©2003 Andy McNabb; (P)2004 BBC Audiobooks Ltd
"Disappointing"
Enjoyed Remote Control -- in part because of the cool narration -- and looked forward to this one. But Dark Winter seenms padded with endless, apparently useless detail, and the narration can be hard to take. The narrator fairly screams when he comes to action bits, which I found distracting and even annoying at times. I'd try something else.
"Too Too Awful"
I have liked all McNabs other books but this one is too too awful. Its "Old Yeller" ending make the whole ten hours listening an unpleasant memory. STAY AWAY!
"Nick Stone Goes Nuts"
Andy McNab's sociopathic secret agent, Nick Stone, already made James Bond look like Ralph Nader before Dark Winter, but in DW he goes completely "off the reservation" to jeopardize the lives of millions of Brits to save the hypervulnerable object of his increasingly obsessive devotion, his mentally ill ward Kelly. The second-by-second description of undercover work sounds crushingly authentic as always, but Stone's weirdness strains credibility and left this reader frankly hoping that his ruthless masters would finally pull the plug on this far too rogue warrior - permanently.
"Thrilling!"
Storyline was realistic with credible characters and last minute suprises.
Unpredictable ending
Nick Stone, although all his accents and characters are very believable
Just very entertained
Good range of books!
"the best of McNab's"
This is the best of the Nick Stone series. Moves fast, high stakes, brutal to the last.
"Irritating reader alert!!!"
This is an OK thriller, but beware that this has an unbelievably irritating reader. If you like being screamed at for half the book, this guy will be right up your alley!! He needs to take a chill pill before doing any more readings....
Also, heads up that this has some super gross descriptions in it. Have a vomit bucket nearby while listening. It does have to do with biological warfare agents, but enough is enough by the stomach churning material.
But not a terrible book. If that guy would stop yelling at me I would have enjoyed it more....
"Last of the ARC"
This is the last of the story arc that begins in "Remote Control", which is seemingly no longer available from this vendor. A shame because "Remote Control" explains Stone's motivations and feeling of responsibility to Kelly and without understanding that, Stone comes across as a sociopath. You must know that McNab, the man, is that rare example of a warrior that can write. McNab (a fictious name) is (was) a member of the SAS. The British Special Air Service is what our Army Rangers and Delta Forces aspire to be. He and his squad were inserted into Iraq during the opening stages of Desert Shield to destroy scuds. He was captured and tortured by Sadam Hussein’s real life goon squads. When he writes about Stone being tortured he learned the hard way. These exploits are covered in his first book “Bravo Two-Zero.” Regardless, one of the other reviewers complained about the level of detail. Yes there is a great deal of detail; but detail is an important aspect of the very difficult first-person point of view the book is written in. I enjoyed the book and sincerely hope that Nick gets a chance to finish off Trainers and Sundance.
"Great Book!"
This is the second book I've listened to from this author (Firewall is the other) and I have enjoyed the story and the reading on both.
"Dark Winter"
If you prefer an author with skill, creativity, and a vocabulary, I would not recommend this book. The author can use harsh language words as a noun, verb, and adjective all in the same sentence and then in the next sentance and the next sentance. It does not take an intellectual giant to string together such scholarly prose.