Sacrifice

Ryan Drake, Book 2

By: Will Jordan

Narrated by: Sam Devereaux

Length: 13 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The compelling second instalment of the high-octane series featuring British CIA agent Ryan Drake.

Afghanistan, 2008. A Black Hawk helicopter carrying a senior CIA operative is shot down by a surface to air missile, its lone passenger taken hostage by a fanatical new insurgent group. Knowing this man holds information vital to the ongoing conflict, the CIA bring in Ryan Drake and his elite Shepherd team to find and rescue their lost operative. But nothing is what it seems, and within hours of arriving in the war-torn country, Drake and his team find themselves caught in a deadly conflict between a brutal terrorist warlord and the ruthless leader of a private military company. And lurking in the shadows is a woman from Drake's past determined to settle old scores....

©2013 Will Jordan (P)2020 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Written at breakneck pace, complete with extensive firefights and brutal weaponry, this is a heart-stopper for anyone who likes plenty of action and explosions." (Daily Mail)

It’s fine, keeps my interest, but find myself getting frustrated w the story

So, I am invested in the stories, like the characters well enough.
Sometimes it gets a little bogged down in certain details, but it is artfully written and doesn’t turn me off the way that sometimes does
Mostly I find myself getting frustrated w the story. I just get tired of the repeated plot line of corruption inside, protagonists hunted and betrayed by their own.
I don’t know why that story line irritates me so much, but it does.

And I like Drake, I do- but he seems to do a lot of stupid things. Charges ahead -knowing what he’s up against and yet somehow oblivious that those entities have the resources and influence to completely crush and out maneuver him. Not saying he shouldn’t, but he has a team of only 2 other people and doesn’t seem to strategize accordingly. He seems to think he can follow his investigations w no repercussions or any interference, even though he KNOWS other people have been killed (along w others) for pursuing the same information. Takes no precautions on that front, marches forward oblivious to the risks as if his adversaries have no power to hurt him. As such he repeatedly puts other people in danger.
I frequently think “what the F** are you doing ! /What is wrong w you! “

It seems to take them forever to put certain pieces together and I find myself pounding the steering wheel shouting “wake up you IDIOT!!!!” He does figure things out, but it is often too late . So the book ends up being mostly a story of failures. Which is annoying w a genre that I listen to for its “hero” and “good guys win against bad guys” qualities.

So I keep listening bc I think the books themselves are good, interesting, well written , but I get annoyed a lot.

The critical drinker can write a great story

Loved it. Found these books after watching "The critical drinker on YouTube(hes the author.)

Great stories, depth and arcs for the two books I've gone through. Will recomend

Awesome

Loved it. Can't stop listening to it. Ready for the next one. Highly recommend the entire series.

I lift my glass of single malt to you my good Sir.

That is two books down, and now onward too the next in the series. Unstoppable.

Not at all engaging - narration did not help

I have read the first two books in the series, with the first one being a bit better, but not by much. I am a huge fan of the genre and wanted to like this book I really did. Mainly because I admire and respect the author and am a fan of his You Tube channels. But being a good reviewer of movies does not make you a good writer....or so it appears.

First off the narration. I have listened to well over 200 audio books, even before there was Audible, and have come across some very talented narrators. Narrators who were able to add to the story and really help draw you in. That was not the case here. Not that a better narrator would have made this a better listen, but it would not have hurt. His pacing was fine and inflections okay, but his voicings, outside of the main character Drake and a few others, were strained and unrealistic and just hard to listen too. It sounded like me when I used to read to my kids...not good. It's almost like he tried to make them all so different that they came out way to exaggerated. Yeah there are a lot of different characters, I get that, but still. It's okay if some of them sound a little alike versus working so hard to make them each unique... and they were that for sure. So yeah that did have an impact on my enjoyment of the book.

Narration aside, I could just not get into this story...for a few reasons. As in the first book the main character is just not that impressive. He is a good leader yes, but as an CIA operative he is weak. I expected something like a bad ass Mitch Rapp sort of character, but Drake is no bad ass - just a regular decent agent. Okay so maybe that is on me having that expectation. Oddly enough the "bad ass" in this story is the Anya character. Which is a bit surprising too given that Will often talks about how female characters in movies are portrayed. Not that he did not provide a back story justifying her abilities, but still...it's almost like he went out of this way to pump Anya up and dumb down Drake and I just don't get that. What was the point? Would it have made a big difference if Drake were a bad ass...maybe, maybe not, but I would have enjoyed it a little more.

Will is a good writer and does a decent job describing environments and fight scenes so you can visualize what it going on well enough...although there were times where a little more detail would have been good. For example the scene at the helicopter with the snipper was very well done. While there were occasional times where I was into the story, for the most part the overall plot was not interesting and did not pull me in. Honestly, if I had to tell someone what the story was about...I would struggle making it sound interesting. I had to rewind more than a few times to see if I missed something because my mind would just wander when I was listening.

At this point I am on the fence about getting the third book. I am curious as to how Mr Jordan is progressing with his writing abilities but not sure if I can stomach the same narrator for 16 hours. We'll see - I might take a break and listen to something else and come back to it later. Sorry Will...I know you want honest reviews and that is what you got.

Totally entertaining

I am very much enjoying this series and plan to listen to them all. They are complex and keep me guessing all the way through.

More brilliant writing

I wanted to finish quickly to get the entire story but hated for it too end.
Will Jordan is amazing.

Five Star Entertainmart

This was the second book I have heard from Will Jordan, but the being " Redemption " which sets the stage for the characters. I thought it was a great story. This book goes beyond the first one in story. If you like action stories, I don't believe this series would fail you. 3/4 of the way to the end, I found myself smiling at the characters in the way things played out. I plan on listening to the rest of Will Jordan's books.

This would make a great movie.

2nd book in the series and it's great. Looking forward to the next installment.

Righteous brother!

Awesome to the max! Like standing at the rim of a volcano while it murders your face off!

Still Impressed

Reading book 2 right behind book 1 and still impressed with the writing and presentation. Of course it is fiction, but just believable enough to leave a question behind. I cannot wait to get into book 3 in the series

good story poor narration

loved the story, it was a good adventure but the narrator just was not pleasant to listen to. neutral voice sounded like text to speech audio and grasp on accents for characters was poor. would have been better if a native American did it as majority of characters were American or if a Scot did it.

A big step up

This is a completely different animal from the first Ryan Darke novel. Set entirely in Afghanistan with the return of the previously established characters. Will Jordan really got his writing down, he builds pace and suspense in each scene. He seems to have mastered the art of drawing you in getting you invested in a scene then switching to another scene without losing the pace or a jarring in tone.

However, the narrator, Sam Devereaux, really lets the book down. He has a pleasing bass voice which engages the listener. The problem is with his accents, it is pretty much Highlander rules; cod Japanese accents pass for Arabic or Northern Irish for Scottish and the least said about the South African the better. I’m just grateful there wasn’t a Welsh character.

Still not enough to put me off and I’m definitely reading the next and I can’t wait for upcoming Ryan Drake short film currently in production.

A Bit Below Par

This second outing for author Will Jordan and character Luke Ryan is less good than the excellent first. 
The story and structure are good and I am sure they will go on to better.  It is the narrative flesh, and sometimes the pacing that lets them down at times.

Good description and an authentic sense of place is an important element of taut and intelligent stories that weave a long journey.  Jordan however lapses into long and detailed description of far too many of the book's fastest moving scenes and moments.
When it takes five minutes to read an action sequence that is over in a matter of seconds then an awful lot is lost:  the quick pace of the event is irretrievably absent and the impact of the things described is largely dulled by the time and effort taken to read it.
How many times can Mr Drake be racked by pain and exhaustion at the final limit of his energy in one scene? Probably just once but Jordan has him there, at tedious length, again and again with the result that for the reader he is never there.

Jordan needs pare down text greatly and find ways to put the desired information elsewhere: in the scene setting, inferred from the aftermath, anticipated by knowledge of the character and in the best place of all - writing itself in the reader's imagination.

That said these are great characters - likeable, tough and hurting. I care about them and look forward to more.


I always say that anyone who narrates a book has done well.  Sam Deveraux does not do well with the voicing of characters.  Too many sound the same.  He does not do any American accent well at all, nor a Scottish.  His women all sound a little weak and most of all Anya. 
She is the towering central figure of awe, strength, mystery and whispers of vulnerability.  Her character needs a voice that conveys these things, that can be female without being merely soft and high-pitched, with an authentic Russian accent, that has authority, implacability and (cliché alert!) Siberian coldness.

Not easy but a great character deserves no less.

OK for the tricky second book

Character development going well though one 'removal'. Story typical of the genre but well crafted and read. Two minor points, ISAF is not referred to by the initials but as a word by those involved with it and RPG [despite what EVERY writer thinks] does not stand for Rocket Propelled Grenade but is the Russian designation which translates as Handheld Antitank Grenade launcher. [Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, romanized: Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot]

Amazing

Ryan Drake doesn’t stop for anything when it comes to war and fighting.This time needing his skills more than usual.

I'm enjoying the books so far, Drinker 👍

really enjoying the writing here. has a lot more depth to the characters than the average thriller.

A contemporary thriller with absorbing detail.

Continues the main characters’ saga of fighting international crime and intrigue where the bad people are not always obvious. Believable skilled narration with multiple voices and accents. Interesting military kit detail but sometimes a little distracting from plot line. Action sequences that hold your attention and not always in the lead characters best interests! Sufficient twists and turns in the plot to keep you hooked.

Great follow up from previous book

Great story and well worth a credit. looking forward to the next in the series.

Wow what people might do.

When you think about the people who govern and what they might do for greed and this is a great story of how it might effect people in the field. Great exciting story which will keep you listening late into the night 🌙