Deep Black

By: Stephen Coonts, Jim DeFelice

Narrated by: J. Charles

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

A spy plane gathering data on a new Russian weapon is blown out of the sky by a mysterious MiG. Is it an accident, or the start of the next world war? One U.S. agency has what it takes to find out - the National Security Agency and its covert operations team: DEEP BLACK.

Working for the NSA, ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean is dispatched to Russia, hooking up with former Delta Force trooper Lia DeFrancesca to find out what happened to the plane. The Deep Black team stumbles across an even more alarming secret - a plot to assassinate the Russian president and overthrow the democratic government by force. The coup could have dire consequences for Russia and the world.

With no clearance from the government it's called on to protect, the National Security Agency goes to war. But before Lia and Dean can unravel the conspiracy, they learn that one of the spy plane's passengers - an NSA techie - survived the crash. Critical information could fall into enemy hands. And that enemy is playing to the death.

Special ops: listen to another Deep Black thriller.

©2004 Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Coonts knows how to write and build suspense." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Find a plot and stick with it

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Have no idea who would enjoy it.

Has Deep Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I love the genre and typically like the author. This book was so bad, I seriously wonder if Coonts simply received a check for allowing someone to use his name. There are five separate plot lines running simultaneously and none are wrapped up at the end. It's almost as if the author realized the story was getting long and only had one chapter left to finish the book.

What didn’t you like about J. Charles’s performance?

Different characters require different voices, and those voices should stay the same throughout the story. I found myself on MANY occasions rewinding because I didn't realize he had switched characters. There were also many instances where the accent for a character switched in the same scene.

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

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

I listen to books while traveling. This one put me to sleep on the plane so often that I thought perhaps I didn't like it because I was only getting a few pages at a time before I'd nod off. I decided to try it AGAIN while making an 8 hr drive, thinking it would be easier to follow. It WAS easier, but only because the traffic on the freeway kept me awake.

Great espionage thriller

Listened to by my husband: Really enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the complexity of the missions. Only complaint was that the narrator read the book way too fast, and had to slow down the playback to catch everything and everyone in the story. Planning on getting all the Deep Black Books after this first sample.

And the plot was? Did we finish? That's it?

What disappointed you about Deep Black?

There are so many sub-plots that never get tied together or wrap up that the entire book left me wondering what was the point. What happened to 'Wave 3?' What was the point of the defection of the pilot? (That entire plot line seemed worthless). Was this book about 'lasers' or the assassination? What dies any of it really have to do with Deep Black? This book was a mess of topics that never tied together.

Has Deep Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. But I will give the series another chance. Perhaps this (book 1) leaves alot open for the next one.

What didn’t you like about J. Charles’s performance?

First, pick a dialect for the character and stick with it. One minute a character sounds like he is from Brooklyn and the next, a surfer from California. The Russian accent, while completely incorrect, would have been ok if in the middle of the sentence it didn't switch to some New York style with out warning. Overall, the narrator is clearly one of my least favorite in the audio book genre.The narrator really detracted from the story.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

While trying to be objective, I don't have anything positive to say about this book or it's performance.

Any additional comments?

At this time I HAVE NOT listened to any other book from this author or this series, I feel it's only fair to give the next book a go and see if it offers a better performance and story.

John's opinion

Waaaaaay too much marginaly relevant highly technical detail that seems to be puffery to fill out the pages and justify the price of the book.

Deep Black

I found this book good enough. I will admit that I didn't like it as well as some other works by Coonts. His Grafton series is excellent. It is good enough for me to listen to the second book in this series. The narrator J. Charles is a fine reader but I found myself thinking Dick Hill would have done better. I also found myself thinking the story line was a little on the outside. I like fiction stories that maybe, sort of kind of, with some imagination be true. I found myself thinking my foot to this story line and the interactions of the main characters. Over all it was OK. Coonts has done better. I hope the series picks up steam.

Constant Childish Banter Between Characters

Story was good but childish banter between characters got old very quickly. Real people don’t interact that way 24/7 like the characters in this book. The banter is a distraction.

Not very "Deep"

Why co-author?? The author(s) failed to develop feelings for the hero(s) and used profane language in the extreme in order to build up the female character's creds. It verged on overly-technical, much of which added nothing to the story. That NSA would do CIA-like business means that the author did little research into their functions and made the story totally unbelievable. There is competition between the agencies...yep! The book has lots of action and cutting edge tools of destruction...but, nothing seemed to tie with a main theme. Maybe I'll try another in the series, just to confirm my suspicions.

Ah, new adventures on the horizon

Good action story with great humor! This is the start of something I'm going to look forward to.

Much armament detail; little character development

This is good story, but it was underdeveloped. Maybe those who enjoy endless details about the characters' firearms, ammunition, and high tech military devices will appreciate this book, but I prefer getting to know the characters themselves. Unfortunately the narrator's tendency to make many of the characters sound inappropriately arrogant compounded the problem.

Hard to stay awake

Would you try another book from Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice and/or J. Charles?

Unfortunately I bought book #2 Biowar and am bummed that I can't turn it in for a credit ... since I haven't started it yet.

Would you ever listen to anything by Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice again?

Doubt it

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I thought the narrator had a more of a monotone type voice that frankly put me to sleep.

Any additional comments?

Um....there are no woman in Delta and that kinda bothered me from an accuracy point. Also, they make Dean seem like an idiot in most of the conversations. He acts like a very green guy and I expected more from his character. Not that he'd be a superman, but at least someone who had a clue.