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Zero Option  By  cover art

Zero Option

By: P. T. Deutermann
Narrated by: Dick Hill
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Publisher's summary

When FBI agent David Stafford finds himself on the Bureau's "out" list for publicly blowing the whistle on a corrupt colleague, he receives a low-profile assignment to investigate an Atlanta military base, where someone is suspected of auctioning off equipment without authorization.

Now a cylinder containing an extremely hazardous biochemical weapon is missing, and Stafford is on the trail of the thief - traveling from the hills of Georgia to the halls of the Pentagon - in a race to recover the weapon before it falls into enemy hands.

With strong characters and a plot that is frighteningly real, Deutermann's Zero Option is his most commercial novel yet, reminiscent of Tom Clancy and Nelson DeMille.

©1998 P. T. Deutermann (P)1998 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about Zero Option

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining story

I like all the major characters in this book - good and bad. The story gradually introduces the major players and then adds a good story with enough suspense and action to keep me interested. I enjoyed this book; however, my favorite books by this author are Hunting Season and Darkside.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

R-rated content warning

Since Audible has no rating system for adult content this is my meager attempt to warn listeners who prefer more family-oriented material of the presence of strong language and sexual content in this book. Hopefully this review will help you avoid the annoying process of starting the book and having to stop when you hit the offending content and ask for a refund.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exciting and Scary!

What if a canister of military chemical/biological weaponry got "lost", and put up for sale on the black market? What if you were an army general responsible for that canister? How could you find the missing canister, while still keeping the whole snafu secret? In "Zero Option", Deutermann poses these questions in a literary scenario ... and just about scares us out of our skins.

Dick Hill, as always, does an excellent job of voicing all the characters in this terrifyingly plausible novel. In a way, we listeners have an advantage over the print-readers in a novel like this, because a good narrator -- using his repertoire of voices and inflections -- distinguishes for us from the get-go the good guys from the bad guys. Listen carefully to Dick Hill's vocal inflections for each character, and you will see what I mean.

Should you purchase "Zero Option"? That depends ... Do you like military thrillers? Deutermann is not for everyone. I confess that his stories sometimes go a bit over my head when he gets into Chain-of-Command terminology and entanglements. Someone who has served in the armed forces or worked in the military would probably understand these allusions better than I do. However, Deutermann weaves such intricate, fascinating plots that I eagerly gobble up his novels, despite my military naivety. If an author could be said to have a distinguishing trade-mark, then Deutermann's trade-mark would look like this: All the characters in a convoluted plot are trying to figure out what the other characters are conniving. Through immaculate logic and deduction, they all come to exactly the wrong conclusions. Acting on those conclusions, they bring on near-cataclysmic disaster. The good guy, of course, saves the world at the last minute. Does that appeal to you? If so, then yes: Buy "Zero Option".

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Deutermann is a 10

After working my way through Deutermann's Cam Richter series, I was a little nervous to try out a new protagonist. I should have known better. Deutermann writes a great thriller -- whether or not Cam and his pooches are involved.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

So-so...not that bad, but not that good!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The length...too long and the ending...when I got to the end, I said, "That's IT!" Ah, come on!!"

What does Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I am a big Dick Hill fan and will listen to anything he reads (unless the story is really bad!). He is superb!!

Did Zero Option inspire you to do anything?

Probably to not invest another credit in any of his other books.

Any additional comments?

I did listen to his "Hunting Season"and really liked it...it had more to the plot than "Zero Option" and the main character in "Zero Option"just came across as pathetic.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptionally well done.

Extremely well thought out plot with unexpected twists and turns. Sticks to the rule of thumb of only one incredible thing per story. Characters very well fleshed out and with believable motivations. Exciting and entertaining and informative all at the same time. Highly recommended!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another exciting story with a twist

Once again we see an exciting story where the "hero" is dealing not only with a mystery but with convoluted government bureaucracy. Another book I had a hard time "putting down", listening even in bed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story!

This story is better than most, especially the second half. The author, P.T. Deutermann, understands the operations of D.C. bureaucrats and uses his knowledge to build tension. He does the tension scenes very well, especially towards the end. This work is the author’s stab at soft science fiction. It’s not bad! The sci-fi input is brief and it works. (No hard sci-fi like spaceships or phasers.)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

a good listen, I recommend this one. I was up all night...listening! Unpredictable. INTERESTING. EXCELLENT!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Impossible to put down

I've recently developed a highly addictive and costly habit: P. T. Deutermann's books! This particular book is especially addictive. I couldn't do a damn thing while I listened to it almost non-stop!

But as addictive habits go, and I am a weak soul, I will now buy another P. T. Deutermann book to feed my addiction.

By the way, as I have pointed out in other reviews, I like to point out some little item the author throws in a story from previous books, such as "fat pill". This time, it' "going to baby Jesus."

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