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 of 2 people found this review helpful

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.

left speculating

left me wondering where this will all go in the next book, book ended on a soft note not what i was expecting or looking for

loved it

listened sevral times great story and very well read. jance is an exceptional fiction writer

Great

easy to listen to, easy to see characters and emerse in story when driving or working.

JANCE does it AGAIN

Loved it. Living in the town where her stories with Ali Reynolds take place,, I can relate to the story. Excellent book, swell narrated.

Good series keeps getting better

This book is part of Jance’s Ali Reynolds series, and the follow-up to Man Overboard. The computer geek from humble beginnings, Stuart Ramey, is the star of Duel to the Death.
Although this book has many elements, drug cartels, accounts of violence, Artificial Intelligence, deaths, and money, it is really about regular people who see the world as a place to right wrongs.
There is none of the boring predictability that some series make bank on. The other main player in this book, “Frig” the AI, makes sure of that.