The Thin Black Line

A Mike Walton Thriller, Book 1

By: Simon Gervais

Narrated by: Adam Hanin

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Mike Walton had experienced terrorism from every angle. As a covert field operations officer, he thought he'd seen it all, but that was before terrorism struck him directly at home. Suffering devastating physical injury and unthinkable personal loss, Mike had one of two choices: give up or fight back, and giving up wasn't in his makeup.

Mike and his wife, Lisa, a medical doctor and fellow counter-terrorism expert, are recruited by the International Market Stabilization Institute, a privately funded organization operating outside official channels to protect North America's financial interests. The strikes that destroyed Mike and Lisa's household - the work of Sheik Al-Assad - are bringing the Western economy to its knees. And they are only the beginning. If the Sheik succeeds, the world will change forever, and the next attack is just around the corner. Mike and Lisa must lead a hastily assembled team to Europe to stop the madness before time runs out.

Rippling with tension, raging with action, and replete with the kinds of details only a true counter-terrorism insider can provide, The Thin Black Line is a nonstop thriller of the first order. It announces an unforgettable new team of characters and a distinctive new voice to the thriller world.

©2015 Simon Gervais (P)2015 Simon Gervais

The Girls

Read the Mike/Lisa Powell/Walton books in the wrong order so this story filled in some holes. Action is great, relationship fluff gets old quickly. Also, repeated return to the "Lisa is the new agent and Mike's emotionally compromised" partner is understood so can we move on.

What a start..!

Mitch Rapp better watch out there's a new sheriff in town and he's from Canada

An excellently told twist on the War on Terror

I saw an add for this book and took a chance. I ma glad I did, because it was a hell of a thrill ride. Packed with action, it tells the story of a Canadian husband and wife who are dealt a horrible tragedy and are given the ability to get back at the people that visited it on them. Mike is a former Canadian Spec ops officer who is working as an RCMP Air Marshal, and is caught in a terrorist attack, as is his wife in another area. They suffer a huge tragedy, and are recruited into an organization that will allow them to go after the terrorists that played a part in it. It is action packed, with likable characters who are also dealing with moving past a huge loss. The bad guys are just that, BAD, and totally believable. Set in multiple locations around the world, You feel like your a part of the action. Any fan of Tom Clancy or Brad Thor's should definitely get this book!

Almost there

Good writer, excellent narration but husband and wife team didn't work for me.

Wonderful debut novel!

If you could sum up The Thin Black Line in three words, what would they be?

Amazing debut novel!

What did you like best about this story?

The overall story, the character and the insider tradecraft!

Have you listened to any of Adam Hanin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first Adam Hanin performance and I thought he did a wonderful job! I really like the way he did the voices when they were coming through a radio or cell phone. I thought it made the dialogue a lot easier to follow and I wish other narrators would do this!

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

It kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time waiting to see what happened next!

What a fast paced and action packed thriller!

Hang on and get ready for the ride! This triller is action pack from the beginning. I enjoyed the Canadian angle and the husband and wife team. Thanks to our neighbor to the north for their comment meant to fighting terrorism. Can't wait for mike and Lisa's next adventure!

Excellent espionage thriller; barely OK narration

I became aware of Canadian author Simon Gervais late in 2018 when his most recent novel Hunt Them Down made a huge splash in the book publication world. THE THIN BLACK LINE, first published almost four years ago, is not nearly as good as Hunt Them Down, but it is excellent and complex espionage thriller. Few suspense thrillers are as good as hunt Them Down. I look forward to to listening to the other novels in the Mike Walton series and I look forward even more so to future novels in the Pierce Hunt series.

I have down rated the narration by Adam Hunin for two reasons. The first is that I had just listened to Hunt Them Down which was narrated by RC Bray (narrating as Bon Shaw) who is one of the best narrators in the English world. The second is he made a few horrid narration errors. One is he referred the Florida Atlantic coastal highway A1A as AiA. The second, and more serious, is that he repeatedly mispronounced the name of the major southern Spanish city of Málaga. Málaga is one of the oldest cities in the world and he should have looked up the correct pronunciation.

too many pauses

the story is great. however the recording had too many pauses.Also, the recording was not the best quality.

not horrible but not good

I wouldn't recommend this particular book, maybe the authors later works are better. just too many better books out there in my opinion

Poor Writing

Fortunately, the author's writing gets better. He still has some wonky dialog in the Hunt Series, but this is just bad. Assuming you had a Husband and Wife team, they are 100% unprofessional in how they conduct "operations" and themselves throughout their adventures. The covert organization is a good plot point, but it fails on multiple levels from simple survellince to complex operational interactions with othe agencies.

Halfway through, the book is like a very bad movie you just want to see end so you know how the next one starts.