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Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. McCall’s first client is a distraught mother who is desperate to locate her young daughter, drawn into the shadowy world of white slavery. But this client may not be all she appears to be.
Colorado Congressman Evan Kendrick is trying to live out his term of office quietly—when a political mole reveals to the world Kendrick's deepest secret: that Kendrick was the anonymous man in Masqar, the man who courageously freed the hostage held in the American embassy by Arab terrorists; the unknown hero who performed an act of outrageous daring then silently disappeared. Now, suddenly, Kendrick is a living target pursued by the terrorists he outwitted.
Ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden has seen enough of the inside of a solitary confinement cell to last him a lifetime. Or two lifetimes, which is the sentence he's serving after being convicted of a crime he was planning to commit but never did. So when an old buddy shows up with a deal that could spring him from his hell behind bars, he's ready to listen.
Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work.
It begins in Geneva. There American lawyer Joel Converse meets a man he hasn't seen in twenty years, a covert operative who dies violently at his feet, whispering words that hand Converse a staggering legacy of death: "THE GENERALS... THEY'RE BACK... AQUITAINE!" Suddenly Converse is running for his life, alone with the world's most shattering secret. Pursued by anonymous executioners to the dark corners of Europe, he is forced to play a game of survival by blood rules he thought he'd long left behind.
One evening, Danny, an East End cockney who works as a garage mechanic, takes his girlfriend up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. He crosses the path of Spencer Craig, a West End barrister tipped to be the youngest Queen's Counsel of his generation. A few hours later Danny is arrested for murder and later is sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. McCall’s first client is a distraught mother who is desperate to locate her young daughter, drawn into the shadowy world of white slavery. But this client may not be all she appears to be.
Colorado Congressman Evan Kendrick is trying to live out his term of office quietly—when a political mole reveals to the world Kendrick's deepest secret: that Kendrick was the anonymous man in Masqar, the man who courageously freed the hostage held in the American embassy by Arab terrorists; the unknown hero who performed an act of outrageous daring then silently disappeared. Now, suddenly, Kendrick is a living target pursued by the terrorists he outwitted.
Ex-DEA agent Jesse Warden has seen enough of the inside of a solitary confinement cell to last him a lifetime. Or two lifetimes, which is the sentence he's serving after being convicted of a crime he was planning to commit but never did. So when an old buddy shows up with a deal that could spring him from his hell behind bars, he's ready to listen.
Our hero is Jack McEvoy, a Rocky Mountain News crime-beat reporter. As the story opens, Jack's twin brother, a Denver homicide detective, has just killed himself. Or so it seems. But when Jack begins to investigate the phenomenon of police suicides, a disturbing pattern emerges, and soon suspects that a serial murderer is at work.
It begins in Geneva. There American lawyer Joel Converse meets a man he hasn't seen in twenty years, a covert operative who dies violently at his feet, whispering words that hand Converse a staggering legacy of death: "THE GENERALS... THEY'RE BACK... AQUITAINE!" Suddenly Converse is running for his life, alone with the world's most shattering secret. Pursued by anonymous executioners to the dark corners of Europe, he is forced to play a game of survival by blood rules he thought he'd long left behind.
One evening, Danny, an East End cockney who works as a garage mechanic, takes his girlfriend up to the West End to celebrate their engagement. He crosses the path of Spencer Craig, a West End barrister tipped to be the youngest Queen's Counsel of his generation. A few hours later Danny is arrested for murder and later is sentenced to 22 years in prison.
It's as big as the Empire State Building, a massive floating fortress at the throbbing heart of a US Navy carrier battle group. Its supersonic aircraft can level entire cities at a stroke. Its surveillance gear can track every target within thousands of square miles - in the air, on the surface, and under the sea. Its crew of 6,000 works night and day to keep this awesome military machine at peak performance. It's a Nimitz-class nuclear carrier, the most powerful weapons system on the planet. Nothing can touch it.
For 40 years Western intelligence agents have known a terrible secret: the Russians have a mole - code-named Talbot - inside the CIA. At first Talbot is suspected of killing European agents. Then a street-smart ex-cop uncovers a storm of espionage and murder on the streets of New York, while in a Long Island suburb a civic demonstration against the Russian mission masks a desperate duel of nerves and wits. Engineered by Talbot, a shadow world of suspicion and deceit is spilling onto the streets....
When you're the best at what you do, it's not always easy to walk away. Nathan McBride was retired. The trained Marine sniper and covert CIA operative had put the violence of his former life behind him. But not anymore. A deep-cover FBI agent has disappeared along with one ton of powerful Semtex explosive, enough to unleash a disaster of international proportions. The U.S. government has no choice but to coax Nathan out of retirement.
In 1866 tragedy strikes at the exclusive Windfield School when a mysterious accident takes the life of a student. Among the student's circle of friends are Hugh Pilaster; Hugh's older cousin Edward, dissolute heir to the Pilaster banking fortune; and Micky Miranda, the handsome son of a brutal South American oligarchy. The death and its aftermath begin the spiraling circle of treachery that will span three decades and entwine many lives.
Court Gentry is known as The Gray Man - a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, and then fading away. And he always hits his target. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. Now, he is going to prove that for him, there's no gray area between killing for a living-and killing to stay alive.
In the first installment of an exciting new series from Robert Ludlum, a teenage girl in Atlanta, an Army major in California, and a homeless man in Boston all die a horrible and painful sudden death from the devastating effects of an unknown virus. Join the search for the truth behind the deadly virus in this heart-stopping listen!
Michael Havelock's world died on a moonlit beach on the Costa Brava. He watched as his partner and lover, Jenna Karats, double agent, was efficiently gunned down by his own agency. There was nothing left for him but to quit the game, get out. Until, in one frantic moment on a crowded railroad platform in Rome, Havelock saw his Jenna alive. From then on, he was marked for death by both U.S. and Russian assassins, racing around the globe after his beautiful betrayer, trapped in a massive mosaic of treachery.
Meet Kolt Raynor. A Delta Force operator and one-time American hero, he is still trying to make sense of his life - and duty - after a secret mission gone bad. Three years ago, in the mountains of Pakistan, Raynor made a split-second decision to disobey orders - one that got some of his teammates killed and the rest captured. Now he’s been given a second chance to do right by his country, his men, and himself. But Raynor’s shot at redemption comes at a price.
An inexplicable explosion rocks the antiquities collection of a London museum and the race begins to determine how it happened, why it happened, and what it means. Lady Kara Kensington's family paid a high price in money and blood to found the gallery that now lies in ruins. Her search for answers leads Kara and her friend Safia al-Maaz, the gallery's curator, into a world they never dreamed existed.
When former prosecutor Penn Cage returns to his hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, he doesn't find the peace he desperately craves. He finds that his own father is being blackmailed by a corrupt ex-cop. And when Penn investigates, he uncovers a murderous secret - and the small town's violent past.
Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who’s fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that....
When Clementine Kaye, archivist Beecher White's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the president of the United States privately reviews classified documents. They accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - and find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder.
Running out of time and hope, Novak's people turn to a man with a history of defeating impossible odds: Paul Janson. For decades, Janson was a legendary covert operative and assassin. Now he has retired, and nothing could lure him back - nothing except Peter Novak, who once saved Janson's life.
Backed by the considerable resources of the Liberty Foundation, Janson assembles a crack extraction team to rescue Novak from his fortress prison. But the operation goes horribly wrong and Janson is marked for death, the target of a "beyond salvage" order.
Now he is running for his life, pursued by Jessica Kincaid, an agent who, as a student of Janson's own lethal arsenal of tactics, can anticipate his every move. To survive, Janson must outrace a conspiracy that has gone beyond the control of its creators. To win, he must counter it with a conspiracy of his own. Janson's only hope is to uncover the nearly unimaginable truth behind these events - a secret that has the power to foment wars, topple governments, and change the course of history.
"All the trademarked Ludlum gifts of plotting, pacing, and suspense are on full display in this engrossing mystery." (Amazon.com)
"Vintage Ludlum - big, brawny, and loaded with surprises." (Publishers Weekly)
"A marvel of stunning physical detail...Ludlum's best since The Bourne Identity." (Kirkus Reviews)
This is one of the best I've listened to in a long while. I burn CD's to listen in my car going wherever. I found myself anxious to get in the car so I could listen to more. I guess this is the equivalent to a book you can't put down. Very well written to keep attention...very exciting. Only complaint was an occasional excursion into explaining how items used in the adventure worked. Some were tedious.
34 of 34 people found this review helpful
This story is full of twists and turns, it will surprise you thoroughly. The most incredible part is that although the story is very complex and loaded with characters, the narrator manages to give each a distintive voice, making it possible to keep them straight. I love a good spy novel, and Ludlum was one of the best. Check this one out, you'll be late to every appointment you have until you are finished with it!
17 of 17 people found this review helpful
Ludlum hates America, but that's not what's awful about this stinking piece of sadistic porn. Repetitively I at first sped through awful scenes of torture, then began skipping them, until finally I found myself trapped in the shower when a depraved/detailed scene of detailed torture played.
Decades ago as a talk show host I found that producers arranged an interview with a KKK leader. I looked forward to broiling this awful character's white supremacist garbage. And then, on the air, I realized he didn't care that I revealed the bankruptcy and dangers of his drivel , he was there to alert like minded dements that his depravity could be contacted and joined by looking him up in the phone directory. Instead of me using him to reveal his social sickness, he used me to market his movement to those of similar depravities.
So I hesitate to even review this maniacal sickness that Ludlum repeatedly and in ever deepening depravity revels in detailing to readers of The Jansen Directive. The talent this man has as a writer serves as a setting to hold onto an audience until he can test their willingness to join him in his ever darkening and perhaps compulsive sado/eroticism.
So my desire to warn you away from this piece of neurotic advertising has overwhelmed my fear that some people will, much like that KKK trash who I unwittingly allowed self-promotion, be drawn to and suck nourishment from Ludlum's wallowing in sadistic details.
This is an awful book. Paul Michael should have rejected this gig. I wonder how many prospective readers did?
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
In typical fashion, Robert Ludlum has created a fast paced story of international intrigue. His precise descriptions help immensely in this audiobook format. What makes all of his stories worthwhile is the plausibilty that it could happen.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
I loved the action which was almost nonstop. That means it kept me up past my bedtime a lot. Although I wish I could have had the will power to have not kept adding 30 min to my nightstand ihome player, resulting in lost sleep, I really enjoyed the relentless action in this thriller. I recommend highly.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Of all the recent co-written Ludlum novels, this is by far the best. Whether it is truly written by Ludlum or not is largely irrelevant, as this story is extremely well-written. I especially liked the sniper scene in the park.
It is exciting from the first page and does not let up until the end.
Janson is an interesting character, and the supporting characters are also well developed.
To be honest, there havent been many good spy novels written in the last decade. One good one is "Avenger" by Fredrick Forsythe.
"The Janson Directive" is also very good. I finished it in one day, and highly recommend it to anyone who likes espionage, action, and mystery. I was disappointed when it ended.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
Ludlum has woven a fine thriller that just made it to the top of my favorite listens. The covert operations and spy sequences in this audiobook were phenomenal, and kept me itching for more. Every time I thought that I knew what was going to happen next, I was proven wrong. As a story alone this book is great, but there's more. Paul Michael does a fantastic job of narrating this book while keeping the separate characters in check. Each voice is distinct, and it really helps ease into Ludlum's style. I like this book better than the Bourne series, and that is a compliment. Get it.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
Really enjoyed this book. The Paul Janson character seems to be a guy that can think/act his way out of most anything that is thrown at him, especially if weaponry is involved. Sounds like a guy to have on your side if you needed to survive a very bad situation. The reader has quite an array of voices that he uses to portray the various characters. Did a really good job on the narration. I found it very easy to tell one character from another.
Now for what I didn't like. The thing I didn't like the most, or at least got tired of, was the flashbacks to Vietnam. Enough already with Paul Janson Vietnam flashbacks. Either get the whole flashback over with or mention them but don't take so long going in to so much detail where the only purpose seems to be to indicate his resolve at surviving and his being set up. I found this part distracting from the main story line and could have been completely removed and the story would have been even better.
Don't read on if you don't want to read something that may give away the story line: what was with saving Novak at the beginning and the Kalif character (assume the spelling is correct since I can only hear the story, not read it) that was holding Novak just kind of disappears until the end of the story? You'd think there would have been more around the guy being ticked that his hostage was rescued and somehow got away. Seems like there should have been at least a little more mention of what happened when he discovered the hostage was gone. I mean was he mad? Did he slaughter his own people for "dropping the ball," or did he exact some revenge on someone else, or did he fall out of favor and get lashed? Surely something happened right away near the beginning of the story. Why didn't the author at least close the loop up front since this is where the story started? I thought the story would have been fine with much fewer flashbacks.
Having said all this, I enjoyed the book quite a bit though and will read more Ludlum books.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
Talk about a thriller! What a roller coaster this one is. I loved it, never knew what was coming. How that preview reviewer can call this book "predictable" indicates that he or she is clearly clairvoyant because this book is just the opposite of that and a great listen. I found so many new ways to drive to and from work, just to make the drive longer!!!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Other's have said plenty about the storyline, and if you are familiar with Ludlum's work, there is no surprise here. However, the reading and production is absolutely top-notch. Paul Michael does and excellent job with the different characters, giving them each a specific tone and accent that is a pleasure to listen to. I've listened to at least a dozen other audiobooks and never knew the experience could be this enjoyable. I highly recommend Paul Michael as a narrator. I will now be seeking books he's read.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful