Skyjack

A Thea Paris Novel

By: K. J. Howe

Narrated by: Therese Plummer

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

International kidnap expert Thea Paris is escorting two former child soldiers on a plane from an orphanage in Kanzi, Africa, to adoptive parents in London when the Boeing Business Jet is hijacked and forced to land on a deserted airstrip in the Libyan desert. On the ground, Thea comes face-to-face with a former nemesis, a Sicilian don who wants something, or someone, on that plane.

Her old foe imprisons her in the hangar and takes to the air with the boys and the passengers still aboard, mysteriously demanding that Thea use the resources of Quantum International to hijack a truckload of Syrian refugees bound for Budapest. He makes it clear he will return the passengers only when the truck and its contents are in his possession.

Thea, Rif, and the Quantum team must race against the clock to discover the don's true motives before any harm comes to the two boys and their fellow passengers. Revealing a deadly conspiracy that connects the dark postwar legacy of World War II to the present, this case will bring all parties to an explosive conclusion that will decide the fate of millions across Europe and the Middle East.

©2018 K. J. Howe (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Therese Plummer is a terrible reader

Arrgh!!!! So disappointed to hear Therese Plummer's robotic voice. It's unbearable, forced, stilted and unnatural. She does not have the natural ability to read out loud. Horrible and fakey. It makes me want to scream. I will from now on pay close attention to the narrator's name.

Great follow up to The Freedom Broker

After KJ Howe's debut thriller, The Freedom Broker, last year, where she debuted Thea Paris, who works as a Kidnap & Ransom specialist, I was excited to see Skyjack come to audible. This was a great follow-up to the first book, and started off exciting, and it never ended throughout the entire book.

Although reading the first book of the series is not necessary, I would recommend it as it provides some back story that will help a few details of Skyjack make a little more sense. However, if you choose to simply dive in to Skyjack without reading The Freedom Broker, you are still in for a wild ride.

The book kicks off with a scene that could give anyone with a fear of flying mild anxiety, but it starts with a pulse pounding scene that also introduces you to Thea Paris. KJ Howe also wastes no time in diving into some of the details revealed in the first novel of the series, like that Thea Paris is diabetic. The book never slows down, and I think Thea Paris is one of the strongest protagonists in the thriller genre right now, men and women combined.

The narrator, Therese Plummer, did a fantastic job, as she usually does. I have listened to a number of books she has narrated, and I haven't come across one of her narrations that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. Therese Plummer IS Thea Paris. I think of Thea now, and I have to picture her with the voice of Plummer.

This book is a must-listen for anyone who is a fan of the thriller genre, or just likes an exciting book in general. I can't recommend this enough. I purchased it the day it was released on Audible, and I finished it before the day's end. It's that good! Get it immediately!

A must read for any fan of the thriller genre.

Audiobook Review - “Skyjack” was a great follow-up to KJ Howe's first book, “The Freedom Broker.” Skyjack started off exciting, and it never ended throughout the entire book. Although reading the first book of the series is not necessary, I would recommend it as it provides some back story that will help with some details in Skyjack that will make a little more sense. However, if you choose to simply dive into Skyjack without reading The Freedom Broker, you are still in for a ‘thrilling’ ride. The book kicks off with a scene that could give anyone with a fear of flying mild anxiety, but it starts with a pulse pounding scene that also introduces you to Thea Paris, a powerful woman with amazing courage. KJ Howe also wastes no time in diving into some of the details revealed in the first novel of the series, like that Thea Paris is diabetic (hence, the zero-sugar drink pictured with this review). The book never slows down, and I think Thea Paris is one of the strongest female protagonists in the thriller genre. She and the Quantum team of Kidnap & Ransom specialists are what blockbuster action movie material are made of! This book has it all – a “Broken Arrow” (a military term for an accident involving nuclear weapons), skyjacking (of course), mobsters, kidnapping, terrorist plots, boat chases, and numerous intense shoot outs. At times it seems like a little too much, but overall, it was a fast paced, enjoyable, and suspenseful thriller. I especially appreciate the tremendous amount of research by Howe. It shows in the storyline how details and accuracy make the story. Howe takes the reader to numerous locations and the descriptions were so rich and vivid I truly felt like I was there. This book is a must read for anyone who is a fan of the thriller genre, or just likes an exciting book in general. I cannot recommend it enough.

Action packed thriller

While Skyjack can be listened to on its own, there are definitely spoilers to events from The Freedom Broker and you’ll want to read/listen to these in order.

Thea Paris and the Quantum team return in what is Summer blockbuster movie material and 11 hours of audio. Howe introduces an even larger cast of characters and new situations that individually are compelling – yet culminate in a thrilling ride with a slightly surprising ending.

This book has it all – a Broken Arrow, skyjacking, mobsters, kidnapping, secret societies, terrorist plots, boat chases, and numerous shoot outs. At times it seems like maybe a little too much, but overall it was a fast paced, enjoyable, and suspenseful thriller. I especially appreciate what is obviously a lot of research Howe does to provide accuracy and details to her story. She takes us to numerous locations and the descriptions were so rich I truly felt like I was there.

Note: I have the ebook & audio and read along at times while listening. I’m not sure why, but there were several parts of the audio that seemed “Americanized”. For example the book says “dustbin lorry” and the narrator said “garbage truck”. It wasn’t a huge discrepancy but it did seem odd at times given the setting and characters.

This is my first time listening to Thérèse Plummer and she will definitely be going on my list of narrators to follow. Her range and consistency of voices across genders, age, accents, and emotions was perfection. Combined with Howe’s writing – this was a fabulous audiobook and I’m going to go back and add the audio of book 1 to my collection.

Fantastic!!

Howe pens a gripping story! She has the magical gift of spinning words into gold. Her protagonist Thea is a powerful woman with amazing courage. The narrator was excellent and really brought Howe’s story alive. Will definitely be reading all of Howe’s work! There’s more to discover about Thea. That’s for certain. Highly recommended!! 10 stars!!

Exciting Story - Fantastic Narrator

Great book - great series. I love the story line and the characters. The book is made even better by narrator - Therese Plummer. I've listened to literally hundreds of books and have rarely found anyone as good as Therese. She makes the story line and the characters come alive.

The story could be a little hard to follow at times and it wasn't always easy to connect the dots, but it was exciting and entertaining. Can't wait for the next book in the series!

Pretty bad

The storyline is very similar to book one, but is way worse. I could not finish it. Not one original thought or character in this book.