Killer Thriller

Ian Ludlow Thrillers, Book 2

By: Lee Goldberg

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg’s action-packed sequel to The Washington Post bestseller True Fiction, a hapless writer is pitted against an enemy nation mounting a treacherous plot lifted from one of his thrillers.

Everybody loves Ian Ludlow’s action novels - especially the CIA - because the spies know something the public doesn’t: his fictional plots have a frightening tendency to come true. Ian is in Hong Kong with his resourceful assistant Margo French to research his wildest story yet - a deadly global conspiracy by Chinese intelligence to topple the United States.

What Ian doesn’t know is that his horrifying scenario is happening and that the Chinese mistakenly believe he’s an undercover superspy assigned to foil their scheme. Now Ian is trapped in his own terrifying thriller, on the run from assassins, and racing against time to prevent an epic disaster. He’s written himself into a corner that could cost his life...and his country.

©2019 Adventures in Television, Inc. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

“The pleasure here is watching Goldberg mock the thriller form while creating a first-rate one, boiling with chases, fights, sweaty-palm tension, snappy dialogue, and glamorous, exotic locations - this time, post-Maugham Hong Kong and its stunning outdoor escalators. It’s really a sophisticated exercise in metafiction: commenting on narrative while creating it.” (Booklist)

“Killer Thriller grabs you from page one with brilliant wit, sharply honed suspense, and a huge helping of pure originality.” (Jeffery Deaver, New York Times best-selling author)

Great series

Really enjoying the present day political subject matter! The story line is unique, a thriller author actually getting caught up in his plots. Many LOL moments in this fun romp. It's hard to write a good parody without getting too cheesy, Goldberg has done it well, looking forward to next adventure. Has become my fav Lee G. series.

23 chapters in and I couldn't take it anymore

1st book, idea of a script in real life was novel. 2nd time around not so much. I dont recommend the book or the Audible version. The author goes through the motion of laying down the basis of the plot but there is no drama. No intrigue. Nothing is left to build excitement. No plot depth ... it reads like a bad action movie that you find on netflix with C level actors and a 54% thumbs up rating. The characters are shallow and the quips aren't funny. The worst characters are the chinese bad guys. Nothing believable about them. It's just so predictable and the dialogue is like you'd find in a B-movie that goes straight to cable. The crowning glory, I listen to Audible, is the narrator who uses basically the same voice for every character, same intonation and emotion with no variation. Its monotonous...

Prepare Yourself for Laughter

The characters are a hoot, & keep you laughing all the way through the book.
At the end I yelled out NO!...I want more.

Killer Non Thriller

I tried twice to listen to this. I quit after 6chapters but had not noted I hated it. After a mistaken I started it again fromchapter 6 but my chapter 9 I realized this book wad going no where. It is without merit and is made more annoyi g by the immaturereading of some of the lies. I read some otherboomsby this author and they were good. I will have to find out the ones I like so I don't make another mistake of the type of book I don't like of his. Don't read thisbook

Love This Character

Ian is on another hair raising run for his life and its AWESOME. You will truly enjoy this book.

GREAT FUN

I liked these books, even if they're far fetched! The reader has a really weird "valley girl" inflection in his speak pattern, that I found really annoying.

Good story, not so good narrator

The story is fun, fast paced just what you expect from Lee Goldberg. The narrator was quite annoying though. I beared with him, but I close to calling it quits. All the voices sound pretty much the same. I know it's hard to do female voices, but he doesn't even try. And he has an annoying habit of drawing out the last syllable every few sentences and this is especially grating.

enjoyed

the story was great. It was believable to the extent it was believable. It was humorous when it needed to be humorous. I struggle with the inflection of the narrator when the characters are actually talking. It sounds sometimes like the characters are asking a question when they should be making a statement. Sometimes it sounded like the characters were whining. It didn't detract from the book it was just noticeable. Overall I enjoyed it

I enjoyed it overall but….

Look, I get that humor is a big part of this book series. But the uptalk rising pitch at the end of half of the character’s lines was annoying as hell. It made things almost farcical at times . I doubt that is what Lee was going for when he wrote it. In my mind whoever directed the narration is to blame.

Good Story

Is this a multi-part story? Yes
Does it end in a cliffhanger? No
Genre(s) : Action Suspense

3.75 Stars for me!
My rating range of this story... 3 - 4 Stars
If significant, why?
Biggest deduction? n/a

Main Character Ratings...
H (Ian Ludlow) = 7-10
h (Margo French) = 8/10 - 9/10
TSTL Moment(s)? No

Narrator Rating(s)
M (Adam Verner) = 9/10
F () = n/a
If below 5/10, why?

If Comedy... Type? Funny parts
Funny, Cute, Cringe Inducing, Mixed or Just No!

Angst Level? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Internal Monolog/Dialog? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Scenes with heat... Light

The back story... The H&h have gone to China for the filming of his next action novel. He is working on a story in which the Chinese are fitting surveillance into all electronics leaving China in a bid to gain control over the US. The Chinese Government snooped his laptop, saw the story and determined that he was a spy and the chase is on

Gist: Still no romance for the H as the H is a out and proud lesbian and she has a much better game than the H. She does have some fun in this story. The h has a much bigger role and pulls the H through several situations.

The drama explosion... The MCs have to go on a mission to stop an assassination.
Did it feel Real, OK or contrived? Ok
Was it OTT? Yes, in a fun way
Separation involved? No
Was it resolved properly or rushed? Mostly properly

Final Notes... The only drawback for me is that it looks like the author is getting a bit political. I am not a fan of the President during the time this story was being written but I like fiction for the escape from reality it provides.

HEA or HFN? N/A
Book Source: Kindle Unlimited

Another excellent thriller.

This is the second Lee Goldberg thriller I’ve listened to in two days.
It was brilliant. Exciting and very funny. Great cast of characters, again.
Adam Verner really brings the story to life. He is such a good narrator.
Lee Goldberg is now on my list of top five thriller writers.