The Jefferson Key: A Novel

this was my first cotton malone story. I have listened to a number of scott brick narrations, jack reacher, harry bosch, and pedergast thrillers. i think this is the best brick - mostly because his voice does not get in the way. if you know scott brick's melodramatic style, you know he has a great voice, but it does get in the way too often. the story is very clever, has lots of sharp turns on a dime, and the style of back and forth between the story threads worked well. i am glad for the person who could tell what was coming next... but i am quite confident that is not the case. if you are predicting cotton malone survives, that might be a safe bet since the series revolves around him, but the ins and outs that make the story - nope - too many twists and turns. a great listen.

I could listen to Scott Brick read the local phone directory. Unfortunately, that is about how interesting I found this book. In spite of dashing back and forth between locations and characters, the author failed to arouse any suspense or excitement in me. I generally knew what was going to happen next and simply waited for the inevitable. The characters were one dimensional and I really didn't care what happened to them.The plot was tiresome and I am sorry I wasted a credit.

The Jefferson Key is the eleventh (I think) Steve berry novel that I have read, and despite its "Continental locale", it is one of his best efforts.
I normally enjoy Berry's superior research that will introduce me to a new and interesting place or "time & place". I especially appreciated the author's notes, read at the end of the audiobook. These notes serve to distinguish 'historical fact' from 'author's fiction'.
I was literally stuck to my seat, in anticipation of the finale-- as I was caught listening to the few chapters in my car, and I sat in my car (in my garage for the 30 minutes), rather than interrupt the rescue of Cassiopeia. The author does a n excellent job constructing a villain that was dastardly in thought & deed, though quite believable. Scott Brick provides an excellent narration-as always. (Brick is one of my two favorite narrators).
If you enjoy the Cotton Malone-Cassiopeia Vitt characters, you will enjoy this audiobook. You may even discover some interesting history concerning the 'Founding & Political History' of our country(USA), -I did. I enjoyed it. {4.25/5 stars}.
fpn

Warning! Do no get this book unless you can afford to get locked into a story that you can't walk away from. The scenes change rapidly through a plot of intrigue. This is super storytelling with just enough history (and some of it true) to make the story spellbinding.

With apologies to the author - I know you wroked hard on this and all your novels, this one is just too far fetched. I found myself shaking my head numerous times over the books premise, the incredible luck the main characters have in finding extra ammunition, clothes, food, etc and the travelling from Nova Scotia to the Carolina's and back, as if they were going to lunch. The whole thing was just too much. Sorry, could not make the book believable. I was actually glad when it was over --

Not even Scott Brick can make dramatic a story as silly as this. Skip this one.

I made the mistake of buying this audible book early on because it was on the "most downloaded" list and needed a book for my travel. This was before their were any audible customer reviews. Something I never do and learned a lesson! The book was terrible and had I read the reviews that now exist I would never have purchased it. The comments about how the author kept flipping from one scene to another constantly made it incoherent and the plot so disjointed it became impossible to follow.. I agree the Scott Brick did a great job and one of the reasons I purchased it....however the plot was so discombobulated ...even with his great reading ability...I couldn't finish it.

Scott Brick adds a dimension of suspense to this. I am a big Mitch Rapp fan and this story is right up his alley. Anyone who follows the the Rapp series will throughly enjoy..

When you are listening to a great book, you know how you want everyone to be quiet and you attempt to remove any and all distractions around you so you will not miss one single detail???...This book is NOT that good! I found myself constantly day dreaming and realizing I forgot to pause the book when something would distract me. Maybe its because this is my first encounter with Cotton Malone, but his character in this book was not interesting at all...or any of the other characters for that matter. Some of the historical info about privateers and ties to our country's early political endeavors was interesting, but not enough to get you through the convoluted story line...use your credits to get The Schumann Frequency and The First Boxer by Chris Ride...thats how to tell a historically based story! It might be better for someone from a political family or a broader understanding of politics than I.

I'm about half way through this one, and it's all I can do to keep listening to it. It is nothing more than a conglomeration of poorly disguised story lines lifted from everything from National Treasure to 24 (remember the whole story line with the secret service agent and the First Lady in 24 one season?).

Also, the way the story is told makes keeping up with the characters very difficult. I listen to lots of audiobooks, even several read by Scott Brick, and have never had this problem before. Perhaps it's because SB doesn't alter his voice between characters as much as some other readers, but I think the way it's written is the real problem.

I find myself at this point listening, not because the story is enjoyable, but because I'm determined not to waste the credit I used to purchase the darned book.