The Dead Have Secrets

A John Powers Novel

By: Owen Parr

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki (Skyboat Media)

Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Usually, former Delta Force soldier John Powers is delighted to hear from Casey McBride, the widow of John's brother-in-arms Braden and mother of John's five-year-old godson Ian. But Casey is calling because she has just killed two of three intruders to her Boulder, Colorado home. And when John hears that Ian, under hypnosis to find a cure for his acute aqua phobia, has claimed to be the reincarnation of an assassinated US senator, he tells Casey to get out of the house, now. Within minutes, John tells his Team Alpha mate, Melissa Harrington, that they are leaving Prague to return to the US to put the assets of the security company they work for, Sect-Intel, to work protecting his godson. What he doesn't tell his co-worker is that the boy is possibly the reincarnation of a man that he, John Powers, assassinated.

Six years previously, John had been a member of an elite Department of Defense team under its then secretary, Charles Perthweiler, and had been told that Senator Clarence Brown was a traitor giving security intelligence to the Iranian government. He undertook the orders to terminate the senator believing that the order came directly from the president himself. Now, in Washington, D.C., Perthweiler meets with his former under-secretary and current director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Edward Raymore, to frantically ask how a five-year-old boy's claims of a past life can be unraveling the conspiracy that both men have been part of carefully maintaining. Now that Iranian hitmen have failed to eliminate this threat to their part of an international conspiracy, the two men agree to take the necessary steps to tie up any loose ends.

©2016 Owen Parr (P)2016 Owen Parr

Action-Packed from start to finish

A seemingly routine session to cure his niece's aquaphobia turns up an operation that was so dark no one but the operatives knew about it. This sets into motion the people who called for it and the people who were involved in it to either hide what happened or blow the whole thing open with unknown consequences.

The narration of The Dead Have Secrets was done by Stefan Rudnicki, who does a stand-up job. His deep manly voice helps set the John Powers character. And his ability to change his voice helps set the others that were featured in this book. I enjoyed the narration of this book quite a bit and will be looking for other books narrated by Rudnicki. I particularly liked his rendition of the asthmatic character who always seemed to be out of breath.

When I first looked at this book I wasn't sure if it was a zombie book (based on the audiobook cover I just saw a hand reaching out), but it is not at all. It's a great story about a deadly operative who's old mission is coming back to haunt the people who originally called for it. I thought that the premise of the story along with all of the characters was really interesting and different.

There were parts of Dead Have Secrets that reminded me of the Bourne books and movies because of the way that Powers is able to take control of a situation. Also the "he's incredibly dangerous" and he keeps eluding our best teams really reminded me of the was Jason Bourne was. There is nothing wrong with that. He was one of my favorite all-time characters and if a new author can write a book that feels like that with a totally different premise is a winner in my book.

The story inside of The Dead Have Secrets was well written. Each twist and turn were a surprise and every time I thought I had things figured out, I was surprised. John Powers is a great leading character too. Powerful and caring, a nice combination of both makes him one of those leading protagonists that you feel good reading about.

Overall, I loved The Dead Have Secrets. I will now be on the lookout for the other John Powers novels and other books by Owen Parr. His combination of action and realism really made this story enjoyable.

I was given a copy of this novel by the author which has not affected my review in any way.

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Awesome

Loved story line and easy to listen to. once started had to finish the book.

twists and surprises with the turn of each page

A well written suspense thriller with political twists with an international flare added in to spice things up. Parr gives us John Powers, a retired Delta Force soldier who finds himself employed by a friend owned security agency that is sent overseas to recover a client. During the rescue mission, he receives a frantic call from his ex-brother-in-arms wife, Casey. Casey’s six year old son and her are the target of some undercover Iranian hitmen.

The suspense doesn’t end there; throw in a U.S. senator who was assassinated, the Department of Defense’s Charles Perthweiler along with Edward Raymore. Powers finds himself on the run with Casey, his godson and his teammates. Along with his team, he must figure out who put the targets on his back, his teams, and Casey’s – why are they after her and her son? Why is Powers a target now? Will he survive long enough to unravel the mystery? Always a step behind, Powers and his team must try to figure out how to get one step ahead.

Parr develops his story in a slow methodical manner, with twists and surprises with the turn of each page. His characters are fully developed demonstrating a strong “team” rife with sarcasm, familial feelings and loyalty.

Spinning a unique twist to mystery, Parr captivates and holds his readers completely. The dialog is realistic and genuine; descriptions are vivid. The audiobook is action packed and fast paced. One cannot help but stay for the entire reading. A complex story that Parr develops through to the end; both a political intrigue and financial thriller, The Dead Have Secrets is excellent.

The narrator, Stefan Rudnicki is excellent. His ability to throw himself into the story adds to the riveting story line. Rudnicki speaks clearly and passionately when appropriate. His ability to slide from action into moments of sarcasm and wit is delightful. He voice was soothing but firm. I enjoyed hearing his narration of the story.

There were no issues with the production quality of this audiobook. Everything was clear.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Let's go for it!

Prepare for a good mystery-thriller with side orders of treason, espionage, and black-ops. The story begins with a young boy submitted to regression therapy to aid in resolving a phobia the lad had been dealing with his entire life. What he revealed under hypnosis shocked his family, especially his godfather John Powers. Powers is a former Delta Force soldier and CIA operator. The boy described in detail that in a former life he had been an assassinated U.S. senator, shot, and then drowned off of a fishing vessel in Miami Beach. This recollection corresponded identically to an action taken by Powers, under orders, six years earlier. In reality, three U.S. senators had been slain. The news of the boy’s revelation sets off a firestorm of panic from government officials who gave those orders, fearful of disclosing the underlying conspiracy that those murders concealed. It is up to Powers and his team to protect the boy and unravel the conspiracy. A unique and complex tale to be sure, contrived and brilliantly dispensed by Parr. Stefan Rudnicki is awesome, as usual.

Excellent espionage thriller!

This is my first novel by self published author Owen Parr. It is one of the novels in his ex-Delta Force and current CIA operator John Powers. The Dead Have Secrets is packed with action and suspense. I recently reviewed an outstanding espionage novel by Tim Tigner which earned 5 stars only because I could not award more. Parr's novel is excellent, but it is simply not inn the same class as Tigner's. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile so I will listen to more Parr novels. This author and this series have real promise.

Action Packed

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

This is the second book in the John Powers series. I found this to be a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending. I have not read the first book in the series and was not hindered in understanding the story or the characters.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book - a child makes a claim under hypnosis that he has a past life as a senator and was murdered. Even more intriguing, his murderer is his godfather. Well, that's a lot to take in and sets in motion the roller coaster ride of non-stop action. John Powers is a strong, intelligent and interesting character - think Jason Bourne or Reacher. I was hooked from the very beginning and chuckled several times at some of the main character John Powers' very sarcastic and humorous comments. My main disappointment with this story - it never comes full circle in resolving the past life claims of the child.

The narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, is a new narrator for me. I absolutely loved his deep baritone voice and his ability to ratchet up the tension with his vocal abilities. He was a great John Powers.

Interesting listen

I liked this listen and I hated that I did not love it. (So many emotions in one opening line!)

Parr has written a very interesting story in that the dreams of a child under hypnosis is what sets off the crazy. I liked that concept but one of the things that stops me from loving this book is that what the boy experienced and why is never explained.

John Powers, former Delta Force, comes to the rescue of the child who had been kidnapped because of those memories. Lots of really interesting things take place after that, many of them with political baddies and in different countries, a la Jason Bourne. That was awesome!!

This very interesting listen was aided by the narration. Rudnicki is an excellent John Powers!

Action packed

The Dead Have Secrets.
John Powers is a charismatic hero and his team are strong and loud characters.
I've read Due Diligence the first book in the series and was impressed, so I started this one with hope. I was totally engaged and engrossed within the first 10 minutes.
Super fast paced and packed with action.
A 5 star action thriller - that I can highly recommend
Narration is excellent even better than book 1.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review. .