• The Echelon Vendetta

  • A Novel
  • By: David Stone
  • Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
  • Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
  • 3.7 out of 5 stars (1,028 ratings)

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The Echelon Vendetta  By  cover art

The Echelon Vendetta

By: David Stone
Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
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Publisher's summary

Micah Dalton isn't paid to ask questions. He's a "cleaner", a CIA fixer sent in to mop up the mess when an agent or situation goes bad. But when his close friend and mentor Porter Naumann turns up dead in an idyllic Tuscan hill town, an apparent suicide, Dalton's curiosity gets the best of him.

Naumann's death puts Dalton on a collision course with a killer who has a penchant for intricate knife-work and Native American mysticism, a sadist who is killing ex-CIA agents. The victims are hard-nosed field men whose only link to one another seems to be a global surveillance operation called Echelon. The murders appear to be acts of retribution. But for what?

An elegant, original, and chillingly suspenseful journey through the darkest alleys of international espionage, The Echelon Vendetta will keep you enthralled right up to its final, supremely satisfying twist.

©2007 DavidStoneBooks (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Recorded Books LLC. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Vivid characters and spellbinding, heart-pounding, hallucinogenic plotting.... You'll love this book." (Ridley Pearson)

"Well-written, intelligent and sometimes funny...show[s] us what life is really like on the front lines." (Washington Post)

What listeners say about The Echelon Vendetta

Average customer ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent spy tale

I couldn't stop listening to this book. High tension, intriguing locales (Venice, Cortona and the desert Southwest) and interesting characters make this recording zip along at breakneck speed. If you like action thrillers like 24, you will like this book.

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82 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Top of his Game

David Stone has a winner with his debut novel The Echelon Vendetta. Introducing a new kind of hero/villian/company man, Stone creates a likable, complex character in Micah Dalton. With chapters from Italy to New Mexico, Stone does well in defining a CIA we all know exists. From high tech gadgetry, to Native American folklore, Stone weaves a story of international intrigue and suspense that will keep you guessing and second guessing his storyline. While some parts are admittedly gruesome, I found the manner of writing refreshing and new in a world lacking since the death of Ludlum. Stone is definitely a writer for the new age, and will not disapoint those of us who tire of the same old "espionage novel" wrapped in different places and characters. Be prepared to be impressed. Looking forward to Stone's follow up ....

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

must be a pen name

I have listend to many spy, action and koontz type books. This one has many elements of koontz and I am sure it is written by a Flynn or other similar. Not too hard to keep up with and very good overall listen.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not A Fan

The book dragged a bit. As mentioned before, far too many metaphors - actually reminded me of Koontz, whom I'm not a fan of. Such a writing style is amateurish to me and I found myself drifting away from the book as a result. Certain elements of the story were not believable, and other elements materialized out of nowhere, with absolutely no background to explain them. The ending frankly left me scratching my head; it really made little sense and seemed a weak attempt to justify the plot.

The narrator handled certain characters well, but definitely not the main one - Dalton. His narration of Dalton had, at times, a halting-Shatner-esque quality. He rarely did an effective job conveying his emotion. Words clearly intended to show emotion were often read deadpan.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

bright, witty, exciting

There are incredible moments of humor and deep exposition of characters' psychology in this wonderful book. This book is no "fornication from above." Enjoy the read.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

ok, but leaves a lot to be desired

I agree with the previous reviewer who compared the writing style to that of a 7th grader. I wouldn't go that far, but I agree the writing style is a bit immature. Full of tired cliches and infantile sayings (aw, don't go all 'Yoda' on me now...").
It was a bit hard to take the story seriously.
What made it worse is the narrator. The narrator also sounds immature, like an 18 year old surfer dude.
But I really liked the plot and storyline, I just wish the dialog was a bit more mature, and read by a better narrator.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

good story - 3 1/2 *

The story is quite entertaining. A few "but's":

1) The first hour is very convoluted, but then it smooths out.
2) I did not care for the narrator at all. He does a good job with the european accents and pronunciations, but I did not like his reading of the two main voices - Micah and that of the third-person narration. He has a very weird inflection that I found very distracting.
3) The author uses more descriptive similes/metaphors than I care for. I find it bogs the story down a bit.
4) The main charachter, Micah, is way too willing to "spill his guts" to people about who he is and what he does. I did not find that believable.

Those criticisms aside, I would buy another from this author, but I hope he finds a different narrator.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

The Echelon Vandetta

So I took a chance with this book like I do with most of the books I order - this time I chose badly, this was one of the most confusing books I have ever purchased

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book -- Get Ready to Buy the Next Two!

This was a delightful read/listen -- although it is hard to categorize. It is completely a thriller that captivates you, but it is really the characterizations -- the lead protagonist, Micah Dalton, and a wonderful surrounding/supporting cast -- that raises the book to well above the norm.

I finished this late one night and immediately downloaded Stone's next -- The Orpheus Deception -- without missing a beat. When that was done, I immediately ordered his third.

The only other Audible series I've done that with is Nelson DeMille's John Corey series -- whose books are different in tone -- their humor is more overt, slightly less sophisticated -- but equally entertaining so that you always want to listen and never want them to end. Stone is like that too, but more subtle.

The narrator was excellent. I was sorry to see he didn't do Stone's second book, but the narration there is at least very good (not quite excellent).

Five stars in my mind for The Echelon Vendetta. This is a thinking-person's thriller (and, so you know my bias, I would almost equally give one or two stars to almost everything James Patterson writes...)

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

This was an amazing book. The narrator is perfect. The places Micah travels are elaborately and interestingly detailed.

I listened to this book a few months ago and am about to listen to it again it was so entertaining.

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4 people found this helpful