Peter J. Thompson

I really enjoyed this book. The premise of this story is what really drew me in. Stories involving hit men can be quite entertaining but a hit man who learns that his next target is himself sounded like something that I needed to have in my life. It was really easy to slip into this book and I found it to be a wonderful listen.

Charley is a lot of things. He is a husband and a father living a pretty average life. Except for the fact that he works as a hit man. No one knows who is his or what he really does. Everything pertaining to his occupation is handled anonymously. Or so he thought. When he finishes up a job and gets his next assignment, he is in for a huge surprise because he is the next target.

When Charley learns that someone wants him dead, he is determined to learn who exactly wants him dead while he protects himself from other would be assassins. In order to do this, he must really look at his life and try to find if there is anyone someone knows about his chosen career path or if the hit was sparked by something else. Everyone is a suspect and Charley knows that he should trust anyone at this point.

I had fun watching Charley try to determine who it is that would like to see him dead. Some of his initial assumptions didn't quite pan out but I liked how he was willing to look at everyone in his life. Charley ended up being a rather good detective and I found myself working to put the pieces together right along with him. There were some pretty exciting scenes that kept things interesting and the mystery did keep me guessing.

Gary Tiedemann did a fantastic job with the narration. He really became the voice of Charley and helped to bring the story to life. I loved the way he was able to make Charley sound sensible and analytical at times but completely ruthless at other times. He had a wonderful voice that I found very easy to listen to for hours at a time. I wouldn't hesitate to listen to more of this narrator in the future.

I would recommend this book to others. It had a really interesting premise and I think that it was executed very well. I wanted to see Charley work out who was out to get him and come out of this okay. I plan to check out more of Peter J. Thompson's work in the future.

I received a review copy of this audiobook from the narrator via Audiobook Boom.… (mais)

This was a really good suspense novel. It kept me entertained all day, as I didn’t put it down. 10+ hours of audiobook is usually a 2 day listen for me, but I enjoyed it all in one day as I needed to see how things turned out for Ramon. He’s an interesting character caught up in extraordinary circumstances.

He’s been on death row for several years in a Texas prison, falsely accused of a murder. His lawyer, Barry, has worked hard for him but the inevitable has finally come. Ramon has made his peace with it. But then he wakes up in what turns out to be a military installation. Bio warfare is at the heart of this thriller and Ramon becomes the living proof of this clandestine military operation.

Lena Dryer was also an interesting character. She’s a rising journalistic star, excited for her career and about to make one of the biggest changes in her life. She was one of a few witnesses to the execution of Ramon, and that fact is what yanks her back into Ramon’s life. Yet part of her is very excited by the big story that just landed in her lap. Now if she can just stay alive long enough to get it out there!

The one issue I have with this story is that there are so few female characters. There’s Lena…. and …. and…. hmm…. Well, Ramon has some vague dream of her mom singing. So, yeah, we need more ladies because that would more accurately reflect life in general.

The villains are well represented, as we have different flavors of villainy. Dr. Meeks seems to be in it for the science. Cane just likes a good hunt, and revels in causing others pain. Others get up on a moral high horse, claiming they are doing what’s best for humanity. Yet another has a change of heart once he learns what the evil master plan is. Is it a sin that I enjoyed the villains more than the heroes?

The pacing is perfect and I liked that the story was plausible, being something that could happen in today’s age. I love the desert southwest setting for the bulk of the tale. 4.5/5 stars

The Narration: Gary Tiedemann gave a really good performance. His light Spanish accent (as described in the book) for Ramon was spot on. His voice for Lena was feminine. All character voices were distinct. I loved his vicious voice for Cane (the dominant villain). His pacing was perfect and there were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Peter Thompson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (mais)

What a fun book! I really enjoyed this story, even with it’s few tiny faults. Zach is so relatable. He’s a teenager who’s been yanked from his happy life by a sudden decision by his dad and he’s ticked. He doesn’t want to live in Phoenix! He wants to go back home to Chicago where’s he a star on the football team, has great friends, and there’s also an interesting girl (Lindsey). So, he boards a bus and heads home. Of course, this causes his family a ton of trouble.

I love Witness Protection stories. I don’t know why, but I’m always a bit fascinated with them, whether it’s a criminal who has turned witness or a fairly honest person who saw something bad go down. So right away, I was hooked on this story. How do you keep a witness (or their family) safe if they don’t cooperate? Well, as we see in this book, it’s very hard to do so.

I got a real kick out of some of the bad guys. Now they come in all flavors in this book, from macho mafia man Joe to nervous sneaky Birdman. But my favorites were Lewis (he’s got anger issues) and Wade (a daft yet efficient young man). Those two paired together gave me some laughs, even if they were at the expense of their victims.

Zach’s mom was a bit on the dramatic side, and that whole bit about her female intuition was a bit silly. The most believable female character turned out to be Lindsey. I really liked that she’s still a teen, being afraid in many of the situations, yet she does her share of butt kicking when she can. She makes some mistakes but she also keeps her head in other situations.

The story added more layers as things went on. There are multiple people who want Zach’s dad to disappear and not all of them are wearing Bad Guy labels. Zach’s dad eventually has to take a much more hands on approach to the situation and I was glad to see that he was also scared at times yet still did his best to fix the situation.

While I would have liked a little more from the ladies, there was never a dull moment in the story. I listened to the story in 2 sessions, simply because I had to sleep a bit. Otherwise, I would have listened to it all in 1 go. 4.75/5 stars.

The Narration: Gary Tiedemann makes are really great Zach. He’s got that angry teen guy down. Then he does a great job with Mafia Joe and Mr. Birdman as well as angry Lewis and daft Wade. His female voices were spot on as well. His voice for the Russians or Eastern Europeans sounded more Spanish to me, but I can forgive that. The story got the characters across. Tiedemann’s pacing was perfect and there were no technical issues with the recording. 4.75/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Peter Thompson. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (mais)