Duel to the Death

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Karen Ziemba

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

From New York Times best-selling author and "grand master of the game" (The Providence Journal) J. A. Jance, an electrifying new thriller featuring Ali Reynolds. 

After taking down the man responsible for his best friend's death, Stuart Ramey thinks the case is finally closed. That is, until Stu finds himself left with a multimillion-dollar fortune in Bitcoin in a desperate bid by Frigg, a rogue AI program created by the killer, to keep itself from being fully deactivated. 

To sort out his situation and take Frigg down for good, Stu enlists the help of Ali Reynolds and the rest of his cyber-security colleagues at High Noon Enterprises. But they are not the only ones who know about Frigg's existence. 

Graciella Miramar, an unassuming accountant to all appearances, is actually the right-hand woman to El Pescado, the leader of a dangerous drug cartel. She'll do anything to get her hands on that program. With Frigg's help, Graciella hopes to take over her father's criminal underworld and become wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But Stu - and El Pescado and his henchmen - may not be so easily defeated. 

Written in J. A. Jance's classic "take-no-prisoners" style (Kirkus Reviews), in this thriller, Stu, Ali, and their team will come to realize that everything has its price. 

©2018 J. A. Jance (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Engaging

J. A. Jance is one of my favorite mystery authors. This is book number thirteen in the Ali Reynolds series. Usually you can start a Jance series at any point but this book is written as a continuation of the prior book “Man Overboard” so it is best to read book twelve first. Jance delves into some hot and timely topics in this book such as cyber security and bitcoins. Also, a carryover from the prior novel is the artificial Intelligence “Frigg”.

The book is well written and the plot is intriguing. As usual Jance has multiple subplots intertwining. The characters are fascinating and become the reader’s friend after a few books. Jance makes the reader part of the family. It is great to watch how the character Stuart Ramey has developed over the series. Jance is a master story teller. If you enjoy a good mystery story this is a must-read series.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is almost eleven and a half hours. Karen Ziemba has done an excellent job narrating the series. Ziemba won the Tony Award in 2000 for the Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Ziemba is an actress and audiobook narrator.

2 people found this helpful

love Frig

I love the tale of a man and his AI. she thinks like I do. Get things done.

Narration is 5+!

I enjoy listening to J A Jance’s books. The narrator in the Ali Reynolds series doesn’t leave you wondering who’s speaking. The transition from one character to the next is seamless. Karen Ziemba, you are great!

good story line

I enjoyed the audio. at times I was confused but it would come together later.

Fabulous

Ellen
This series, especially with this narrator is excellent and makes for an enjoyable listening experience!!

Always awesome

JA Jance is always great. I discovered this authors years ago and have always loved the Ally Reynolds series.

eh

This is basically a sequal to Man Overboard, which I enjoyed and thought a good mystery. This one not much of a mystery... seems like a filler story. Good performance, and if you follow chronologically it will probably make sense to listen, but I suspect one can catch up if there is a next book without this one adding too much.

Skip this title. You won't be missing anything.

I struggled to finish this book. The storyline wasn't fluid and it was dry. The narrator did well considering the content.

Not the author I've read in the past

I have read, or heard, every book Jance has written in this series, and the Joanna Brady series. This book might have all the characters I know, but it was so complex and hard to understand . The narrator did an admirable job of conveying the story, but even she couldn't overcome the complexities and lack of suspense. I could not even finish listening, it gave me a headache to try to follow the plotlines. I hope this will not become a pattern for Jance.

A Satisfying, Entertaining Read

Leaves you wanting to read further adventures with Trig, the amazing AI and her human associates.