Terror Byte

De: J. R. Park

Narrado por: Rick Gregory

Street tough Detective Norton is a broken man. Still grieving the murder of his girlfriend, he is called to investigate the daylight slaughter of an entire office amid rumours of a mysterious and lethal computer program. As the conspiracy unfolds the technological killer has a new target. Fighting for survival, Norton must also battle his inner demons, the wrath of MI5, and a beautiful but deadly mercenary only known as Orchid.

Unseen, undetectable, and unstoppable. In the age of technology the most deadly weapon is a few lines of code.

©2014, 2017 J. R. Park (P)2018 J. R. Park

Catchy title, but not much terror to the byte.

Detective Norton is thought to be one of London’s best detectives but lately he is a haunted man. Just weeks ago his girlfriend was murdered leaving him with nothing but the job which he focuses on relentlessly. Then he is called in to investigate an office building where the entire staff is found brutally murdered. His only clue is the flash drive that curiously has his dead girlfriend’s name printed on it.

I must admit I have a lot of mixed feeling about this book. It’s short, and part me feels that it works because of it. However I also feel like the hindrance of the book is it’s brevity and that it should be longer with twists, turns, and added suspense. As it stands, it is an interesting book that is never sure what genre it wants to be a part of so it takes a limitless from each. You have the grotesque beginning with the gratuitous sex scene, and then you stumble through the noir until you find yourself reading a techno-thriller.

Now don’t get me wrong, I found the book to be engaging and worked my way through the short fiction rather quickly, however this book was not one of my favorites.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

MEH Byte

I tried to like this story and listened to it twice to make sure it wasn't me. Was definitely better the second time as I was less confused but still just couldn't get into it. I think it if were longer it wouldn't have felt rushed and there would have had more time to elaborate on the story. It started out gory and great and then switched gears and became more like a mystery thriller with the bad guys in chase. All in all it was an interesting concept but didn't have all the right pieces. Can't even really say there were any characters I was especially attached to.

Rick Gregory did a great job, as always.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Computer programs gone wild!

Computer programs gone wild!

I have been looking forward to getting to this author for a while, so when I saw an audiobook copy up for grabs, I jumped on it. The story itself is straightforward and fast moving. Nothing spectacularly original or earthshattering, but entertaining and well narrated.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

Great pulp horror novel-Loved it!

Terror Byte by J. R. Park was thoroughly enjoyable. It had that pulp horror feel to it. This is my first of Mr. Park's novels and I can guarantee that it won't be my last, though he only has one other novel on Audible at the time of this review. If you've read the summary, you know what the gist of the story is. From the opening scene to the end (loved the last lines) it's a fun ride. Detective Norton and Orchid are fun characters and Mel...well, Mel is one bad piece of work.

Rick Gregory did a good job with the narration. I would listen to another of his performances in the future. This author is British and the story takes place there as well, as MI-5 is involved with the story and not the FBI. Okay, I'll be straight. The author uses the word 'whilst' a LOT. I actually took the time (because I was curious) to see just HOW popular that word is over the pond, as in the US, it isn't used nearly as often and it's used . It was like 7% US usage and 44% British usage. Source-OxfordDictionaries after a google search for 'whilst usage.' Anyways, the word didn't bug me, but the mispronunciation of the word throughout the novel did. Don't let this keeping you from listening to though! If that's my one complaint, it's minor in the scheme of things. For a shorter novel/novella, it's a complete story.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review. I'm happy to say that this is one of those books that I got for free to review, but I would have happily paid for.

Awesome!

Ok, so I may have nerded-out on this story, as this sort of trope is one of my favorites. Bad computer program killing innocent people? Check. Stereotypical cop teams up with foreign assassin-type to save the world? Check. Well done, all around! Excellent job by the narrator, whom I've listened to before, and has done a good job with acting the characters as well as reading the lines.

I was expecting a bit more

This story started off promising: sex scene followed by several murders by unknown means. Detective Norton is assigned to look into it and initially he’s stumped. There’s no obvious motive or even murder weapon. Norton is reeling from the death of his girlfriend Mel, so he’s got that beaten down, drown-myself-in-work thing going for him. Norton is what drew me into this story.

Then the mysterious Orchid makes an appearance. She’s got skills and I wasn’t sure Norton would last the entire book. Thankfully, Orchid doesn’t want him dead right away! I went back and forth about Orchid. She’s got this ‘disguise’ and her Evil Mistress name Orchid but then some minor character easily identifies her doing her regular day job. So, not much of a disguise there. She’s fun but turns up too conveniently or gets out of handcuffs too easily. That sort of thing had me roll my eyes a few times.

While the story is indeed fast-paced, I occasionally lost interest in the story. It’s one fight or chase scene or quickie in the office supplies closet after another. There are a few quieter moments, usually when Norton is thinking about his Mel. Those helped balance some of the fast-paced nature of this tale. I did enjoy the scifi techno thriller aspect to the murders even if I found it lacked any substantial detail. The story wasn’t here to show me how such a cyber crime could be possible, but, rather, used the idea as a gimmick to set the stage and occasionally push the plot forward.

The story initially gripped my attention, but then lost it, tried to snatch it back, failed, tried again, gained a bit of interest, and then held it because I knew the ending was nigh. All together, it was OK. 3.5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Rick Gregory had to pronounce the word ‘whilst’ far too many times in this story. I don’t know why the author used that word so often. Gregory did give it a second syllable nearly every time which I found to be a little jarring. Other than that, Gregory gave a good performance. He had distinct voices for all the characters and his female voices were believable. 4/5 stars.

Terror Byte

Hmm. I liked the story but I feel like something was missing that would have made this story better. I liked the detective and the assassin. Another good performance by the narrator. I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom for my unbiased review.

Good Story mostly

I received this audio book for free in exchange for my honest review. The story is well written and entertaining. The narration leaves something to be desired though. The author is apparently very fond of the word whilst and the narrator kept pronouncing it while issed. That made me cringe every time I heard it. I will keep an eye out for this narrator and avoid his work in the future.

Terrifying.

When Detective Norton is called to investigate the slaughter of an entire office, little did he know that it would turn his world upside down. Already grieving the death of his girlfriend, he isn't prepared to uncover the truth behind the deaths. How deep does this go?

I thoroughly enjoyed this!! The plot was fast paced and intense. Once the detective finds out about the program and what it does, it really picks up the pace. You can just imagine what that type of technology can do!! And no, I'm not telling you because it's better if you go into this blind. It's much more enjoyable, well it was for me anyway!

In all, this is a quick read, but it's a fast paced, thrilling and entertaining one. It would give you chills thinking about the program!!! If you enjoy techno-thrillers, then you're sure to enjoy this.

Rick Gregory read this really well. His cadences and tones brought the atmosphere to life and made this more enjoyable. While his voices for certain characters could do with a little more differentiation, they were still good enough that I could follow who was talking.

I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Amazing Open

I found 'Terror Byte' to be an interesting take on the concept of a 'killer computer program' and the opening scene was so intensely dramatic and thrilling that I thought this was going to be my new favorite book. I feel like Park used up all of his truly good stuff in that opening bit. The rest of the story was all downhill for me. Perhaps, if the opening scene wasn't so compelling, the rest wouldn't have seemed subpar to me. It wasn't a bad story but I probably wouldn't recommend it to my friends, only because there is better horror out there. Rick Gregory does a fabulous job, as always. I always enjoy listening to books he narrates!

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.