Backfire: An FBI Thriller, Book 16

By: Catherine Coulter

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen, Deanna Hurst

Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

For what you did you deserve this.

The mysterious note delivered to FBI agent Dillon Savich has him and his partner, Lacey Sherlock, on edge, just as they’re starting an investigation into the shooting of their longtime friend Ramsey Hunt. The San Francisco judge was shot in the back during a high-profile murder trial—and now Sherlock's and Savich’s search for the truth will take a shocking turn that no one could have seen coming…

©2012 Catherine Coulter (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Not her best.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It was an okay book. Not sure I would recommend to friends.

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

Listened to many Catherine Coulter books before and "Back Fire" was a little disappointing.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I did not like the dual narration. There was too much "he said...she said."

Any additional comments?

It took a couple of hours of listening to get into the characters of this book. There were too many characters from the beginning so it made it difficult to keep up. The dual narration just added to the confusion. I usually like Catherine Coulter novels but "Back Fire" was not one of my favorites.

Disappointed

Is there anything you would change about this book?

If I was a writer I would make this book an equal to Iris's usual work.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Backfire?

Getting to the end.

What three words best describe Jim Meskimen and Deanna Hurst ’s performance?

They were great, it was the story that was poorly writen

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I doubt it.

Backfire backfired

What did you love best about Backfire?

My husband and I both love to listen to the FBI series on our longer drives and travels - the story was great.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The major drawback to this book was the narrator. Fortunately our desire to hear the story kept us listening but would prefer not to listen to this narrator again.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the British series.

Good listening!

Catherine Coulter, like many women thriller writers, writes mostly romance novels. Unlike many such novelists she does not put steamy sex scenes in her thrillers (Sandra Brown, JA Redmerski, and Kendra Elliot for example). The FBI Thriller series is now 19 books and 9 are in my Audible library. This is the best of the 9 I have listened to. Coulter excels at character development! After listening to two or three books in the series you feel you know married couple FBI agents Sherlock and Savich as well as their young son. Sherlock, the wife, has flaming red hair and a temper to match. She is the more aggressive of the two. Savich is a computer and technology nerd who has written a program that helps identify the bad guys.

Although this book is the best story of those to which I have listened, the narration pair is weaker than that of Coulter's other thrillers. I did not find it as bad as some other reviewers.

The FBI Thriller series is definitely worth a listen!

Love Coulter's growing FBI family after each book.

Where does Backfire rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book up there with the rest of Catherine's FBI thrillers.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Good plot kept we wondering who was the villein.

Which character – as performed by Jim Meskimen and Deanna Hurst – was your favorite?

I think both Jim and Deanna did a great job on all the characters. I like both a man and woman's voice when there are both men and women characters are speaking.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but I could not.

Any additional comments?

Would like more books from Coulter with her FBI team.

A Tale Between

If you could sum up Backfire in three words, what would they be?

It was an interesting twist bring a past and present together. I did like it better than Split Second. The children in the book bought some life into the story. .

Any additional comments?

It is not a bad story line it did bring you up to date on other characters in a previous book (Target).

two narrators ruined this for me

The decision to have two narrators -- one male, one female -- read this book seems to me a bad production call. The guy says something, then the woman reader interjects (in her simpering delivery) "...he said. Then he sighed..." and the guy continues to read the male part. The material seems trite enough to begin with, but this tradeoff between dueling narrators -- in the course of a single *sentence* for crying out loud -- made this unlistenable for me. I remember enjoying several of Catherine Coulter's earlier novels so I gave this one a try. Maybe if it had been more professionally produced I would have liked this one too. But I'll never know. I deleted it after 30 minutes of "...he said..." alternate-reader interruptions.

Couldn't get past the performance

What disappointed you about Backfire?

Even if the story was a little bit interesting --and granted I didn't get very far into it-- the first time Deanna Hurst did her "little kid voice" I was done. Unfortunately, I had to hear that a few more times before being able to safely turn off the audio (I was driving a winding road). Never another Coulter, and I'll be sure to think twice before giving this narrator another go.

Child's voice irritating

Would you try another book from Catherine Coulter and/or Jim Meskimen and Deanna Hurst ?

Maybe

What did you like best about this story?

Good start, good beginning but got boring as time went on. Couldn't Stick with it after 3 hours;

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Child's voice was irritating, whiny and not real

Was Backfire worth the listening time?

Not worth listening....dragged on too long

Not worth the listen.

Any additional comments?

TECHNICAL: I couldn’t bear to listen to this poorly structured and very unpleasing recording. Not sure how much of the problem was the producer and how much was due to the pitiful voice acting.
PERFORMANCE: Bad, bad voice actors. Replete with abrupt and jarring transitions. PS: this was not listed as a dramatization. [Folks, I hope you will be more careful about the projects you choose in the future.]
STORY: Terrible, terrible dialog. URG! Weak story/plot. I will avoid her work from here on out.