The Talbot Odyssey

By: Nelson DeMille

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 22 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

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 - leading to a new Soviet weapon and a first-strike war plan threatening the foundations of American government.

For the U.S., time is running out. For Talbot, the time is now.

©2001 Nelson DeMille (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Put me to sleep

I usually love Nelson DeMille but this book is dated by old science and old politics. For a spy thriller, it was not thrilling at all. It did reliably put me to sleep ever night for a month!

Kept me focused! couldn't stop listening!!

Just love every thing about this book. Scott Brick never disappoints in his narration.

A very long and enjoyable listen

Well done, great characters, extremely well developed. Reader was acceptable . . but not outstanding.

DeMille, as usual, delivers with a punch!.

Exceptional

DeMille is one of my favorite authors of all time. Pair it with Scott Brick as a narrator and it’s even better. DeMille weaves a web of twists and deceit that keeps you guessing until the very end.

Whew! This was a very interesting trip.

Where does The Talbot Odyssey rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Hard question...I've read/listened to many many books. For Nelson DeMille, on a scale of 100, which would be "The Lion's Game", I would give it 85.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Talbot Odyssey?

Don't remember right now

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

Hummm; I have a problem with Scott Brick; it's that he's not George Guidall.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Are you kidding?

Any additional comments?

I really like the earlier DeMille books, the NY settings the irritating detective. This one is somewhere in the melange. And, I am old and tend to live more in the "right here, right now" world of the memory impaired.

This is a Great War Story

I am not a fan of war story. But I know a good story and this story is a terrific story! It combines war, love, betrayal, all wrapped up by Mr DeMille in this book, Read.and enjoy.

Good, but not his best

If the Talbot Odyssey had been my first Nelson DeMille novel I not certain I would have been impressed enough to go to the several other works of his that I’ve greatly enjoyed. The Talbot Odyssey is okay, keeps you interested, has some nice action but it just doesn’t have the horsepower of Gold Coast, Up Country, The Charm School or even Plum Island. There’s the usual tough guy protagonist, this time a Jewish ex-cop from Brooklyn. There was no reason for him to be Jewish. That aspect of the character didn’t affect the story. The plot was a bit tired and not too original. The Russians are planning an EMP attack and elements of the our intelligence community with the “Jewish ex-cop” the newest guy in the group inexplicably out front as point man. This is the old “mole in high places” story but, to make it more interesting he triples down and we learn there are three moles—three “Talbots.” The Russians are all pretty stereotypical. Two of the three moles hold extremely high positions in the intelligence community but apparently don’t know about each other. The third, really isn’t a mole at all but, like the others, a former OSS WWII era officer who is thought to be dead. His two daughters are now intelligence officers for CIA and NSA respectively and are on the scene of the great denouement, an attack on the Russian delegation headquarters in Long Island (a regular DeMille location). Strangely this commando attack which seems to be the only action the USA is taking to avoid EMP catastrophe, involves an almost comic and certainly undertrained contingent that includes a high school senior who trespassed the Russian estate as a prank and was recruited by the CIA to officially trespass for them, the wife of a CIA agent who has slept with various members of the commando teams, the two daughters of the thought to be dead man neither of which seem to have had training for the type of event described, some actual black ops commandos and paratroops, and a catering manager. As a side note, the catering manager was turned by the Russians and agreed to spray a deadly, (outlawed by the United Nations) poison on the canapes being served on the estate next door to the Russians which is owned by the number two man in the CIA who gets his jollies shooting fireworks over the Russian’s mansion. The reader will worry for many pages about that poison and when it will take affect because virtually every one on the team had taken a bite of some delicacy. In the middle of the raid we find out that a minor character who was mad at the Russians for using her had only sprayed vegetable oil on the food. Keep moving. Nothing to see here. Surprisingly, our heroic crew, led by the who-cares-he’s-Jewish former NYPD detective succeeds, the moles are revealed and dealt with and the story ends. One question I had was never answered completely: what would motivate three OSS heroes to turn on the USA? Well read by Scott Brick who reads them all. If you are a DeMille audio book fan the primary character of each book is Scott Brick.

Liked it a lot

Love Mr Bricks narration, love the author. I just kept expecting Kate to change her last name to Mayfield and Tony Abrams to John Corey.
Perhaps it's the partnering of Demille and Brick that brought back fond memories of the John Corey series. Definitely a worthy audiobook.

decent spy novel

unless you aren't a fan of "It was me the whole time!!!" Then it stinks

Narrator was superb, lending authenticity at every turn, and seamlessly moving between each character and accent.

DeMille, as always, writes beautifully and spins a great yarn. I was mildly disappointed with the occasional lapses into hokey story-telling or character development, but it never diminished my enjoyment of the book. Probably somewhere between a 4 and 5.