Crisis Four

This is the second Nick Stone book I have listened to. I like the character of Nick Stone. He is a tough SAS agent with a whole lot of baggage, but still cares enough to love his friend's orphaned little girl. You have to go into Andy McNab's books knowing they are "guy" books...lots of action, killing and swearing. That said, I like the first person narrative and particularly have chuckles at the very British terminology used. I also have liked learning about how agents think and work and, in this book, learned about the history of Osama Bin Ladin. Listeners who complain the story line is dated should get real...of course it's dated...it was written over 10 years ago! It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the story!

The plot kept me interested. I found with the audiobook, it was a little difficult at first to follow the relevance of the initial "backplot" chapter, but that became clear later. McNab always keeps the plot moving. One reviewer complained the plot was predictable. I did not find it so. I actually thought someone else would be the baddie. I felt bad for Nick in this story as so many things just kept going awry for him.

I have listened to him in other Nick Stone books. He does a great narration. His American accents are terrible but, hey, many American narrators have awful British accents and besides, in this book, most of the time Nick, the main character, is stating he is using his bad American accent. I found it humorous. Clive Mantle does an excellent job with this narration.

I enjoyed the book very much. The major reaction I had was that, from the start I hated the female lead character...what a B*****h!

A very enjoyable listen if you like the "guy"-type action spy thriller genre. McNab is no Ian Fleming, but he brings realism to his books and Nick Stone is an interesting character that I look forward seeing grow and develop in future books.

Maybe.

No. Predictable plot and story line.

Maybe; did like his accent and reading style.

Story line is dated.

Maybe it's the cockney accent and his poor attempt at an American accent at times, but I found the narrative troubling. The story has promise, but is too convoluted and improbable to be interesting. In fact, in parts of it that I wondered where the author was going.