The Spy

Jed Walker Series, Book 1

By: James Phelan

Narrated by: Mulraney Adrian

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Jed Walker is the man you want watching your back.

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. Stopping Zodiac is the only way. Desperate to catch the killers and find the mastermind, he can't afford to lose the next lead, but that means that sometimes the terrorists have to win. Ultimately it all comes down to Walker: he's the only one who can break the chain and put the group to sleep...permanently. It's exactly 81 hours until deadline.

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.

©2013 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)

Spy thriller

Fast moving spy thriller. Ends on a cliff-hanger, of course. Jeb Walker is an interesting character. Not a "must-hear" but I'd listen to more in the series.

Actually it's very,very good.

Much better than I expected and that is not saying enough about how much I enjoyed this novel.

not a good one

not so happy Reader I Won't read this series.Thinking about Refund. Looking for a thriller

A fun listen

But a note or a few to the American audience and the narrator: the Boot of a car is the trunk, the carriage of a train is the car, and Houston Street in NYC is pronounced How-stun Street not Hew-stun. Lots of little things throughout that reminded me that this was a British/Australian book/production - still fun.

Terrible Performance

I think it is a good novel, but its difficult to get through with this narrator. His Australian accent does not go well with the storyline and he mispronounced too many words to count. I get pulled out of the story too often with this guy. I wish the rest of the books were done by someone else. Not sure I will make it through this series, and thats sad because the writer did his job well.

This is a tough one. Strong story poor performer.

I struggled every minute. stopped listening 3 or 4 times. I'm glad I finished, but if the same performer does the rest of the series, I'm done.

Smart yet stupid hero. The Nicolas Sparks of the action genre

Walker is so smart then he miles the most stupid mistakes. He doesn’t tell anyone around him what’s going on and wants to be the lone hero. The problem is, if he had told heather story, there would be no story. It was an agonizing read. The plot contrived and made no sense. Dead bodies line up without any repercussions. The bad guy killing people with efficiency but dies to a tied up man...The ending was awful. I know he wants to sell more books but it added insult to injury.

I won’t buy anymore of this guy’s books

Different but similar

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. it's theme is at this juncture similar to the Grey Man series by Mark Greaney. this does not take away from the wonderful writing skills, detail development, story line under taken by Phelan. i love both authors and look forward to the following continuation of the Jed Walker series. Audible did a great job in referring me when i finished the Grey Man series to this one. well worth the download and listening. Adrian does a great job in narrating the story. one can clearly visualize the events as they are happening.

A gripping story, impeccably delivered

Contrary to another review that almost put me off this selection, the narrator does a wonderful job. His aussie accent is mild and his delivery is clear and well paced. A great read and listen!

Well I finished it.....

The story line is easy to follow and pretty standard for a spy novel. The narration however was AWFUL. The narrator had all sorts of goofy accents that came and went. Same with the way he portrayed the females in the story. It made it really hard to tell who he was supposed to be. I would listen to the next book in the series if it was a different narrator.