Dance with the Enemy

The Enemy Series Book 1

By: Rob Sinclair

Narrated by: Paul Thornley

Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

Carl Logan was the perfect agent. A loner with no real friends or family, he was trained to deal with any situation with cold efficiency, devoid of emotion. But Logan isn't the man he used to be or the asset he once was.

Five months ago his life changed forever when he was captured, tortured and left for dead by Youssef Selim, one of the world's most violent terrorists. When Selim mysteriously reappears in Paris, linked to the kidnapping of America's attorney general, Logan smells his chance for revenge.

Pursuing his man relentlessly, oblivious to the growing trail of destruction that he leaves in his wake, Logan delves increasingly deep into the web of lies and deceit surrounding the kidnapping. Finally, he comes to learn just what it means to dance with the enemy.

©2014 Rob Sinclair (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

Critic Reviews

"An excellent and action packed story that is hard to put down." (Andrea Giannini)
"Fast paced action thriller that will have you hooked from the first page.... Sinclair really knows how to write." (John Fish, The Last Word Book Review)

Lots of action, no characters, no plot,

The book starts out without any introduction of the character, agency, or story.

The action starts immediately. We have no idea what's going on or why.

It's like being shoved into the middle of a lecture on Non-Euclidean Geometry and trying to catch up.

Sorry. I have better things to do with my time...

Dance. With the enemy

What a crazy action filled book! I really enjoyed this story full of spies and lies.

Enjoyable

I found Carl to be a bit of a "blubbering idiot" , stupid moves, how he didn't get caught and the way he got out of fixes, were all too good to be true. I prefer my books a bit more realistic. His torture issue could have been handled better in my opinion, when it was eventually revealed, it fell flat.

Good characters and plot twists.

The plot was interesting and full of nice twists. I look forward to reading future Logan and Ryker books.

poor story

very unimaginative plot, the action was unrealistic and the only reason I finished was a paid good money for it. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didnt.

Too Convoluted

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

The story is way too long and convoluted and in some parts, including the end is quite unbelievable. How can an FBI rogue agent accumulate 8 MIL to pay for a look alike terrorist plot to avenge a wrong? Definitely not my favorite.

Did Dance with the Enemy inspire you to do anything?

Boring

Any additional comments?

Boring

Never ending story!!

I think I would have enjoyed the story so much more if it wouldn't have gotten bogged down in such trivial details. It had a good plot, but it just kept going on, and on. I can't stop once I start a book. So I trudged through it!! Nope I wouldn't recommend this book unless you like lots of useless details.

The characters are less than credible!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The female character was (an FBI) agent was not in the least believable. It would have been a better read had the character been less the stereotypical emotional agent and more realistic given the role she was playing in the story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Rob Sinclair again?

Not at this point.

What aspect of Paul Thornley’s performance would you have changed?

His performance neither enhanced nor detracted from the story. Kinda blah...

Did Dance with the Enemy inspire you to do anything?

Not to read another of this author's novels!

The two main characters need to get a life!

What disappointed you about Dance with the Enemy?

I don't watch television soap operas and like reading them even less.

Has Dance with the Enemy turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not the genre, but certainly will be cautious about this writer.

Did Paul Thornley do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

No. Main character and his female cohort were, to me, trite, self-absorbed and tiresome.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom. Yuk.

Any additional comments?

The narrator did his best. Hope he is given better material in the future.

A few changes and this could have been 5 stars

This book came so close in many ways to being a really great listen however the technical skills and craft of our hero Carl Logan just don’t match up to the billing as JIA’s ‘best agent’. The JIA’s best agent can’t pick a lock (handcuffs, doors), sneak in and out of buildings, come up with good attack plans yet supposedly survived years as a ‘covert’ operative - Common on – it just doesn’t make sense. And when a story has a ripple and a flaw it unravels part of the story line. Logan races like a bull in a china cabinet from one place to another and we are lead to believe part of the recklessness is due to PTSD and being out of practice for 5 months but it seems he also doesn’t have some basic covert operator skills to begin with – he only has the brute force skills. However, the character development is excellent, the plot has a number of interesting twists, and the pace is fast – it is hard to stop listening until jolted by a huge incontinency (like needing to break a window to get in through a back door rather than picking the lock). The skill set for the hero needs to match the billing if we are to believe he is the ‘best agent’ because without the consistency story line is glaringly flawed and ruins the story.

The dumbest hero you will ever meet!

Even the most stupid of us would not have made the same choices as the lead character in this book. Every single choice he makes is wrong. If The author thinks that this makes for a more exciting read or that we can believe in a lead character that is so inept, he is wrong. Only saved by the narration. I will not wait eagerly for the next instalment!

Action and Adventure with perfect narrator

Any additional comments?

Paul Thornley is a master of action hero narration. Once again Mr Thornley is able to set the scene and as a result you are almost there as the action unfolds. The story itself is fine. The usual goodies verse baddies with a hot chick thrown in and some nasty ruthless fundamentalists/Jihadists, with a taste for torture. I must say I always laugh when Mr Thornley adopts the pompous fat english character accent. Richard Blakemore in this story, and it was perfect. You can just see this type of guy strutting around filled with his self importance. So of course I have purchased the second one in this series. As for the main character, Carl Logan? I kind of like him. Similar to Jack Reacher or John Milton, but this time suffering from PTSD. An enjoyable listen if you are doing something incredibly boring and just want to be transported somewhere else. The opening scene is pretty darn exciting I have to say.

No wit or humour but plenty of cliches

What disappointed you about Dance with the Enemy?

Written without any wit or humour, but full of cliches...a damaged maverick secret agent fighting both his nemesis and bosses who don't trust him. Then bring in an equally maverick - but beautiful - FBI agent, who's clearly got her own agenda...

What could Rob Sinclair have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

And then there's the plot. A totally unbelievable ambush of the US Attorney General in the heart of Paris as masked men shoot their way into three armoured limousines without any interference from French police...
And it goes on. Action switches from France to the US without any apparent difficulty in flights or logistics...
Then the FBI agent refers to working for 'the agency'....not the bureau?
There are so many more annoyances.

What didn’t you like about Paul Thornley’s performance?

The narrator was working with a difficult subject but I hate it when two French characters talk to each other and suddenly we're in Allo Allo

Any additional comments?

I wish I'd sent this book back to Audible but I kept hoping it would improve. It didn't.

Up and coming

This author is up and coming, I really enjoyed this book. The storey line was good and had some good action and twists and turns. I note some of the other reviews say that the narration wasn't good but I like this author, so if you want another good series like this that is also read by Paul thornley then try stephen leather. I will deferently be getting books 2 and 3.

Narrator is .... Sigh's

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

I couldn't give this book a chance as the narrator was so annoying I had to stop listening before I threw my ipod out the window.

Any additional comments?

Tell the narrator to stop holding his breath and then inhale deep breaths making you think something exciting is about to happen, when it doesn't!

Dreadful.

Started well then became ridiculous and then dreadful. Made listening a waste of one's time.

Violent

Didn’t like the gratuitous violence. Stopped listening after about 10 chapters as I was of the opinion that the remainder of the book would be similar

Most inept agent ever.

Please can I have my credit back.
Dreadful characters, ridiculous author needs to read Red Sparrow and compare the narratives.

canny story

canny story. enjoyable. not Le Carre, but worth a read.
about to start the next in the series.

Badly narrated huge amount of uneccesary dialogue

Good story line ruined by psyco babble. 30% cut it. Risible dualigue. New narrator needed