One Eyed Jack

By: Christopher J. Lynch

Narrated by: Tom Jordan

Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

Professional blackmailer John Sharp, aka One Eyed Jack, is a man who knows how to keep a secret - for a price. But when a routine case of infidelity takes an unexpected detour, he soon finds himself caught in a tangled web of double-blackmail, commodities manipulation, and trying to rescue the woman that had once been his target.

©2012 Christopher J. Lynch (P)2018 Christopher J. Lynch

A complicated web of blackmail

Christopher J. Lynch's One Eyed Jack is a story of blackmail on steroids. The main character, Jack, has turned extortion into a precision business, taking what he calls a "sin tax" from those with something immoral or nefarious to hide.

One of his usual practices is staking out sleazy motels to take pictures of those about to meet up, and extorting money from them to keep the secret. This is where he runs into Marion, a woman caught in more than Jack's trap, and where his focus changes as he tries to go after the bigger fish turning her life upside down.

I wouldn't exactly call it a page turner, but I did keep listening and wanted to know what would happen. It ends in a bit of a cliff hanger, but there is enough resolution so one doesn't feel completely cheated. If I have any complaint about the story, it's that Lynch occasionally throws in very detailed unimportant-to-the-story details. This happens more in the beginning, and once the main story gets rolling, I didn't notice it happening anymore. There is one scene I found totally unbelievable, but I don't want to give anything away.

Tom Jordan does an excellent job with the men's voices. His women's voices were all a bit wispy and made me feel like they were all about to fall asleep, besides all sounding nearly the same. However, I know it is a difficult thing for men to do women's voices without sounding goofy. I might suggest, though, to vary speech patterns or something to give them some unique personality.

All in all, One Eyed Jack is an enjoyable "listen" that I would recommend.

Fresh, New, Character! Great Story. Love it!

My boyfriend and I love to listen to Audiobooks on the road. Usually as we are listening, we note characters are a bit cliche and expected, but not this time. Jack is a unique. new character. He is more complex than you think he'll be, with a fascinating career and a couple of turns in the story line that were not what we expected. Great book! I hope there's another One Eyed Jack story in the works!

I loved this story!

I received this audio book for free in exchange for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this story! It is extremely well written and the narrator did an amazing job. You will not be disappointed with this one!

Blackmail thriller

One Eyed Jack got off to a little bit of a slow start for me, but once it got rolling, I really enjoyed the read. The story follows One Eyed Jack, who makes his living blackmailing people. He does have a redeeming quality though, in that he doesn't like to see injustice. This is the case when he spots a lover's tryst and decides to blackmail the couple, but once he finds out that one of his marks is already being blackmailed, his interest is piqued and he begins to investigate. The tryst was not what it seemed and one of the parties is innocent. Jack doesn't like this and forms a plan to help.

Jack turns out to be a likeable character who has problems of his own to deal with. Apart from the start, the pace was quite good and the plot kept me wondering what would happen next.
A good audiobook. Well worth a listen.

The narration was great and I felt it suited the main character. The other voices for characters worked well too.

Excellent suspenseful novel

I just loved this story! Suspense at its finest, this book kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole time.
The narrator does a tremendous job with various voices, the characters' emotions shine right through and I loved the main character! His intelligence, emotions and his ability to keep his eye on the prize made this book memorable to me.
Throw in a little romance and angst and this book did it for me and my love of romance.
Definitely will look for more books by this author and Tom Jordan the talented narrator.

Wow!!

I couldn't put this book down! I fell in love with the main character. Though he is made out to be a bad guy at first he is great! The blackmailing stories are good. I don't want to give to many spoilers but I love how he helps the underdog and they win! And of course Tom is one of my favorite narrators!

Unique story with wonderful twists

One eye Jack is like no other blackmailer I have ever read about. There is no doubt the man loves his money and has no trouble finding enough marks to keep him in lots of it. He is also a man with a heart just when you think this man is lower than dirt the author twists the story making him somewhat a hero in your eyes. Don’t get me wrong he is a very bad man who should be in jail. Jack is a unique man who is very, very complex. He is a user and will use anybody who gets in his way. He will shake you down make you pay and then make you do his bidding. The author gives you a wild, exciting, dangerous and funny read that holds your attention.

The narrator as always does a wonderful job from his character voices to the emotion even the dry tone he uses for Jack just fits the characters. His character voices are wonderful you always know who is talking and what they are feeling. His male to female voice to the different character voice changes are smooth, and even. He gives the right tones for the scenes you can hear the fear, excitement, danger in the characters voices. His performance is just outstanding. There is no background noises, no volume changes, no repeating of words just a very clean and clear audio that pulls you in. The narrator has a very smooth rich voice which is wonderful, his normal voice is just pleasant and enjoyable. It seemed like one delightful read with no breaks taken. He really bought Jack alive for me, and I am not sure I would have pictured him the same way had I just read and not listened. I had no trouble picturing the scenes as they were laid out. Mr. Jordan really made this a run listen that I got lost in.

When I first started listening to this I thought Jack just does not have a soul but as the author throws a few twists in you see he does. He does care about people, but he isn’t afraid to use them to reach his goal and if an injustice is done (not by him but someone else) he isn’t afraid to stand up and make it right or even by his thoughts. Jack is a very interesting character that I came to like very much. I really enjoyed the twists and turns, the humor, along with a few heart stopping moments, the action and the thrills. The author put a lot of thought into each character and how they would be portrayed. My heart did break for a few of them and others I didn't feel very sorry for. I really enjoyed that he was working on more than one case at a time. I loved how he got into messes and got out of them. This was a very interesting and exciting listen that leaves you with your mouth hung open a time or two. You will chuckle and laugh and even talk to a few characters. A very well written story that keeps you hanging on and not being able to put it down. I am really looking forward to reading the next one in this series.

Sin Tax

Awesome Book! I really enjoyed listening to this book and the narrator's performance was superb. The various characters all had their own voice and accent. The story was woven with so many unexpected twists, and had an interesting storyline. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review.

Good Story, Interesting Character, Fun Narration

First, the character is a lot of fun. He's hardly the first antihero in literature but the author gives him a lot of depth mostly by letting you learn about what kind of guy he really is as the story is unfolding and you can see how he acts.

Second, the story moves at a good pace. I practically listened to this book from start to finish without a single pause and the few pauses I did take were always short. I couldn't wait to get back to see what was going to happen next. I did not have all of the answers come to me right away while listening and I appreciate not always knowing for sure what is coming up next.

I really enjoyed Tom Jordan's narration. This is the first book I heard him narrate and I feel like he just got the character from the start. I even enjoyed his female voices which is not something I say often about male narrators doing female characters. It didn't feel like I was being read a story. It felt like I was listening to a friend whom I hadn't talked to in a couple of months talking to me about a misadventure he found himself in. Credit for that goes to both the writing and the author and performance of the narrator.

I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The fact that I received this book for free had no baring on my opinion of it.

Need more

The story was great, the narrator had a great voice. I just wish the story was more detailed, it felt like something was missing.

A decent living

John Sharp, also known as One Eyed Jack, is a blackmailer who's job, though still dangerous, has been made much easier with advent of the internet. Now not only can be get (and copy) all the information he needs to know but also no longer has to make his approaches to his new victims face to face, with all the risks that this entails. But it does mean that he misses the personal touch, his new clients no longer the flesh and blood people they used to be. Does he miss that part of it? No, not really - until one newly acquired paying customer emails back to him the desperate cry of why he's targeting her again. Something odd, he thinks, is going on - this is the first time he had been in touch with her.

One Eyed Jack, is written in the first person from the blackmailer's perspective, one which does not try to justify his occupation, either. He's in it for the money and has no scruples at ruining lives if his demands are not met, or upping the requested payments to him if his required return is not forthcoming. And yet, like him or not, the reader becomes invested in the two main characters, the blackmailer and the woman he intends to blackmail. The book is well written, the plot ingenious and exciting, and the narration by Tom Jordan excellent. His reading helps bring the book even more fully to life as he takes on the persona of Jack, with a quiet dignity and, at times, humour, whilst also voicing all of the protagonists individually and reading the text with understanding. A good performance.

This was a most enjoyable thriller and I hope to read more about John Sharp again in the future. Great character and story, too. My thanks to the rights holder of One Eyed Jack, who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. Definitely recommended to readers who like their thrills more subtly obtained than through fist and gun battles and major car chases.
Nice and clean, apart, of course, from the profession of the 'hero

Great start to the series

Blackmail, industrial sabotage and Russian mobsters... what could be better than this!?
Well written, full of intrigue, mystery and suspense and superbly narrated by Tom, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. Tom is brilliant at building the intensity and his characters are great!
It’s a good, easy listen, with plenty going on but doesn’t get too dark to make it hard going.
Not got anything bad to say about it and straight onto book 2 for me!!
This is my honest opinion of a free review copy.

Fascinating Thriller

This was an interesting listen. The entire story line seemed completely unique to me and has my full attention from start to finish. The author does a great job writing the main character in such a way that makes him fascinating. He is a master manipulator, incredibly calculating and entirely great at being an extortionist. I really enjoyed this fast paced listen!

I've heard a few pieces Tom Jordan has narrated and each one has been fantastic. His voice is especially perfect for stories like these. He captures the tone of thrillers like this one exceptionally well; and does an excellent job personifying these lone wolf male characters.

I received a review copy at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.

An Exciting Concept That Had me Hooked!

Loved it! A professional blackmailer is such an exciting concept and One Eyed Jack has all the ingredients for a tasty read and I was deliciously gripped from beginning to end. The writing is utterly compelling, sharp and clever with more twists and turns than Lombard Street! Christopher J Lynch is a wonderful storyteller with an intelligent, creative imagination and at times I felt I was on the stakeout with One Eyed Jack! The amount of research that must have gone into writing this totally rivetting masterpiece deserves an acolade in itself. The trailer for the book is thrilling, intense and left me wanting more and I have already started on the second book - Russian Roulette. If ever a book should be made into a movie it is One Eyed Jack!