Kill Decision

By: Daniel Suarez

Narrated by: Jeff Gurner

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The shocking techno-thriller that cements Daniel Suarez's status as the heir to Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy - a terrifying, breathtaking, and all-too-plausible vision of the world's near future.

Unmanned weaponized drones already exist: they're widely used by America in our war efforts in the Middle East. In Kill Decision, best-selling author Daniel Suarez takes that fact and the real science behind it one step further, with frightening results.

Linda McKinney is a myrmecologist, a scientist who studies the social structure of ants. Her academic career has left her entirely unprepared for the day her sophisticated research is conscripted by unknown forces to help run an unmanned - and thanks to her research, automated - drone army. Odin is the secretive Special Ops soldier with a unique insight into the faceless enemy who has begun to attack the American homeland with drones programmed to seek, identify, and execute targets without human intervention.

Together, McKinney and Odin must slow this advance long enough for the world to recognize its destructive power, because for thousands of years the "kill decision" during battle has remained in the hands of humans - and off-loading that responsibility to machines will bring unintended, possibly irreversible, consequences.

But as forces even McKinney and Odin don't understand begin to gather, and death rains down from above, it may already be too late to save humankind from destruction at the hands of our own technology.

©2012 Daniel Suarez (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Enjoyed it more than I thought!

Although I am not a tech expert or much of a video game player I really enjoyed the story. At times it was a little too dramatic but it did not deter from the excellent story. I would recommend.

A "series" means multple parts of the SAME story

If you could sum up Kill Decision in three words, what would they be?

Mislabeled mediocre sci-fi

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Mostly apathy as the characters I had become fond of in the actual "series" predecessor books were completely absent from this book. The character development was fine and there was some development but the ending was far from satisfactory or even relevant to the story lines of the first two books.

What does Jeff Gurner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Gurner's performance was exemplary as always.

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

No. Not really.

Any additional comments?

This book lacks almost all of the drama and character interactions of the first two. It also lacks ANY of the characters from the first two books and at no time in the book does the daemon even get mentioned or implied.This book is NOT a part of the series started with the brilliant Daemon and continued in Freedom(TM) and bears no connectiuon to it other than some random similarity by virtue of time and technology.Do NOT buy this if you are expecting to continue in the Daemon storylines as they do not exist in this book. Calling it part three of a series is disturbingly dishonest as this book shares none of the story of the first two books, none of the characters and none of the basic plot of the first books at all.As a standalone story in the techno thriller genre this book is well written and has some interesting developments but is not up to the levels of character and story of either of the first two books.

Scary or Terrifying or Sci-Fi, You Decide

I don't know how much of this is real, or possible in 2014. Or, how much is likely in the near or far future. But it is scary, maybe terrifying. Or maybe it's all sci-fi. You decide.

Fantastic!

Any additional comments?

Suarez writes an excellent thriller, and this one is every bit as good as Daemon and Freedom, two other books of his that I loved. The story is compelling, cutting-edge, and exciting. The characters are good as well, although their development is a little less the focus than is the plot.

To my mind, though, Gurner's performance of this book was the best part overall. I have never listened to a performance like this, with such clear delineation between characters (male and female, the various accents, ages, etc.) and well-acted segments throughout. The guy is amzaing, and I look forward to listening to him in future.

Overall, if you enjoy a good thriller, this one is a must read (listen). I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Less than previous books

Not nearly as gripping or fantastic as previous Suarez books, and not as much fun. The action was flat, characters cliche, and it never built any real tension, suspense, or mystery.

Super fun ride. Suspend disbelief and just enjoy.

Great ideas and imagery. Sure, the "tech becomes self aware" genre is well covered, but this is a different take.

If you're familiar with the author, you'll see progress in his work since Freedom. Better main characters, less heavy handed with the theme.

If you're not, know that you're getting a Michael Bay movie, not a nuanced piece...

Such an awesome story!!

Daniel does it again! His stories are constantly well done and expertly written! As always he includes enough balance of action and high tech to keep the stories fresh and engaging!

Formulaic, stretched, but entertaining

I rank Suarez's "Daemon" as one of the best books to come out in years, and was really looking forward to this book. However, instead of the creative, techno savy writing of Daemon, Kill Decision is a techo-military thriller modeling Clancy far too closely. Instead of Clancey's right wing politics, Saurez's left wing paradoxical techno-phobia is laid over the story like... well, a burdensome pheromone. The plot line contains multiple inconsistencies and blatantly artificial devices that distracted from what is certainly an action filled plot.
The overly humane and competent main characters are clever and well connected... except when they need not to be. Two highly improbable ravens serve as organic drone substitutes clearly designed to smooth over plot needs of the moment. There is even the stiffly written obligatory sex scene. Evil characters are the thinnest and least believable of the book. I also failed to really embrace Suarez's almost palpable fear of drone technology itself. I know too many fighter pilots and bomber pilots who did their jobs honorably, but with the unquestioning machine like precision of autonomous drones to really fear these things any more than the existing technology.
Still, even with all that, Suarez does piece together an action packed, albeit inconsistently plotted page turner that delivers some good scenes. The audio narration is excellently done. Here is hoping that in the future he steps away from trying to imitate Clancy, and lightens up a bit, to get back to the originality of books like Daemon.

Want more

The story is very good but I was left wanting a bit more, not a bad thing in the book it's just that good.

Awesome

Looking forward to the next in this series, it can't possibly be a one-shot book. It's too good.