America

Jake Grafton, Book 9

By: Stephen Coonts

Narrated by: John Kenneth

Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

When an experimental nuclear submarine is hijacked in broad daylight, only Admiral Jake Grafton stands between the deadly cargo and its intended target: Washington D.C.

Hundreds of people have gathered to watch the launching of the USS America - our newest and most sophisticated nuclear submarine. Then, the unthinkable happens: armed men emerge from the tugboat that is leading her to sea, board the submarine, and man her controls. Half of the men onboard are slaughtered and half are put out to sea. Before nearby destroyers can react, the sub disappears.

Admiral Jake Grafton is resting at his Delaware beach house when he is asked to find out who has stolen his submarine and why. He learns that a rogue CIA group, originally trained to steal Russian technology during the Cold War, may be behind the operation. And soon it becomes clear that, whatever their purpose, they mean business: within hours a missile launched from the submarine destroys the top floor of the White House, and a second missile fells an airliner carrying 283 passengers. Now the race is on to find out where the submarine is, who is behind the nightmare scenario and - most critically - how to stop it.

Take another thrill ride with Jake Grafton.

©2004 Stephen Coonts (P)2004 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Perennial bestseller Coonts never lets up with heart-racing jet/missile combat, suspenseful submarine maneuvers and doomsday scenarios that feel only too real." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Coonts's action and the techno-talk are as gripping as ever." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Thrilling roller-coaster action." ( The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Exciting

The plot revolves around a stolen US submarine and a diverted satellite...an implausible idea, but exciting. The characters include our hero Jake, with some help from Toad and Carmelini. The Russians and some international businessmen are the bad guys. It all unfolds over 14+ hours and keeps the listener on the edge of his seat. Gotta find the next book in the Grafton series.

Great book, new narrator

I’ve been listening to the Jake Grafton series in order. Benjamin L Darcie was the narrator for 6 of the 8 books I’ve listened to, John Kenneth did a great job, but it’s hard to not hear the voices Benjamin Darcie gave the characters.

Jake Grafton is now Foghorn Leghorn

I love Stephen Coonts books. The last was Michael Richard. Great...now it sounds like Tom Clancy. Not bad at all. Then we get John Kenneth. He must not have listened to any of the previous books. So, Jake Grafton is now a Southern gentleman that sounds like the giant rooster from Looney Toons. Not good.

Great Listen

One of the best Grafton novels thus far. The story keeps you going throughout. The narrator does a good job (much better than the last guy), but still not as good as Ben Darcie (books 1 - 7).

Good story, dismal narration

Enjoyed the story and glad I didn’t checkout after the first chapter like I was going to. As others have noted the narration was so dissimilar from the rest of the series that I thought it was a prank. Good voice but terrible presentation of the characters. Jake went from a grim, no nonsense, steely voiced character to a Foghorn Leghorn inspired southern drawl. Cringe inducing.

Quite possibly the worst narration of a story ever

I've thoroughly enjoyed this entire series on audiobook until I started America. I'm sure that the story is just s good as all the others were but I will have to read this one, unless by some miracle there's another version with a different narrator floating around. The narrators voice does not fit the characters at all.I am sure that he's done great work on other books but his work on this one is a hard pass for me.

Not His Best

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The characterizations and mechanics of operating the submarine were generally really good. The book was worth listening to.

If you’ve listened to books by Stephen Coonts before, how does this one compare?

This was not one of his best. He generally excels at describing people in difficult and ambiguous situations. His details related to military equipment are spot on. Where this one falls short is in the

What three words best describe John Kenneth’s voice?

Great European Characterizations

Performance leaves a lot to be desired.

Too bad the reader didn’t listen to previous recordings in this series. None of the accents, especially Jake Grafton’s matched previous books. I thought Jake was from the mid west but this reader gave him a gruff southern drawl. Voices were not consistent throughout the book and made for some confusion.

Good story, bad reader

The first seven books in the series were wonderfully read by Benjamin L Darcy. Then, for whatever reason they changed readers and the next book was read by Michael Pritchard, which took some getting used to, but it turned out OK. This book was read by John Kenneth and I just wasn’t able to get into it with him reading. I can’t put my finger on it but I didn’t like the book for that.

Trite turnout from seasoned writer

Perhaps this book falls so short because Coonts published it prior to 911. The book treats the electronic devastation of NYC and DC as if they are merely inconveniences, without ever exploring the consequences that we too well learned in September of the published year. Characters are shallow and some of the conversation simplistically inane .. not what I'd expect from a writer who's been around as long as Coonts. I wouldn't go out of my way to find this reader again, either. Overall it was pretty disappointing.