This book was solidly okay. It was one of my first thrillers, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but reading this book was essentially like watching a stereotypical action movie. Gunfire, car chases, and obligatory references to the CIA, FBI, and KGB abound. The book was technically fine, but there was nothing here to really make it stand out or catch my interest. I picked it up initially as a sort of random selection at my library, and it sounded interesting, as the dust jacket hinted to someone whose life wasn't what they'd always believed. This was accurate, but so much time was spent on the action in the story that I didn't feel completely invested in the personal aspects like this. Additionally, the actual plot wasn't nearly as unique as the dust jacket had led me to believe; even as someone who doesn't regularly watch action movies or read their literary equivalents, it fell pretty perfectly into the expectations that the Bourne movies and Salt have set for me.

Long story short, if you like high-action stories and spy thrillers, this will probably be right up your alley, but I was hoping for something with slightly more emotional or intellectual depth. ( )

Well well well, I can understand why Harlan Coben is such a great fan of this thriller writer – lots of similarities between Abbott and Coben – lots of pace, plot twists and hardly any character development or depth, just plain die-hard good guys versus bad guys. Abbott is crafty – short sentences, lots of action, never a dull moment. But in order to keep the pace and suspense going Abbott has to insert (unlikely) twists, stay pretty primal (good vs evil) and keep his shot-up and tortured protagonists going as if they were Robocop. Evan is a film maker and has just gotten entangled with the beautiful Carrie, when he is called urgently to his mom’s place 3 hours drive away. When he arrives home, he enters a horror scenario – his mom strangled in the kitchen, himself being strapped up by two guys, then a third character saving him by shooting the rope he dangles from in two, Evan running off with this third guy, feeling kidnapped and then Evan decides to escape, so he ends up in a police car and on his way to the Station is violently kidnapped again by guy no.3, etc etc… You get my point?

Basically the plot revolves around a bunch of former KGB sleepers, inserted as orphans in a burnt down orphanage in Ohio (wiping out their records), who subsequently go private, selling corporate intelligence to spy agencies and competitors across the world. They form a network called the deeps, each operating from its own vantage point (some from within the CIA). And for some reason (unclear which) Evan’s parents want out, his mom collating a file with names and personal details of members of the deeps and their clients. As soon as the bad guy and his son (Jargo and his mentally disturbed, sadistic son Dezz) sniff a scent of potential treason, they clamp down on Evan and his mom. And hence Evan ends in a week long hunt for the files, in order to extract himself, his dad and Carrie, while having to deal at the same time with a traitor-baiter who is ex CIA.

End of story? All dead, including Evan’s dad, and Evan and Carrie are wounded but save to start a wonderful love life on a tropical island. Duh… ( )

I had a hard time getting into this CD. I didn't really like the narrator. I found myself annoyed at Evan. At first he was so dumb, then he gets smart. But he misses an obvious clue from his father. ( )

A book that delivers what it sets out to do, which is take the reader on a twisting, turning rollercoaster t breakneck speed. It's full of unexpected events, people who aren't what they seem, double-crossing and so on. That said, it's not the sort of thing I generally go for; in general I would prefer character development over relentless action, but once in a while something like this is fine. If page-turning action is your bag, you could do a lot worse than this. ( )

This might have been better if I'd read it & could skim more, but the writing wasn't great. The story line was pretty good, though. Not exactly a new plot, but it was different enough to keep it interesting.

Unfortunately, the author was another who succumbed to putting a silencer on a revolver or else turned an automatic into a revolver - I forget which, but it doesn't really matter. I won't go out of my way to read another by this author.

The reader wasn't bad. Not great, but I'm VERY picky about readers. His voices weren't the best, but he wasn't irritating at all. ( )