devon Carter"
  
• Aaron Abano as "Mustafa Haddad"
  
• Ian Carlsen as "Kyle Nelson"

Previous Harold Middleton thrillers include The Chopin Manuscript, winner of the Audio Publishers Association's Audiobook of the Year Award, and The Copper Bracelet.

©2014 Gunner Publications, LLC (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"With his smooth vocal presence, Alfred Molina embodies Middleton's confidence and continental charm as he leads an outstanding ensemble of 30 actors playing 80 speaking roles in this high-velocity thriller.... Slip on a pair of headphones to fully appreciate every detail in this carnival ride for the ears."( AudioFile)

Fantastic Film like Adventure with humor & wit.

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

I really enjoyed The Starling Project, the actors voices brought me many places and I was never confused on who was speaking, which can happen sometimes. The sound effects were perfect too and the book travels to many countries and venues. It was so smooth. I finished wanting to know and listen more. I also got a kick out of some characters and their joking around which brought lightness to an intense suspense drama. Great sexy scene too, mild not over the top like some either, polite sexyness. Five star for sure!

What other book might you compare The Starling Project to and why?

I would actually compare this one to films I have seen, if I shut my eyes, like
many of the Jason Bourne, Bond, Oceans 11 type films. There is added humor that fits the characters and war flash backs and current technical jargon and scenarios . Also a bit like an Agatha Christie novel where you keep switching who you think the bad guy, or guys are. I won't give away anything!

Which character – as performed by Alfred Molina and full cast – was your favorite?

Alfred for sure, sexy and debonair. I liked the various women, the cop who liked Bouillabaisse and the British chap. I'd have to go back to remember the names of who I really liked. I was happy that the book kept me remembering who was who with the specific actors being so very clear so, I really didn't have to remember all the names. I will listen to it again and report more, sometime.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Current world Hi Tech adventure with great characters that pull you in deeper to a story that keeps surprising you.

Any additional comments?

Slick with heart

Good Cast and Refreshing Delivery

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

Can't really call it an audiobook as it's more like an audio drama, or a thriller spy film with the picture turned off. That said, I love audio drama even more than audio books. This doesn't disappoint.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Can you beat Alfred Molina? Middleton always stays calm and collected and one step ahead of the baddies. Plus the rest of the "Volunteers" flesh out a dynamic team.

Which scene was your favorite?

The bank heist, and the jungle standoff.

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

Middleton's love for Tadic is pretty touching.

Any additional comments?

Love to hear more! There's gotta be a sequel.

Meh...

Amazing audio production quality, probably the best sounding audio book I've heard to date but unfortunately the plot is mostly fluff. It is is pretty much a rip off of the old mission impossible TV series, with a modern slant to it. Plenty of action, but not a lot of substance to back it up.

dramatization made it harder to listen to

, with lots of extra background noise, sound effect, heavy accents and garbled or staticy voices over phone lines and radios

Great listen!

Full of action, many twists and turns within the story, and a great plot. Highly recommended!!!

Bit Corny - and not a book

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

Mildly entertaining in the way that watching a B-grade TV movie is, but not really satisfying. As someone else has said; not a book - again think of an overacted TV movie with the vision off. Also at just over 4 hours not great value either.

Good Story LOUD Sound Effects

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

No the print version has to be better. Opinion: A well written story doesn't need sound effects.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I'd prefer a "no sound effects" version.

What about Alfred Molina and full cast ’s performance did you like?

The acting was fine.

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

No

Any additional comments?

The audio book would be about thirty to sixty minutes shorter without the sound effects between spoken words.

A cool concept, very immersive.

I like the idea but the characters were very corny & unconvincing. The bad acting and worse accents were very distracting.

Production value - OK. Direction and editing - bad

The good:
Fast paced convoluted story.
Voice acting is excellent, apart from the character with the "upper class English fop" accent.
Likable characters.
Sound and production value is good.

The bad:
Actors are "speedreading" their lines during conversations. As soon as one character finish speaking, the next one IMMEDIATELY delivers his/her line. No pauses whatsoever between speakers. No real life conversation flows like that. It's a typical bad theater and radio drama flaw, that annoys me no end. With a better director or editor this could have avoided. Too bad the director is also the editor...
Again and again utilizes the cheap trick of hiding things from the reader, for dramatic effect.
The ending.

Audio theatre instead of audiobook

Not a big fan of audio theatre. All the extra music and sound effects are too much for me.