I am a big fan of Audiobooks. Every day I
spend loads of time in the car either commuting from one meeting to the
next or shuttling my kids around. It’s amazing how many hours get
spent this way. My wife introduced me to audiobooks several years
ago and I’ve listened to well over a hundred of them since then.
The latest was Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn. An epic listen at something like 18.5 hours (scary that I knocked it off in two weeks).
I’ve always liked espionage/thrillers and was thus, very sorry to see
the cold war end ![Big Smile [:D]](/Blogs/emoticons/emotion-2.gif)
What better fodder than the super-secrecy
of the cold war could there be to fabricate stories with. I guess
terrorism is the next best thing and Flynn does a good job of creating
a super-human American spy/assassin (Mitch Rapp) who single-handedly
takes on the terrorists of the world.
Apparently, this is one of many in Flynn’s series of espionage book
with Rapp as his hero and it is the first one I’ve read. Rapp is
certainly a great tough-guy hero and you find yourself behind him all
the way as he kills people – patriotic duty, of course.
I liked the book, although I wouldn’t say it’s one of my top 10, or
even 25, in this genre. Flynn spends a lot of time wrenching an
incredible amount of detail out of some characters and situations which
often never gets used later in the story. As a listener, I’m
happy to make the investment into a character’s thoughts, family and
heritage as long as it adds value to the story and doesn’t just take up
space.
On the positive side, Flynn keeps you guessing about the outcome to the
very end and creates some great, suspenseful situations while he leads
you down the path.
Maybe sometime in the future I’ll come up with some rating system, but
in the meantime, I’d recommend this book, but I wouldn’t put it at the
top of your reading stack. I’ll certainly give one of the earliy
Flynn/Rapp books a try soon.
I’ve not read this book (or I suppose listened to it either). I’ll pitch another book in the espionage/thriller category. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. (http://www.cryptonomicon.com/main.html). If you are computer or math geek or technology historian, the book has some additional factors of enjoyment. The story line runs through two parallel time periods, WWII and the present. Alan Turing makes a significant appearance in the book and is an important peripheral character. There’s something for everyone, Nazi’s, explosions, computer geeks, submarines, sex, higher order mathematics, gold, gangsters, EMP engery guns. I give it an 10110011.
John
Hey, just because the Cold War is over doesn’t mean your enjoyment of Tom-Clancy-style spy thrillers needs to end. It’s fascinating reading/watching books and movies of that type from the last 50, and watching as the villainous stereotypes evolve.
Hey, just because the Cold War is over doesn’t mean your enjoyment of Tom-Clancy-style spy thrillers needs to end. It’s fascinating reading/watching books and movies of that type from the last 50, and watching as the villainous stereotypes evolve.
I am sorry to say I disagree: This book is the worst I’ve ever read. Flynn should stop writing. Maybe he can start painting?
I am sorry to say I disagree: This book is the worst I’ve ever read. Flynn should stop writing. Maybe he can start painting?
I've not read this book (or I suppose listened to it either). I'll pitch another book in the espionage/thriller category. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. (http://www.cryptonomicon.com/main.html). If you are computer or math geek or technology historian, the book has some additional factors of enjoyment. The story line runs through two parallel time periods, WWII and the present. Alan Turing makes a significant appearance in the book and is an important peripheral character. There's something for everyone, Nazi's, explosions, computer geeks, submarines, sex, higher order mathematics, gold, gangsters, EMP engery guns. I give it an 10110011.
John