Kill Switch

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

What do you do when the power goes off?

Terrorists have acquired a terrible new weapon that can crash the power grid and plunge America into a new dark age. A coordinated attack is planned to shut out all lights and emergency services to 10 major cities. Planes will fall, hospitals will go dark, no help will come.

And in that terrible darkness, a dreadful plague will be released. If the lights go off, nothing can stop the bioweapon from killing millions.

At the same time, the intelligence services are being torn apart from within by a plague of betrayal, murder, and suicide. Even the Department of Military Sciences is stumbling in its response to the growing threat.

Time is running out, and Joe is being hunted by a terrifying new kind of assassin. A team of remote viewers have the ability to take over any person and turn ordinary citizens into killers. Where can you turn when there's nobody left to trust?

Joe Ledger faces his deadliest challenge as friends and allies become enemies and all of the lights begin to go out...

©2016 Jonathan Maberry (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Joe Ledger should be on the big screens

loved it. it did not disappoint. Certainly a detailed listen, it was a slight bit predictable, and the previous books I thought were stronger, but this was still a great listen.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

When the lights go out

SO what can you really say about this series that has not already been said. It just keeps getting better and better. Maberry will make you believe that your neighborhood is filled with zombies, or that drones will get you at a sports stadium or even that the guy sitting next to you at Starbucks drinking his latte is a quarter alien. So, to be honest I did not listen to the book yet but I just want my review to be posted first to let everyone know what is guaranteed in this book

1. Ledger, Church, Ghost and the rest of the team are bad asses
2. Ray Porter is going to bring it with his performance
3. Yes, Maberry will make you believe this could actually happen
4. Every other single book in this series will be inter woven in to this one
5. And… Church will have a friend in the industry
One last guarantee, this will receive 5 stars in all categories from me. Happy listening!!

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Starts off Intense and Doesn't Let Up!

Wow, this was another awesome addition to the Joe Ledger series!

Where does Jonathan Maberry come up with these ideas? Kill Switch was a fast paced "edge of your seat" story full of action, suspense, and weaved enough fantasy, the story had believable elements. He's a genius at combining fantasy and reality and making you believe, if it could happen, this is how it would occur.

I love Joe Ledger and the rest of the characters, especially their banter. They will have you laughing out loud, even when they are serious.

Ray Porter is one of the all time best narrators I've listen too. I really enjoyed his performance on Joe Ledger series. He has a voice for each of the characters and I really love how projects the different emotions throughout the story. (Every time I hear his voice, I think of Joe Ledger.)

This is a must have series for all Thriller/Sci-fi fans and it will be a great addition to anyone's collections.

I really enjoyed this story and it was well worth my time and credit.

17 of 20 people found this review helpful

great narrator and awesome story

loved the H.P. Lovecraft stuff that cropped up in this series. it was done well and added rather than detracted from the story with its strange nature.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I'm in the minority I suppose...

Let me preface this by saying I love the Joe Ledger books. Love them. I eat them up. I also see the rave reviews by everyone and think there must be something wrong with me, because I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as previous installments. I enjoy how Maberry runs these plotlines right along the edge of fantastical...making the plotlines just feasible enough to let you suspend disbelief. It's a major reason I like them so much. This one? Not so much. To be frank, one of the key factors in the whole story was so...well..utterly stupid, I couldn't stay engaged. That said, it was well written (as you'd expect) and I do still love the series. This one just didn't really do it for me. That said, it's still better than 80% of the swill out there right now, so ignore my complaints and buy it anyway.

15 of 18 people found this review helpful

Could the world survive without the DMS?

Joe Ledger and his team are my favorite protagonists in the thriller / adventure / sci-fi space of stories. The villains in this series commit outrageous transgressions, often resulting in the ultimate sacrifice of DMS operatives. In this story, agents of the DMS are on a bad run and are being marginalized by other security organizations. This occurs at a time when a new and horrifying threat is emerging. Joe, Echo team and friends will need to fight through self doubt and local challenges in order to save the world. Great audiobook with an excellent story complemented by a brilliant audio performance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Spectacular

I don't even know where to begin..Jonathan Maberry continues to impress with the story of Joe Ledger and his team..As soon as the book was released I was all in and as the hours ticked away it was truly bitter sweet. I feel about Joe the way he felt about his hero..You'll understand once you read/listen to the book...Ray Porter is my favorite narrator and doesn't disappoint thus go around...I just wish I could give Jonathan Maberry a hug for continue to take me away from the cares of this life with his fantastic writing...Wonderful job and I can't wait for the next book.....

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Another hit for Mayberry!

Best story since Patient Zero.. Mr Church and company spin a really griping tale of terrorism of this world and future or parallel worlds. Capt. Ledger gets plenty banged up but once again proves he is up for the fight, but it's a close call.
This book has 3 different plots that all converge near the end with some surprises...it all makes for an enjoyable brawl...if you don't like macho, trash talking heroes, that live bigger than life, you would probably be well served to choose a different title.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Where were you when the lights went out?

This book grabs you right from the prologue as Joe Ledger asks a series of questions, including: Where were you when the lights went out? That's the question isn't it? Where you suddenly reminded that civilization and the comfort of infrastructure is just a garment that we wear? Did the sudden dark remind you that all of the things that we expect to be there for us are fleeting? You were absolutely sure someone was going to come and fix it right? Then there was a moment when you realized that the lights weren't coming back on, that maybe they wouldn't, that maybe they couldn't...

Despite the book title and the prologue, in typical Jonathan Maberry fashion the plot turns out to be far more complicated than just the threat of a permanent power outage. The teased power outage from the prologue is merely a side effect of one of the bigger plot lines which cover multiple major threat vectors. For me, this made the book more complicated than it needed to be; however, each of the threats is very unique so there is something for everyone to get hooked on no matter what your tastes.

All of this trouble starts at a time when things are not going well for the DMS. Due to the events of the prior book there is a new President in power who has pushed the DMS to the sidelines after a series of failures has tarnished their reputation. The juicy cases are now handed over to the CIA and Joe Ledger finds himself a mere spectator as the world starts to crumble around him. All the regular characters in the series are back and Mr. Church even gets to show off a side of himself that hasn't been seen in a long time. There are some very impactful plot points for a number of the characters and one does wonder what the long term side effects there will be from such events.

Even though I would have preferred a more focused story, this one was entertaining from cover to cover and was definitely one of the better books in the series. Joe Ledger's world is a scary place and once again we are shown that although Joe is one of the good guys he is not a nice guy. Ray Porter stays on top of his game with another excellent narration and I am definitely looking forward to the next installment in the series.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Phenomenal!!!

Awesome story!!! Best book in the joe ledger series!!! The best series I've ever read!!

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Fantastic

Amazing as always, brilliant story. Can't wait for the next book. When is the next book?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ray Porter is Joe ledger

Would be weird to hear anyone else. Yes good entry into the series this, the most 'out there' plot to date, but very enjoyable. I'm sadly completely up to date so bring on the next please

Kill Switch.

Just love the Joe Ledger books. Such great stories and the narration is exquisite. Another few hours spent in bliss - I look forward to getting back in the car for the commute so I can listen to the next chapter.

Awesome fun

Some authors are good and maintain a fairly constant level of quality, others fade; some have great ideas but their execution are a disappointment. Maberry keeps getting better and better. In a market where churning out mediocre novels is rather prevalent, Maberry has taken the time to hone his craft; he clearly loves what he does.

I think of Maberry as a much more intelligent version of other authors in this space. His Joe Ledger books take paranormal fantasy and couch them in an intelligently constructed scientific framework. Okay vampires don't exist, but if they did how could they come about? This particular book is not about vampires but you get the point. He delivers this in an action packed dramatic and deft way with surprises that will thrill and grip you. He is clearly a master of his craft and I look forward to more from this writer that is clearly a cut above most of his contemporaries.

So far I have read Maberry's:

Kill Switch
Predator One
Extinction Machine
Assassins Code

They are all great books and I gave them the same rating as this one, however I felt Predator One had too much of the 9/11 conspiracy about it I still enjoyed the book as much as all the others and I agreed with most of the political/philosophical points he was making but it had a bit too much of secret government action against the interest of the populace for my taste. The fact that I was still able to enjoy the book is a testament to the skill of the author.

I also read his books backwards Kill Switch being my first. Something else I like about Maberry is that he is able to write continuations giving just the right amount of previous events away teasing them enough for you to be temped without spoiling them. The order in which I read the books did not degrade the enjoyment even adding an extra little frisson of tension, excitement and expectation to the experience.

Ray Porters performance of the Joe Ledger stories is quite frankly utterly brilliant. It is the job of the narrator to present the most accurate reflection of the authors intent for the characters and Ray Porter plays this role perfectly.

All that remains for me to say, is just hit the buy button! Mash it!

Best Joe Ledger yet...

Loved it, hard to write too much without spoilers, so suffice to say it's just a must read for fans of the series!

Boring worst in the series.

Hours of listening with nothing happening. Very little action and the whole idea was far fetched even for this series. Hopefully the next book will be better.