Cold

A Joe Tiplady Thriller, Book 1

By: John Sweeney

Narrated by: Alan Smyth

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

In the feeble light of a London winter, Joe Tiplady walks his dog in the snow. He is not alone. Two men are tracking him, as is a woman with wolf eyes. Soon Joe will find himself caught in a storm of violence and retribution that he does not yet understand.

Around the world, a chain of events is in motion that will make Joe a priceless target. A retired Soviet general hunts for his missing daughter after a series of brutal murders. A ruthless assassin loses something so precious he will do anything to get it back. And in the mountains of Utah, a brilliant ex-CIA chief wrestles with his religion.

In the shadow of them all lies Zoba, strongman ruler of Russia and puppet-master of the world's darkest operatives. Can Joe save himself from this dangerous web of power and revenge? Where can he run when there's nowhere left to hide?

Please note: this book contains strong language and scenes of torture.

©2016 John Sweeney (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Not a horror fan.

I just could not get into the whole storyline. The Cold War, the horror of it and the terrible things which were done to humans. I also do not care for horror pictures.

Good thriller great performance

Very enjoyable and engaging book. The narrator did a great job bringing the charchters to life

The best kind of surprise

This is the best choice I've made from all the Kindle First books and it makes up for the other, disappointing choices and then some.
An amazingly detailed and well-plotted story. The author's attention to detail and thorough research make for a novel that kept me up very late (the audible version of just one more chapter.) From the cold war to contemporary Russia, the book is an adventure of spy craft intrigue, the complexities of war, and political hubris. Added in are a little black dog and a guest apperance by some piranha, giving it enough wit to balance out some of the graphic scenes inherent to a great suspense novel.
Alan Smyth give a stunning performance! He manages to portray each character's personality not only through accent but tempo of speech and a great deal of narrative talent. Some who reviewed the book on Amazon complained that it was slow and plodding. I wish those reviewers would listen to the book instead; Mister Smythe's narration would quickly end those complaints.
Definitely looking forward to the second book in the series. Joe Tiplady is a man worthy of a series.

Just not my thing

I started this book three times, and just couldn't get into it. It might be a perfectly good book, but I didn't get far enough to tell. Obviously, neither the author or narrator has ever been to Idaho or Utah--thats for sure!

GRIPPING

This was a suspenseful page turner. Story kept me wondering where is it going. Starting with the
strangers following you and stealing your dog. What’s it all about. We soon find out it is the stuff spy stories are made of. The story leads the main character Joe Tiplady all over the place into many unbelievable scrapes from which he must escape.. Lots of action and seat of you pants moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend.

This book was OK!

This book could be made into a mini TV movie or a PBS special! Thank you.....

Confusing

This was and absolutely excellent narration but confusing story with a bad ending. The narrator used different accents and was consistent with the voice-to-character match. The story almost seemed pointless in the end.

Should Have Been Non-Fiction

John Sweeney is a veteran British journalist who does not shy away from controversy -- he's been sued by the billionaire owners of a rival newspaper and fought on screen against Scientologists. He also helped exonerate innocent mothers convicted of murdering their own children, covered war zones (including some of those discussed in Cold), and reported about portions of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc (the main theme here).

In the afterword to Cold (which will unfortunately come too late for some readers who will have a hard time finishing this book, judging by the plethora of one-star reviews), Sweeney lists the inspirations for Cold, including the real-life people on which he based ex-IRA bomber Joe Tiplady and ex-CIA agent Zeke Chandler, and the real-life background to some of the other threads in Cold.

That is all quite interesting -- especially the portrayal of Russia as brutal criminal enterprise on a national (even international) scale. But as a work of fiction, it has serious flaws. Plot points are sometimes preposterous, the main characters are one-dimensional and all too disposable, the McGuffin is simultaneously telegraphed and trivial, the reveals are few and not all that illuminating, and the ending is jarringly abrupt, that after extended detailed flashbacks that are not directly part of the story.

Journalist John Sweeney should have stayed in his wheelhouse and written a powerful fact-based expose of his primary targets rather than fictionalizing them, especially since his primary sources were real people with real stories. That would have made for quite a book. On the other hand, a non-fiction version would probably not have necessitated the superb Irish-accented narration of Alan Smyth.

poor background research but decent spy

for an investigative reporter, the spy side seemed researched, but the religious backgrounds and characters seem with research.

Needed more research.

Any additional comments?

Mr. Sweeney needed to research into the religion that he was trying to portray. The lack thereof was obvious. This lack made the entire book feel unbelievable and the characters too unreal to connect with.