The Damaged

Jonathan Quinn, Book 13

By: Brett Battles

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best-selling author Brett Battles comes another exciting adventure in his award winning Jonathan Quinn thriller series.  

Jonathan Quinn is the best at what he does: making bodies disappear. Within the espionage world, his reputation is impeccable.  

There was a time, though, when that reputation was still being built under his mentor, Durrie. A time when the very man who had taught Quinn all he knew could have derailed the young cleaner’s future.  

Fifteen years ago, Quinn was offered a job. On the surface, a straightforward mission to stop a terrorist. But the client gave Quinn the additional task of taking on Durrie as his number two, as a last chance for the veteran agent to be rehabilitated.  

Durrie had been on a downward spiral, going from being a highly respected operative to an unreliable has-been. These changes threatened to destroy everything - not only in Quinn’s life, but Orlando’s, too. She was Durrie’s girlfriend, and Quinn’s best friend.  

Both she and Quinn were desperate to help Durrie return to the person he once was. They hoped this job would be the answer.  

Durrie had other plans.

©2019 Brett Battles (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Back to the beginning...

For anyone who is a fan of the Jonathan Quinn series. We all know about Durrie, Quinn’s mentor. For anyone who is not a fan I would suggest listening to this book after the prequel BECOMING QUINN. This is the missing story about the fallout between Quinn and Durrie and the beginning of Quinn and Orlando. Excellent story. Durrie was one messed up guy who couldn’t tell the difference between his friends and enemies. Betrayal at it’s finest!
Scott Brick does an excellent job narrating.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Filing in the earlier time!

All series by Brett Battles are addictive! THE DAMAGED is the second out of chronological order novel in the Jonathan Quinn series. The first was Becoming Quinn which was about his introduction to his mentor Durrie. This one occurs years later when Quinn is on his own and is called to help his former mentor who has gone off the deep end. The Damaged also fills in some of the early Quinn interaction with Orlando. For a listener who is just beginning the Quinn series I recommend listening to Becoming Quinn followed by The Damaged and then moving on to other novels in the series. But the series can be listened to in any order. Narration by Scott Brick is stellar as usual for him. I very highly recommend this novel.

I joined Audible in December 2006. The third novel I purchased, from an author I had never heard of, was The Cleaner which is Book 1 in the Jonathan Quinn series. Since then I have purchased 33 other audio books by Brett Battles. I have never been disappointed.

The Damaged was released in paperback and Kindle versions on July 9 (over 4 months ago) and I have been waiting for the audio book release. I purchased the Kindle version the day it was released so I have been aware of the plot since mid-July.

All of Brett Battles novels except for the Project Eden series can be listened to as standalone. The 7 novel Project Eden series must be listened to in order.

Worst in the series

I have enjoyed the Quinn books over the years. This one should have stayed in Brett Battles' mind. The entire back story could have been addressed in a chapter in any previous book. Flashbacks on how a character came to be can work . . . i.e. American Assassin, but this is misses completely. I am guessing he strong armed his writing team to get this done.

As a fan of this series

I completely enjoyed this every bit as much as the others! Very well done, I really like that the people are realistic, as is the story line. Not many action/adventure stories are, this isn’t at all over the top and that makes it all the more enjoyable. Mr. Brick as always delivers a stellar performance. Thank you both!

The Story is the Damaged

This book should have come with a warning -- that ironically, the author included in his afterward comments. It is unsatisfying. At 6 hours, it is more like a short story...or half of a whole story the author didn't know how to finish.

But beyond that, except for Durrie, the main characters are not -- well, in character. In stead of the ultra rational, pragmatic professionals we have come to know and love, they are ruled by emotions. Worse, they are incompetent! To avoid spoilers, I won't provide a list, but if the protagonists had made this many stupid mistakes in the beginning, they would have never lived to be in the other 12 books. And, if I had read this one first, I would never have begun any of the other books.

But, I did enjoy the others and guess I can forgive the author for taking out his catharsis on us...once.

Good book and narration..

This really was more of a romance than a usual Quinn book, but I liked it, and didn’t like it. I always liked Durrie but in this one he’s a complete jerk. I know it’s from his bump on the head, but he’s still a jerk. And Orlando was an jerk too. She blamed Quinn for what she thought happened and it wasn’t Quinn’s fault. This was not a favorite Quinn book, but it was still good.

No sex! And no swearing to speak of, which makes the book less exciting. So many bad guys and no serious swearing? Never gonna happen in real life.

As to the narration: Love Scott Brick but he really has to practice his female voices. He doesn’t change his tone at all when Orlando talks. Otherwise, he’s awesome.

Unlucky book 13- flashback to 2 unlikeable guys

Reviews noted this book 13 is actually a flashback to before book 1, so it seemed like starting the series here wouldn’t be unreasonable. I like thrillers and can get behind anti-heroes or killers, if they have personality. I didn’t like Quinn, Durrie or Orlando. With the characters failing too captivate, I zoned out on the story and found this forgettable.

least enjoyable book in this series

Disappointed in this prequel book. ok story but characters less developed than in the past books. And ending was abrupt and unsatisfactory. Recommend moving this in sequence to its proper chronological order and giving it a x.05 designation.

Just didn't hold my attention

While there was lots of action, I didn't really get into the book. At 3/4 through, I quit.

If you grabbed this in the $5.00 promotion

And new to the series, grab “The Cleaner” --------the first in the Quinn series------- cuz this doesn’t work as a stand -alone.


Also:
1) If you are new be prepared for a new Audible addiction

2)May need to be a die-hard Quinn fan to enjoy this prequel.

I am one of the die-hards, so the back story fill in of Quinn and his mentor Durrie was a trip in the way-back-machine that I binged in one
"don't talk to me, GTHA cuz I am in my Audible zone" .


I also did a bit of “speed listening” to the first Quinn story “The Cleaner” to refresh my memory cuz it’s been a few years since I’d listened.


Scott Brick…..the dude is always 5 stars + SOLID in all his narration and he does not disappoint with the Quinn series.