Rogue Empire

Blake Carver Series

By: William Tyree

Narrated by: Paul Christy

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A botched drone strike pushes the United States and China to the brink of war.

As dawn rises over Tripoli, counter-terrorism operative Blake Carver arrives ahead of a planned drone strike on an extremist stronghold. But his plan to extract an embedded CIA operative turns disastrous when the mis-targeted attack reduces the Chinese Embassy to rubble.

All signs point to an inside job, and Carver finds himself on the wrong end of an internal investigation. Forced into exile, he watches helplessly as Beijing erupts in riots, an American diplomat is murdered and cyber attacks are unleashed on Wall Street. The two superpowers teeter on the brink of all-out war.

With only the help of a renegade hacker and an old flame with powerful friends, Carver must act alone to thwart the most ingenious conspiracy the world has ever known.

Discover why critics call the Blake Carver Series "Astonishing," "Chilling" and "Impossible to put down."

©2016 William Tyree (P)2017 William Tyree

Great story. Engrossing performance.

This is my first Blake Carver exposure. The story line was intriguing, the narration excellent. Character development could have been a bit better.

Action Thriller with some audio issues

“Rogue Empire” is a straight-out action thriller and a part of the Blake Carver series written by William Tyree. The audiobook edition is narrated by Paul Christy. If you are someone who likes rather complex stories involving intrigue, kidnapping, and spies, and counter-terrorism, this book has all of those for you. On the other hand, if you like books that have a good amount of action, suspense, along with some romance, Rogue Empire also is a good book for you. Because the story is rather complex and moves quickly from scene to scene, you will want to listen closely to this one, try not to listen while heavily distracted. Although thriller books are not one of my favorite genres, I did enjoy this book apart from the many issues with the audio quality; discussed later in this review. If any of the above sounds interesting, I would recommend you pick up Rogue Empire and give it a read over the audiobook edition.

What happens when pressure between two already on edge superpowers begins to spiral out of control because of a mis-targeted drone strike which goes awry? Was the botched missile strike simply a technical issue? Was it done on purpose for some other clandestine purpose? Was it due to rogue code injected by someone or something else? All of this happens in the opening chapters of this book. As things progress, both countries come close to declaring all-out war against one another instead of working together to resolve their differences. I am a person who works with technology every day, and overall, I thought the author did a decent job of researching and making sure what was created in the book was plausible. There were only a few instances where I felt I had to suspend belief; but, that was not an issue for me knowing this is a piece of fiction. I thought the premise was well developed and the book progressed in a way that seemed not rushed. In some ways, I felt the book was slower than expected, but this was often to permit better story or character development. The tension continued to build throughout the first half of the book with most of the resolve coming near the end.

I found that I liked the main characters along with their backstory details. I also found that I detested the villains in this book, but I think this was the author’s intention. For me, the book felt like the television series 24, but on steroids. I like that one of the characters had a disorder called total recall (not the movie) which was more like having a photographic memory. This disability is used sparingly, so the character is not like one of the X-Men or other superheroes. However, this power does assist him at getting out of a few situations as the story unfolds. Not only are we dropped into exquisite world locations, but you are also introduced to some quite interesting and unique technology. And, where there is technology you seem to always have hackers and malicious just around the corner. For me, having a female U.S. President was a bit of a twist in the book and a nice surprise.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book for younger readers as there are times a fair amount of vulgar language is used. Often such language is in small bursts and usually confined to one or two characters. In some ways, it was not used as frequently as I would have suspected, however it was present and seemed to get worse as the book got closer to its end. As expected, there are also a few scenes that may not be appropriate for younger readers due to graphic violence or subject matter.

So, let me move to the area that I had the most difficulty with this book; its audio quality along with some slight narration issues. Paul Christy has a fair number of audiobook narrations under his name, so I was surprised to find the issues I did with this book. There are numerous places where you can clearly hear the audio has been patched or edited. I’m not sure if the book was being written at the same time it was narrated and edits needed to be injected after the fact. But, there were enough instances that I lost count and these often distracted me enough that it pulled me out of the story for brief moments. Two examples are around the 1:20 and 1:54 minute marks. There were also a few places where volume inconsistency was observed along with a few mispronounced technology phrases, such as URL spoken as ‘eral’ and not the letters themselves. If you are one who is a purist when it comes to your audiobook quality, I would steer clear of this one and pick up the book instead. If you are one who can get past a few bumps along the way, the book is still worth it even having a few blemishes.

In summary, if you like thrillers or enjoy books involving political conspiracies and counter-terrorism, I suggest you pick up this book and give it a listen. That is if you can get over the many audio recording distractions and some of the language found in this book.

Disclaimer: I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

Great Listen!

Enjoyed the story and the narration. Worth a credit!

"This book was provided at no cost for an unbiased review."

Shivers up my spine!

I had shivers up my spine as the awesome voiceover artist Paul Christy dramatized Willam Tryee's book "Rogue Empire". Paul Christy's husky voice does wonders in bringing this book to life!! I will continue listing to more books in this series for sure!

Thrilling and fun.

I loved this book. it kept me on the edge and I really enjoyed the ending. looking forward to the next one. "I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Great Thriller

"Rogue Empire" begins with breaking news from Tripoli, a tragic accident, the US has mistakenly directed a missile to foreign allies... the story develops into a suspenseful thriller from there with the presence of an American intelligence agent, Kyra in Tripoli, fleeing for her life. A modern day epic thriller, "Rogue Empire" will keep you on the edge of your seat. Kyra "never imagined that becoming a field operative would entail becoming a mail order bride for one of the world's most wanted terrorists." The author enlists charismatic characters, including Blake Carver, another intelligence operative, as well as intriguing scenarios. It is clear the author knows his way around the world - Tripoli, the White House, rural Virginia, Las Vegas, and more. The author leaves the listener waiting for Book 2, as Blake Carver must go to London... Recommended listening.

Paul Christy was excellent with the delivery of the story

Not Just Another Spy/Adventure Story

“Rogue Empire” is a straight-out action thriller and a part of the Blake Carver series written by William Tyree. I enjoyed the audiobook edition and it was well narrated by Paul Christy who is well match for this story. This is not just another adventure novel but has complex plot lines involving intrigue, kidnapping, and spies, and counter-terrorism, this book has all of those for you. It also has those personal elements that hook you into the stork and the series. Rogue Empire has an exceptional story that takes you on an exciting trip with an unexpected twist. A note: this story is rather complex and fast moving so you will want to set aside time closely.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.
Note: When selecting books to read or listen to for reviews I try and select authors and stories that interest me. Sometimes I am fortunate and other times not so fortunate. Either way, I try to review the books with integrity.

Rogue empire

What did you like best about this story?

This is one of those stories that come along that makes you want to listen to the audiobook , a non-stop until you get to the end.

I've found a new series rivaling Clancy & Ludlum

What made the experience of listening to Rogue Empire the most enjoyable?

Discovering Blake Carver character for the first time was made into non-stop listening by the narration of Paul Christy. His steady read led the listener through a sometimes complex web of characters - and his foreign language snippets was impressive.

What did you like best about this story?

The excitement began immediately with an event that could have led to all out war for the United States, China, and Japan. Blake Carver navigates through false leads without jumping to conclusions. And I like how William Tyree lets the listener (or reader) in on what's happening before the characters discover the truth.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were many memorable scenes, but for me it was when Carver was being pursued while he was trying to relax at his parents' home in Arizona.

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

When the man who leaked info to the villains about how to manipulate an American drone strike was conversing with Carver in a bar. His nervous behavior foreshadowed his ultimate fate. Tyree manages to make us feel sorry for the man that had betrayed his country.

Any additional comments?

I welcomed the opportunity to listen to this audiobook after it was provided to me to review. As a long-time Audible listener I believe that the combination of Tyree's story and Christy's narrations rates it among the best I've heard.

A thriller that will have you hooked!

I enjoyed every minute of this production. This is my first experience with both author and narrator and I wasn't disappointed. Paul Christy has a narration style and voice similar to that of John David Farrell, which I consider to be a compliment. He's very easy to listen to, with no mistakes in a flawless performance.

The writing and storyline are obviously well thought out and researched and the characters are very likeable... my only criticism is that I felt there were some unanswered questions at the end. Mostly with a couple of characters that were prominent in the beginning, and faded out w/out much of an explanation. Regardless of that, this is still worthy of the 5 Star rating, I've given. I finished this 11 hour novel in less than 24 hours. I was pretty much hooked non stop! I am definitely looking forward to a follow up from Mr. Tyree.

*This audiobook was provided to me at no cost in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.