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Court Gentry is known as The Gray Man - a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, and then fading away. And he always hits his target. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. Now, he is going to prove that for him, there's no gray area between killing for a living-and killing to stay alive.
John Dempsey's life - as an elite Tier One Navy SEAL named Jack Kemper - is over. A devastating terrorist action catapults him from a world of moral certainty and decisive orders into the shadowy realm of espionage, where ambiguity is the only rule. His new mission: hunt down those responsible for the greatest tragedy in the history of the US Special Ops and bring them to justice.
When Max Krupin - Russia's leader - discovers that his kidney cancer has spread to his brain, he's determined to hide his diagnosis. He begins by getting rid of anyone threatening to him - as well as creating chaos in the region to keep the world's attention diverted. Soon, Krupin's illness becomes serious enough that he needs a more dramatic diversion, prompting him to invade the Baltics. Desperate to understand what's causing Krupin's unusually erratic behavior and Russia's aggressive moves in the region, America begins working with Russia's disgraced prime minister to stage a coup.
A sinister group - code-named Zodiac - has launched devastating global attacks. Twelve targets across the world, 12 code-named missions. Operating distinct sleeper cells, they are the ultimate terrorist organisation, watching and waiting for a precise attack to activate the next group. It is a frightening and deadly efficient way to stay one step ahead. And cause the most chaos. For ex-CIA operative Jed Walker, chaos is his profession. On the outer, burned by his former agency, he is determined to clear his name.
Former Marine Force Reconnaissance officer Logan West emerges from a blackout after drinking away the worries of his ruined marriage and PTSD, an all too familiar scene for the recovering alcoholic. But he wakes to more than a killer hangover: A professional mercenary has been sent to capture him. After an embattled showdown, Logan impulsively answers the dead man's ringing phone, triggering a hasty rescue of Logan's estranged wife and a global race against the clock to track down an unknown organization....
In the tradition of bestsellers by Robert Ludlum and Vince Flynn, Termination Orders introduces Dan Morgan, a retired black-ops agent who must return to duty to thwart a deadly international conspiracy.
Once a trained killer for the CIA, Dan Morgan has built a new life for himself. But when he receives a desperate plea from his former black-ops partner - reportedly killed in a foreign battle zone - he flies in to help. It should be a routine mission, extracting a human asset from the region, but it’s not - it’s an ambush.
Court Gentry is known as The Gray Man - a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, and then fading away. And he always hits his target. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. Now, he is going to prove that for him, there's no gray area between killing for a living-and killing to stay alive.
John Dempsey's life - as an elite Tier One Navy SEAL named Jack Kemper - is over. A devastating terrorist action catapults him from a world of moral certainty and decisive orders into the shadowy realm of espionage, where ambiguity is the only rule. His new mission: hunt down those responsible for the greatest tragedy in the history of the US Special Ops and bring them to justice.
When Max Krupin - Russia's leader - discovers that his kidney cancer has spread to his brain, he's determined to hide his diagnosis. He begins by getting rid of anyone threatening to him - as well as creating chaos in the region to keep the world's attention diverted. Soon, Krupin's illness becomes serious enough that he needs a more dramatic diversion, prompting him to invade the Baltics. Desperate to understand what's causing Krupin's unusually erratic behavior and Russia's aggressive moves in the region, America begins working with Russia's disgraced prime minister to stage a coup.
A sinister group - code-named Zodiac - has launched devastating global attacks. Twelve targets across the world, 12 code-named missions. Operating distinct sleeper cells, they are the ultimate terrorist organisation, watching and waiting for a precise attack to activate the next group. It is a frightening and deadly efficient way to stay one step ahead. And cause the most chaos. For ex-CIA operative Jed Walker, chaos is his profession. On the outer, burned by his former agency, he is determined to clear his name.
Former Marine Force Reconnaissance officer Logan West emerges from a blackout after drinking away the worries of his ruined marriage and PTSD, an all too familiar scene for the recovering alcoholic. But he wakes to more than a killer hangover: A professional mercenary has been sent to capture him. After an embattled showdown, Logan impulsively answers the dead man's ringing phone, triggering a hasty rescue of Logan's estranged wife and a global race against the clock to track down an unknown organization....
In the tradition of bestsellers by Robert Ludlum and Vince Flynn, Termination Orders introduces Dan Morgan, a retired black-ops agent who must return to duty to thwart a deadly international conspiracy.
Once a trained killer for the CIA, Dan Morgan has built a new life for himself. But when he receives a desperate plea from his former black-ops partner - reportedly killed in a foreign battle zone - he flies in to help. It should be a routine mission, extracting a human asset from the region, but it’s not - it’s an ambush.
When nuclear waste is stolen by jihadists in the middle of the night from an unguarded New York City hospital, the police, in a frantic race against time, call in the FBI. Luke Stone, head of an elite, secretive department within the FBI, is the only man they can turn to. Luke realizes right away that the terrorists' aim is to create a dirty bomb, that they seek a high-value target, and that they will hit it within 48 hours.
On his last combat deployment, Lt. Cmdr. James Reece's entire team was killed in an ambush that also claimed the lives of the aircrew sent in to rescue them. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government. Now, with no family and free from the military's command structure, Reece applies the lessons that he's learned in over a decade of constant warfare toward revenge.
One year ago, Captain Jake Mahegan led a Delta Force team into Afghanistan to capture an American traitor working for the Taliban. The mission ended in tragedy. The team was infiltrated and decimated by a bomb. An enemy prisoner was killed. Mahegan was dismissed from service - dishonored forever.
Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist's worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world...and then tragedy struck.
John Wells is the only American CIA agent ever to penetrate al Qaeda. Since before the attacks in 2001, Wells has been hiding in the mountains of Pakistan, biding his time, building his cover.
Meet Brady Hawk. Former Navy SEAL. Former Peace Corps worker. Current blacks ops assassin. To those with the highest security clearance, it's a line item known only as Project X. But to the half-dozen agents and personnel working for it, it's known as Firestorm, a black ops group so dark that the US president doesn't even know about them yet. And no agent is as skilled as Brady Hawk.
Teaming up with beautiful and tenacious British-born agent Naomi Kharmai, Ryan intends to break every rule in order to hunt down his former pupil, whatever the cost to himself. As Ryan puts together the pieces of a terrifying puzzle, and as the elusive March taunts him, always staying one step ahead, he discovers the madman's crusade is personal as well as political - and Ryan himself is an unwitting pawn. With the clock ticking down and the fate of the country resting uneasily on his shoulders, Ryan is caught in a desperate game of cat-and-mouse with the most cunning opponent he's ever faced, one who will never stop until he's committed the ultimate act of evil - a man who is all the more deadly for being one of our own.
A wonderful chase story with many twists and turns. Great characters, but the detail in the book goes on and on. The author explains many situations to a degree that I found frustrating. It is a great book, with surprise? ending.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Ryan Kealey is the classic spy hero. He is a bit of a bad boy, extremely skilled at almost EVERYTHING, smarter than everyone else, is a tough guy, anti-bureaucracy, all the ladies immediately are attracted to him, and several other clichés. Only in his early thirties, he has to come out of retirement to track his terrorist nemesis. In all of the government, Ryan is the only one having success in the hunt and his success is primarily through hunches and bit of information gleaned when killing and torturing. I spent the last 3 hours of the book trying to decide how the author was going to handle two key telegraphed plot twists that were going to set up the remainder of the series. Sure enough, I guessed the ending.
Being predictable and cliché does not have to prevent a book from being entertaining and exciting. Heck, I like Clive Cussler books. The American is OK in that respect. The specific terrorist hunt and chase are good. I was not buying the villain and terrorist conspiracy, but it is no worse than many other novels. I can see this book would be great for those that like a macho hero and they will enjoy it. I was not a fan of the narrator who worked hard to give recognizable voices to the individual characters. While I give him credit for this, many of the accents and speech cadences did not work for me.
A word of caution are about the female characters. Heck, I am a guy and they were still written way too much from a guy’s perspective. The girls all attracted to the moody Kealey. We hear about how stylish the women are dressed with perfectly coiffed (impractically so) and later Kealey says that one of the things he loves about his fiancee is that she never thinks about her appearance or spends any time looking in the mirror, but she is totally beautiful.
Finally, the book ends the immediate threat, but more than sets itself up for the next chapter. I meant chapter because this feels like an episode of a themed television show. It is a book that I would not feel bad reading on a long flight, but think there are way better series to get connected with for the long term.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I am willing to recommend the author. I wish I had read the paper version first because the narration ruined it for me.
Would you recommend The American to your friends? Why or why not?
Same as above. Production is also awful. Some added "effects" such as phone and radio dialog and listening to someone shout in another room are just plain poor and amateurish attempts to make this title better. That coupled with the terrible narration makes me want to tell readers not to waste your money on the audio book without first sampling. Buy the paper version or get a different narrator. I will not be purchasing any more of Britton's audio books without a change in narrator and production expertise.
Would you be willing to try another one of Christopher Lane’s performances?
Absolutely not. He is nasal, his voice sounds mucousy and cracks and pitches at odd places.
Was The American worth the listening time?
Again the story is entertaining but the narration is too painful to bother with.
Any additional comments?
Someone give Christopher Lane some Mucinex and a box of tissues.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
This was one of the books that inspired me to write. Great story, great characters, good realism
It took me a while to get used to not falling asleep while driving due to the lack of inflection from the narrator. My first audio book by this narrator. Towards the end, I found it easier to stay engaged with the story and not be lulled into a hypnotic state. Going to go for the sequel.
Would you consider the audio edition of The American to be better than the print version?
can't compare. I haven't read print version
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Certainly kept me interested enough to want to keep coming back until finished
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
change in inflection as related to different characters. Seemed to get better as he went along.
The storyline was good, character development good but I thought the ending was abrupt and unsatisfying
Is there anything you would change about this book?
I liked the book in general. Although most of these types of book are fairly predictable, but still not too bad for a 1st release. Especially since the author was just 23 when released. Sad that he died so suddenly.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
So so
What aspect of Christopher Lane’s performance would you have changed?
I really didn't care for the narrator. He does a better job with female voices than male and he too monotone in most of it like he was just reading it and not acting.
Could you see The American being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Perhaps ... no clue
Any additional comments?
I'm pretty good and forcing myself to finish a book no matter how bad the book/narrator. Mr. Lane much, much better in the second book in the series. If you can make it through this one, you'll be pleased with the second one.