The Excoms

By: Brett Battles

Narrated by: Allyson Johnson

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

From best-selling author Brett Battles comes the first book in a spinoff series from his award-winning Jonathan Quinn thrillers.

Ananke thought her week couldn't get worse, but as she hunts for the man who screwed up her previous job, things really go sideways.

Turns out, she's not the only one having problems.

Rosario can acquire anything for anyone, but can she obtain freedom for herself when her latest assignment goes awry?

Dylan's sure his new gig will be a walk in the park - or rather, a drive, given that he's a courier. Unfortunately, the road is a bit bumpier than he expected.

Liesel is having the worst week of her life, and blames only herself.

And Ricky? Well, Ricky doesn't believe in bad weeks. Though he can't claim being stuck in prison is all that great. Convenient for all of them, then, that a mysterious organization comes along asking for their help, and in return promises to reverse their excommunication from the secret world.

Of course, nothing good ever comes without strings attached.

©2016 Brett Battles (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Another very entertaining Brett Battles series

For anyone who is a follower of the Jonathan Quinn series this is a known character from the novel The Buried. Ananke is a woman assassin. Her specialty is making death look like a result of natural causes.
Ananke and three other operatives are set up or framed and all have a contract out on them. A fifth operative is taken out of prison. He too is from the book The Buried. This is Ricky Orbit, he's a hunter who is also full of wise cracks and does things by the seat of his pants without thought to the consequences.
This is a really good fast paced story that I am assuming will become a series that will also share books with the Quinn series. This is hinted at in this book by way of some communication between J. Quinn and Ananke in this book.
Anyway I HIGHLY RECOMMENDED this as well as the J. Quinn series to anyone who hasn't read it.
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40 people found this helpful

Spin-off from the Jonathan Quinn series!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! There are five protagonists, but the primary one is assassin for hire Ananke who played a major part in novel #9, The Buried, in the Jonathan Quinn series by Brett Battles. Ricky had a smaller role n the same novel. Audible classifies The Excoms as an espionage thriller; I would classify it as an action and suspense thriller. I could not wait for the audio book, so I purchased and read the Kindle version before the Audible version was released. Listening to it was fun.

The people who are manipulating the five protagonists are shadowy and are never identified. The protagonists are forced to try to recover 6 girls kidnapped for ransom. This novel has real potential as a series. Narration is stellar.

14 people found this helpful

Good exciting book! Good narration!

This was exciting and entertaining. I really like a good secret operative story and this was definitely a good one! Lots of action and some really great dialogue throughout.

I really liked how the Administrator put together this team. Very exciting and action packed.
This is my first Brett Battles book and will be checking out more from him for sure.

As for the narration it was very good. She did a good job on the men's voices as well as all the accents. She gave everyone their own distinct voice. She read with emotion and has a very nice reading voice.

3 people found this helpful

Good, not great. But has some potential

What did you love best about The Excoms?

The premise of the story is solid. Select people with a unique skill, who are outside the law, but not evil. Bring them together and present them with a job offer. Let them decide to work take the job, instead of forcing them to take the job.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Don't have one. I liked the team as a whole.

What about Allyson Johnson’s performance did you like?

Many don't like her performance. But I'm a huge fan of the Honor Harrington books and she is the voice of Honor. So, I enjoy her performances.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it wasn't that type of book. There are several attempts at humor, but they simply don;t work. Ricky's character is annoying and immature. I know they were going for charming and carefree, but that's not how it comes across.

Any additional comments?

This series has a lot of potential. There is a lot to explore in the world of the Excoms.
Are they really working for good guys or are they pawns in a larger game? I'm very interested in listening to the next book in the series.

3 people found this helpful

Very cool start for a series!!

I really did not know what to expect coming into this book. The premise reminded me of the show The Breakout King, which I loved, so I gave it a shot. Turns out, it was a great read!

Be prepared for a jumpy story line. By that I mean it isn't going to stay in one place and you transition from one character to the next. The upshot is it stays to sections narrated by one character and is easy to follow. The trickiest part is the beginning when you are meeting them all and getting back stories. It wasn't too complex, just requires more than a modicum of attention to follow.

I really liked the flow of the story. It also had dynamic and engaging characters. There are a few stereotypical things, but nothing too bad. The main plot was good, not overly complex, but not exactly exciting either. I expect more in time with the series. I do wonder about their mysterious counterpart.

I listened to the narration by Allyson Johnson, who did a terrific job. She had a lot of distinct voices to maintain and really did a wonderful job with all of them. I never once found the read lacking or unclear as to which character was driving the narrative. I enjoyed everything about the pace and energy of her voice. I look forward to many more of her reads.It was a pleasure and I hope she continues on with the series.

Overall, I was intrigued by the plot, enchanted by the characters, and left wanting more! A pretty good way to leave a reader! Just don't make me wait too long for the next book!

This was part of my reading for almost free commitment. I found it on Amazon, with my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I was able to borrow the audio for no additional charge. I do not know if this is a permanent arrangement or temporary. It was in effect at the time I wrote this review.

5 people found this helpful

ExComms

the story had a great many twists in the plot which was great and kept me on my toes. The characters or interesting and diverse. love the story and looking for more from mr. battles

3 people found this helpful

airplane read

This is the kind of book perfect for an airplane trip or maybe your daily public transportation commute. The plot, which could have been overly complicated, is kept easy to follow. The characters are all likeable in their own way. It's a light, entertaining read.

6 people found this helpful

Nice tangent to the Quinn stories

The slightly confusing beginning is a surprise, as five underworld workers find themselves in untenable positions they, and we, never thought they would find themselves. Some of these are amateurs and some are super-black, skilled underworld professionals, and now they must decide to work together and trust each other (yeah, right) to accomplish the mission set before them.

After the intriguing beginning, the story weakens a bit.The setup is a bit far-fetched, and only the five teammates are really made full and round for us, so it is a bit thin. Ananke is here, so we are already familiar with at least one character. The action and the mystery keep us interested even though we never really believe the premise. Not the best of Battles' books, but this may end up being a satisfying spin-off to the Quinn stories.

2 people found this helpful

Cartoonish

One character in particular, Ricky, absolutely ruined the story. the story was utterly unbelievable -- thinking Scooby-Doo without the talking dog and lots of violence. Battles is a good wordsmith, so it was listenable, but the thought of a sequel is right down painful.

5 people found this helpful

High expectations but disappointing

I’m a longtime fan of Brett Battles, his Jonathan Quinn series, and was looking forward to this new series. But The Excoms read like it was written for young adults; the writing is ok but the story lacks the punch of the Quinn series. I started losing interest after the first quarter or so, and I almost stopped listening. But stuck it out hoping it would improve.
One character appeared in the Quinn serious recently, but were stereotypical & flat characters who reacted predictably to an uninspired storyline. The narrator didn’t help the book. Her voice couldn’t support the range of characters, and most of her accents were unconvincing and inconsistent. I recommend skipping this one.