Kill Zone

A Sniper Novel

By: Jack Coughlin, Donald A. Davis

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

An American general is captured by Islamic extremists in the Middle East. They threaten to behead him within days. One strange fact: Moments before he is rendered unconscious during the attack, the general notices that his unseen captors speak American English. What's going on?

Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson, a top level marine sniper, is vacationing on a boat in the Mediterranean when he receives orders to mount a top-secret mission to rescue the general. But as he and his men prepare to land in the Iraqi desert, they immediately come under ferocious attack, and Swanson is the only man left alive. How did the enemy know details of a mission known only to a few top government officials?

Swanson takes off across the desert alone to find the captured general and realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless and dangerous enemy: American mercenaries working for a very high-level group of American officials with ties to the White House itself, part of a clandestine conspiracy whose hidden agenda is nothing less than total control of the American military. Their sworn enemy is the captured general whose fate now rests in Sniper Swanson's hands.

Full of the kind of action author Jack Coughlin lived during his career as a marine sniper, Kill Zone marks the debut of an extraordinary writing team.

©2007 Jack Coughlin and Donald A. Davis (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Fast moving action

I came across Jack Coughlins Kill Zone. It became a must listen marathon listen. Highly recommend this "sniper" story.

Well Done!

I was looking for a book to listen to on a drive, came across this one and decided to give it a try. I was a bit concerned after a few chapters that I made the wrong choice, but stuck with it - I still had hours to go. Glad I did. About 1/3 of the way in the story hit its stride and was well done. I enjoyed the characters, action and detail. I would like to listen to more but there are no more unabridged Kyle Swanson/Sniper books, I hope audible changes that soon. The second book is available but is abridged. I have no use for abridged stories, what is the point?

Good Story, but why doesn't the Ret. Gunnery Sergeant know the correct lingo?

I like the story and LOVE Luke Daniels as a narrator! He can make good books great and bad ones good. I've yet to listen to a more skilled narrator.
I'm confused at how the author a retired USMC Gunnery Sergeant does not use the right firearms nomenclature? Just like the misinformed media and dishonest politicians he calls rifle magazines 'clips'. There are several other inaccurate terms used with regards to firearms, firearms parts/accessories as well as situational settings where it is evident that a lack of knowledge is present. It doesn't ruin the book for me. I still enjoyed it, but it's a bit odd to understand. Was this due to an editor who believed it best to continue the incorrect use of terms so as not to potentially confuse the public? I don't understand, but it's the only real issue I have with the book. I'll still read/listen to other books in this series (at least the ones narrated by Daniels).

Bad Ass

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes - this was a great book to listen to - the action was easy enough to follow and since I am in and out of the car, I really enjoyed a story that held my interest and didn't require a lot of rewinding to remember where I was

What did you like best about this story?

Great character development all the way through

Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?

not anyone in particular - Luke did a fine job with the different vocalizations without making it unbelieveable

The violators of trust

I really liked the characters...the primal ruthlessness of men under extreme survival conditions. The webs of deception were well planned by both the villains and the good guys. Also I appreciated having the author make the point that more often that we would like to admit about our gov. The right hand doesn't have a clue about the left hand. All in all by the end doesn't have riding off into a glorious sissy.
Also the reader did a very good.. Keep your ears up, you'll get a kick out of the staff sergeant she is pure entertainment .

I wish there were more stories

I plan on listening to the entire series again but still wish there were more stories in the series. Surely Mr. Coughlin can come up with more adventures. I can only hope.

Kill Zone Rocks!!!

On the positive side, the story has lots of action and is filled with terrific detail that only a real-life sniper would be able to add. The descriptions were vivid and you felt like you were really there. The book itself works well but I think it might be a bit disjointed at times, and I would view the end as being a little bit too rushed, it was more like tying up loose ends than a natural finish to the plot.
Luke Daniels was excellent.

Solid, Kept me interested-flaws but no dealbreaker

Actually, I'd say most of the criticisms people had were valid to some extent. I just didn't find them to be deal breakers

1) I actually liked his normal narrating voice a lot. But the people that criticized the accents and such do have some valid points. Some were pretty over the top. Some I'd be wincing at the sudden volume of shouting. Some just eye roll-worthy.
But. I really like the story, and I wanted to know what happened and it wasn't enough to make me stop listening. At first I tolerated it….then I just got used to it. Every once in awhile I'd cringe again and soldier on. But I will say that the "all over the place" voices did make for a very varied listening experience. The opposite of monotone and droning.

2) It did start slow. It took about 3 hours for him to get in country and things to get going, but then it was exciting after that. If you want to stop for slowness, stick it out at least 4 hours, maybe 5. If you still don't care, then call it.

3) There are parts that seem unexpectedly juvenile. Sometimes they come out of nowhere and don't fit at all. Like some snippets of conversation or the sex scenes. There aren't many, but they do seem like a B movie or teenager depiction.

4) There are some pretty graphic descriptions of violence, but I've definitely heard worse. Then there is one very brutal description of a rape that I had to start skipping through, I just couldn't take it. That, too, seemed out of place. It didn't seem like "that kind of book". It reads more like an adventure story, then it's "time out for random rape scene".

There were parts that were overly detailed, but they weren't off-track. It was just more "I didn't need to know all of that, get on with it." But part of that was also my impatience at wanting to know what happened.

The ending was a bit weird. After a whole book of a lot of scene detail, it suddenly just skips whole, important scenes, and only tells you what happens afterward when one person relays the story to another. Missing really major things and their aftermath. Could have taken up 4 chapters. It was strange. It's like we listen the whole book for the climax and then it stops partway through? It actually made the end confusing, because you don't know what happened for it to end up where it did. Then you hear the details 2nd hand in a few sentences.

I wouldn't have said that the "writing" is personal and the characters are "developed". Yet whatever the author does, the end result is that I do like the characters and they seem real enough that I am invested in them.

All in all I liked it.
I wanted to listen to the next one right away.
It's not in my favorite bracket with the Grey Man and Mitch Rapp, but it is definitely in the "solid" category

Kyle Swan makes me proud to be an American

What did you love best about Kill Zone?

My first Kyle Swan story. The story was good, maybe a little far-fetched, but not totally out of the question that major military companies could try to influence gov in their direction. Also, I know there are progressives out there that want to write a new constitution. Combine that with a billionaire and there could be trouble.

What did you like best about this story?

The concept of BIG military business trying for a coup. Don't think for a minute that America would buy that, but it is cause to think. The excalibur technology and the scram jet were fun to read.

What aspect of Luke Daniels’s performance would you have changed?

The country bumpkin accent for Kyle's character.It was distracting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really moving, but I liked the aspect of Kyle that had him tell a general to shut up and let him do his job so they both could survive.

Gunney Swanson Kicks Butt....

I LOVE this series... Comparisons to Flynn's Mitch Rapp and Thor's Scot Harvath and Hunter's Swagger et al are easy but I would add Cussler's Dirk Pitt and Juan Cabrillo too. Kyle is a special breed of Super Sniper Assassin but the really special features of the series are his Trident team and, of course, the Excalibur family.

As with most series, I strongly recommend reading them IN ORDER although Coughlin does explain Kyle's teammates in each book.

Accents need work...

Enjoyed the story and all round a very good read/listen. The only thing that spoiled it a little were the British accents of the narrator. Very poor indeed, were they Scottish or Indian?

Good start to a series

I have had this book on my wish list for along time. Knowing that i was going to love this series. But audible only had books 1 2 and 8 and this would just frustrate me because I would be hooked by the series and want more. So I'm a very happy person as books 1 to 9 have now been released. I can now say that I loved this book it was full of action and adventure and yes I am hooked. Ok I'm off to start book 2.

Great Story rubbish Narration

Great Story of a lone sniper struggling to rescue a USMC General.
Some interesting twist in the plot keep you wanting to here more.
The story was let down by the poor choice of Narrator. Luke Daniels should stick to USA voices, his assassination of British voices making a Welsh character sounding like a Irish, Scottish Pakistanis.
He has a very limited range of voices.

Amazing listen. Voices need work

Story is captivating and detailed. I loved the intensity of the story line and how bad ass Kyle Swanson is! The narrator lead me to a bit of confusion when using character voices but was still able to get the gist of who’s speaking.

The Scottish accent definitely needs work. Sounded more like Indian.

Besides that, fantastic listen.

brilliant book 5 stars

loved it heard it 3 times now also got all other published books need more swanson books please