Luke Bragg

Someone's just...not good at their job

Revisado: 04-17-25

Normally, having an espionage thriller written by a former member of the intelligence community raises my expectations and my interest. I recently read Jack Beaumont's GCSE books and can't wait for more to be written. Sadly, in the case of this book, I was sorely disappointed.

It mostly comes down to one glaring fact: the main character is deeply and horribly incompetent. Besides just bumbling from one disaster to another, he seems to tell everyone he meets every detail of his mission and makes so many glaring mistakes it's a wonder he survives at all. It makes sense why MI6 fired him and why his business is unsuccessful. He's sloppy in his tradecraft and PerSec, obvious to the bigger picture, and his insecurities dominate his behavior. I see there's a followup book but I think I'll politely take a step back and forget I ever read this deeply pedestrian addition to the genre. There are quite literally a hundred books or more that are better than this.

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One of my favorite Mitch Rapp stories in a while

Revisado: 11-26-24

Sometimes it's just enough that the story and the tension make for a very enjoyable listen. I also enjoyed going back in time with some characters that haven't been around in recent Rapp stories (although it was jarring to hear another narrator do Stan Hurley). I just found this story very interesting and I enjoyed the alt-history aspects of it. A solid addition to the series. I didn't think the narration was bad, it's just that you get used to certain characters sounding a certain way. Small quibble.

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Sadly, a disappointment

Revisado: 08-04-24

I had read Alma Katsu's Red Widow books so was looking forward to another spy story. Sadly, this was a big disappointment. By the end I didn't care about a single characte, the plot was really 'meh' and I thought there were several scenes that strained credulity. And the narration just didn't bring any gravitas to the already mid material. It just wasn't very good and I doubt I'll ever give it a second thought (but I hope she writes more Red Widow novels and they are as good as the first two).

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A stellar follow-up and hopefully more to come.

Revisado: 10-28-23

I listened to this book and its predecessor back-to-back. What a wonderful series and I hope for many more. I found the story unpredictable, the characters three-dimensional and interesting, and the plot was fascinating. It was messy (in a good way) in that it picked up threads from the first novel and kept them going, while obviously introducing a whole new set of characters and missions. And most importantly it left me wanting more more more!!!

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This book series continues to impress

Revisado: 08-28-22

I now mark my calendar for when new Tracey Crosswhite books are released as I have come to love the characters and the various plots. This one was no different. I like that it began immediately after the conclusion of the last novel (and its plot played a small role in this story) and the characters are as fresh as ever. Ms. Sutton-Smith's narration is truly top class. She has a great grip on all the regular characters (I especially like her male voices) and she always fills each character with depth and uniqueness. As long as Mr. Dugoni churns out new stories, I'll be buying!

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A return to good storytelling

Revisado: 07-25-22

After the dumpster fire that was the last Gabriel Allon story (all plot details were very derivative and the political thinking so muddled that dailykos would have rejected it), I'm glad Mr. Silva has gone back to simple stories told expertly. It was fun to see some of the old characters return and hopefully some of the new characters will show up again in future novels. I was close to not listening to any more from Mr. Silva but perhaps his last novel was just the tantrum he needed to move forward.

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Another great addition to a great series

Revisado: 01-23-22

I'm not three books into this series and I continue to be impressed by the intricate plots, the fun characters, and the performance of Ms. Cramer. I'm really happy I have a dozen more books to read in this series!

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A fine addition to the collection

Revisado: 08-09-21

I've read/listened to every John Milton novel (as well as the others about Beatrix/Group 15) and it is good to know that Mr. Dawson can continue churning out quality stories. It took me a little bit before the disparate plot-lines started to come together, but once they did, it was a fun and exciting ride. I even found myself consulting google maps as I was reading to get a sense of the geography of the west coast of Scotland. I enjoyed the references to earlier stories and, of course, the tease for the next novel has me looking forward to the next installation.

This series isn't a prestige spy series, but it's always entertaining and it never gets old rooting for ol' John Milton.

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Just a boat-load of fun

Revisado: 07-20-21

Everyone will compare this to the Martian (understandably). In many ways it can't capture the magic of that novel (how could it) but in other ways it surpassed it. The scope of the challenge for the characters and the introduction of a companion to the main character was really well handled. I could not stop listening to this story and finished it in only a few days. I don't think a film or short tv series could do it justice so I hope to just have this fine performance from Ray Porter to have around.

If you loved Weir'd first books/stories, you'll like this as well. Simple as that.

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One of the weakest novels in the series

Revisado: 07-20-21

I love the Gabriel Allon series. And I love George Guidell's interpretation of the characters. The new narrator isn't bad (I've listened to him in other series). But this is simply one of the poorer efforts in the series. The plot seems a rehash of previous books and the con didn't seem altogether that clever. And the injection of personal politics in such a simplistic and obtuse way just had me shaking my head. One doesn't have to be a trump fan (of which I'm not) to roll one's eyes as the author replaces his usual talents with hatred and vitriol. I'm sure writing this was somewhat cathartic for the author during a difficult year, but I hope as life opens up he can return to crafting page-turning espionage stories without the generous helping of bigotry and ignorance.

Do better, Mr. Silva. We all know you can.

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