Kill Switch

Jed Walker Series, Book 3

By: James Phelan

Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A roller-coaster terrorist thriller from Australia's answer to a post-Osama Tom Clancy.

Jed Walker has 48 hours to save the world. The countdown has begun....

The world is under cyber-attack. The secretive terror outfit of linked lone-wolf operatives known as Zodiac has activated another terrorist cell. Chaos will be unleashed at six-hour intervals, with each event more catastrophic than the last, culminating in a devastating global catastrophe within 48 hours. The options for the hackers are endless: bring down California's telecom system; remote detonate explosives at an army base in Virginia; cause Amtrak's signals to fail; collapse air traffic control in US airspace. Consequences are unthinkable.

The US president has the power to enact the Internet Freedom Act - the 'kill switch'. Turning off the net will stop the attacks and give the CIA and the Pentagon time to track down those responsible. But it's not that simple. Fourteen people with the key to restart the Internet are missing. The US will plummet into pandemonium if electronic communications cease. The rest of the world will follow.

Jed Walker, ex CIA-operative, has thwarted Zodiac twice before. But this time nothing will prepare him for what he uncovers. Walker has 48 hours, and the countdown has begun....

James Phelan is the best-selling and award-winning author of 28 novels and one work of nonfiction. From his teens he wanted to be a novelist but first tried his hand at a real job, studying and working in architecture before turning to English literature, spending five years at a newspaper and obtaining an MA and a PhD in literature. For Hachette Australia, James has written five titles in the Lachlan Fox thriller series, and the Alone trilogy of young adult postapocalyptic novels.

The ex-CIA character of Jed Walker was first introduced in The Spy, which was followed by The Hunted, Kill Switch and Dark Heart. James has also written a 14-book adventure series for Scholastic, titled The Last Thirteen. He has been a full-time novelist since the age of 25 and spends his time writing thrilling stories and travelling the world to talk about them.

©2015 James Phelan (P)2017 Hachette Australia Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"A terse, tense brand of hard-boiled action suspense...addictive." ( The Age)
"Jed Walker is right there in Reacher's rear-view mirror." (Lee Child)
"Hard-boiled action suspense...addictive." ( The Age on Kill Switch)
"Walker's so tough he's got muscles in his spit...eminently enjoyable." ( West Australian on The Hunted)
"Vivid and suspenseful." ( Sydney Morning Herald on The Spy)

Jed Walker

Basic and entertaining the Jed Walker series is worth it weight if you dig adventure and intrigue.

#3 best so far

Very current issue Well written builds as u progress in story best up til now looking forward to next book in series

great stuff

if you dig the Jed Walker series, you'll live this one. the accents are still not great but I enjoy the books nonetheless.

Internet Walker

Fresh to see a glimpse of life w/o the net and a look at the chaos that is possible with the threat of its loss.

Entertaining, but could be better

Performance is my only criticism, and minor at that. Mr Mulraney’s American accent skills are okay, but on certain words, his pronunciation is a little grating. “Been” and “pattern” need some work.

Right on target

scary realistic scenario. I hope it never happens to our country or the world. And We can all be grateful for the real Jed Walkrs who keep America safe.

Good, but ...

Mr. Phelan's plots are good, and the writing definitely moves the story along, but if he's writing American characters and locations, he needs to drop the British words. petrol, boot, lift, crisps....these are not American usage. I fault his editors as much as him for this.

truly enjoyed this book

great listen, it kept me engaged the whole time. for someone adhd like me , that's no easy task

This Is Just Bad

Why... The constantly premature twists, the perceived innocent, hell, I could go on and on.
When you've had books from the likes of Mark Greaney and Vince Flynn, you understand good writing.

Meh

This has the core of what could be a good plot, but it felt hurried and slapped together towards the end. The motivations of the protagonists were thin. I also found the some of the dialogue to be very stilted and overly verbose at times. If the characters resort to overt exposition to explain why the plot is moving a certain way, then the author is forcing it. Overall, I enjoy the Jed Walker character, but I found this installment to be mediocre.