Mastermind

A Theo Cray and Jessica Blackwood Thriller (Theo Cray and Jessica Blackwood, Book 1)

De: Andrew Mayne

Narrado por: Jennifer O'Donnell, Will Damron

Dr. Theo Cray and FBI agent Jessica Blackwood confront a cataclysmic conspiracy in a pulse-quickening thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.

A mysterious electrical storm plunges Manhattan into darkness. As a strange, smothering fog rolls in, all communication crashes. In the blink of an eye, the island seems to vanish into a void.

FBI special agent Jessica Blackwood and brilliant scientist Dr. Theo Cray know this isn’t a freak accident. It’s a sinister sleight of hand. Their greatest adversary, a serial killer and cultist known as the Warlock, has escaped during a prison transfer in New York. A depraved master of manipulation, he promised the end of days. He’s making good on it.

One by one, cities across the globe are erupting in chaos as they disappear into the same black holes. Even for two ingenious trackers like Jessica and Theo, there’s still so much to learn about the pattern to the Warlock’s madness. The voids are just a warm-up for something bigger. To discover it - to stop it - Jessica and Theo must descend into the darkest of shadows - and minds.

©2021 by Andrew Mayne. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A passionate and thorough storyteller…Thriller fans will be well rewarded.”—Publishers Weekly

Fun, but disappointing

It was exciting to see his characters from different series interact with each other, but thy execution fell flat.
Overall as a mystery thriller, it was okay. Considering the reveal, honestly felt like it could be more theatrical?
Voices are great for their main characters, but not so great for others.
And while looking back at it, I see the hints of growing relationship, I don't like the chemistry. Feels more male fantasy

Chilling Possibilities

This is a well crafted thriller that you wish was obviously sci-fi but is too close to possible for any comfort.

My "oops" = interesting listen

I listen to a lot of audiobooks. I also read a lot of Kindle books and traditional paper books, for fun as well as for research. Consequently, sometimes I forget which books or series I have in which format. This was one such "oops."

I have - on Kindle - the entire separate series for both Jessica Blackwell (plus short stories) and Dr. Theo Cray, in addition to this title featuring them both. I very much enjoy all three series, as far as they've gone as of this writing. Consequently, when I saw the pre-order for The Final Equinox on Audible while looking at new releases, I immediately did just that. Then I realized I didn't have the first title (this one) on Audible, and got this as well, before remembering that I was reading them in Kindle rather than listening.

The story is intricate and well thought out as one might expect from Mayne and these characters. Knowledge of their individual story lines is not necessary to enjoy this book, although I would suggest that knowing more about Jessica might be beneficial to a deeper enjoyment of this book given her level of prominence in this story over Theo's.

After reading these characters for so long, I found Jessica's voice pretty much aligned with how I heard her in my own mind, though the delivery was a bit different. Nothing too jarring though. Theo's voice, however, sounded nothing like how I've heard him inwardly as I've read. I enjoy Will's narration in other works, and I respect the voicing he gave to Theo here; it just didn't sync up as well as I would have liked. That made for some mental gymnastics initially and any time I restarted the book after some time away, even just a few hours. Eugene's voice, too, was a bit off for me, but given how infrequently he speaks, it wasn't too disconcerting. Jillian's voice, brief as it appeared, was pretty close to what I had imagined. Heywood - not quite as much.

Overall, I think both narrators did an excellent job with the material. I do plan to get The Final Equinox in Kindle, but having listened to this first book of the joint series now, I may keep this series as a dual Kindle/Audible venture and maintain the other two in Kindle alone. It's nice to have the option of listening to them done well while engaged in other tasks. Mayne's background as a magician and illusionist informs his writing beautifully, and although some of his earlier work is a bit rough around the edges, I have really enjoyed the Jessica Blackwood, Dr. Theo Cray, and joint adventure series. I continue to look forward to any new releases in any of these series, and am contemplating starting some of his others soon. (Perhaps starting them from scratch in Audible to prevent the mental double-takes I had here. 🙂)

Highly recommended.

Excellent Story & Performance

Very unique and in some ways confusing. I’m looking forward to see where things go after this. Jessica and Theo have a lot to face. While they are working for government nemesis Hayward is tearing apart the world. Having said he has cured all these diseases. It gave him compressed power. Jessica and Theo know the truth. Thousands of people have died, for whatever success may have achieved.

Another Amazon Thriller from Andrew Mayne!

We’ve been listening through all the Theo Cray novels and find them to be so hard to stop listening too because they’re so exciting!

Love Jessica and Theo

Jessica is back! I love how her and Theo work together. Mastermind took me on a wild ride, and at one point I was really really worried that a character was going to die. Now to wait a year for the next one 😭

Wish I would've known to read other books first

I hate that I didn't know that two of this author's main characters from other series teamed up for this series. Now I won't be reading any of those other books because this one spoiled them all. Too bad because I think I liked these characters enough to continue with them. Another thing I disliked was feeling like I was always a step behind or not paying attention enough because I hadn't read the other stories. Please put some kind of notice somewhere about that so others don't make the same mistake I did. Even a disclaimer before the start of the book would work.

As an aside, the female narrator ruined this audiobook for me. Her cadence and tone were so obnoxious I wanted to DNF it. I'm not sure if it was the clipped way she read or said things or how somewhat nasal her voices were. I'm not sure I'll continue this series, but if I do, it won't be the audiobook version.

Good beginning but disappointing ending

The story started off great with the coming together of each protagonist towards a main story line, but then suddenly, the book ended. I think the author attempted to end the book with some witty, sleight of hand method, but to be honest, it fell flat. I honestly thought I missed a chapter or maybe the audible book accidentally skipped a few chapters towards the end. I finished the book wanting more and a way better ending.

Another Cliffhanger!

I’m enjoying all the books by this author. He sure knows how to get you to buy the next book! I’m just glad I don’t have to wait for it. It’s waiting for me in my library. Highly recommend this book

Very engaging and entertaining

Very engaging and entertaining . Characters are intriguing and you want them to win. The story is unique and thought out.