The Guise of Another

By: Allen Eskens

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

A former Medal of Valor winner, Minnesota detective Alexander Rupert is now under subpoena by a grand jury on suspicion of corruption. So when he's asked to look into the false identity of a car-accident victim named James Putnam, a man who in fact died 15 years earlier, Rupert sees a potentially big case and an opportunity to regain his respectability.

But the investigation puts him in the path of "the Beast", the nom de guerre of Drago Basta, a cunning veteran of the Balkan wars and a sociopath assassin who has been searching for Putnam for years. Putnam had something that Basta still wants. If Rupert's life was in shambles before, it's now also in danger. Threatened by the Beast and suspecting his wife of cheating, Rupert falls for the seductions of the dead man's former girlfriend. As he feels his life spinning out of control, his steadfast brother and fellow police detective Max may be Rupert's last hope.

©2015 Allen Eskens (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"It's a taut, intelligent, heart-ripping story that explores the darkest places in the human psyche." (William Kent Krueger, author of Iron Lake)

The Book Was OK Expect For The Ending

While this book is surely not as good as his first, "The Life We Bury," it is certainly not a bad listen. Eskens's debut book was phenomenal. It had everything I love and I'm sure many readers would agree. However, I don't think "The Guise Of Another" is a waste. I love a good mystery and this book did deliver on that aspect. It also had some twists and turns that I wasn't expecting, so that is always a plus.

I understand why some listeners have the complaints they do such as not identifying with the main character and being able to "like" Alexander. My thoughts on that are that most every book you listen to you are pulling for the main character. You hope for good things to happen to that character. You want everything to work out for that character in the end. This book was different and it annoyed me! When the story unwinds and you find out some things about Alexander, you're not sure how to feel. Eskens makes you think here. And the ending, deflating I hated that, too. It did not work out how I expected it to and that was not so good! sometimes a change is always good but for me this one went too far.

I won't be going back for the next book

Jonathan Yen was good with the delivery of the story

A great page turner!

This book should be a movie! Full of mystery and unexpected turns! A great read! Looking forward to your next book Allen Eskens!

nothing extrordinary

really struggled at times. predictable , too detailed in places that didn't matter, did not detail the areas that should have. Narrator was just average,story average

Good Listen

Another good book by Eskens. Full of suspense and intrigue. I found the narrator very annoying.

Loving this writer

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

Near the top.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes! I never knew what was happening next and I really wanted to know. I listen mostly in the car and found myself waiting for a section to end because I couldn't bear not to know what the outcome was.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Yen – was your favorite?

No favorites .. all well written and solid.

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

No. I don't like to do that.

Any additional comments?

I've listened to The Lives We Bury as well as this one and he's just great. I was hoping there were more already. The two books are not similar. Very talented, inventive author.

fairly grim

The story is only semi entertaining with no real likable characters. It's convoluted and just a dark story.I will not be recommending it to friends or family.

Page turner for me

This is the second book I've read by this author and it's not a disappointment I'm happy to say. I would like to have had fewer ... so not to be a spoiler ... harsh endings of some likeable characters. But he's among the top writers of this genre in my book.

great read

all of Allen Eskin's books that I've read so far have been fantastic. Guise of Another is definitely one that's good to the very last page.

Edge of Your Seat Suspenseful

I’m writing this right after I finished this book and I am exhausted! I had read two other books by this author and knew that I needed to read this one to get the background story of Max and his brother Alexander. This is not a book for the squeamish, but it is fascinating and so well written. The author puts you in the mindset of the vicious assassin in a way that brings chills to the reader but also makes for one of the most gripping and always evolving plots that I’ve ever read...The narrator was amazing as he changed his voice just enough with each character, especially with the accent of the villain ! I can’t wait for the next book coming in Oct that will hopefully delve into the death of Max’s beloved wife. I highly recommend all of this author’s novels, but just be warned this specific book does have some violent death scenes that are necessary to the plot. There are several plot twists throughout the book that I had not anticipated, which is always a plus for me.

entertaining

My second Eskens. This wasn't the most taut thriller I've ever listened to but it was entertaining. The author has the makings of a great thriller writer if he can, like many authors, continue to hone his craft as he moved forward with his writing.

Set in Minneapolis, the story starts off with a man and a woman, both married to someone else, doing it in a car going down the road in downtown Minneapolis with the lady sitting on his lap. The car jumps a median and slams into an oncoming vehicle. The man and woman are only injured but the victim is killed. It turns out the victim was living under a false identity and the mystery starts. I've never quite listened to a prologue just like that but it caught my attention.

The story itself was pretty interesting with twists and turns and the bad guy trying to retrieve evidence killing innocent people on a regular basis. The police detective and his brother work hard to figure it all out before the bad guy wins.