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A review by bookworm_brad
Deathlist by Chris Ryan
3.0
This is the first book I've tried by Chris Ryan, thinking it was the first book in the Strike Back series since it's shown as Strike Back #1, though I then found out that there was a previous book called Strike Back from several years previously, set in a time before this book.
No matter, I liked the sound of this book and quite enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot. While the foul language, violence and gore didn't concern me I was put off by the endlessly repetitive use of "mucker" and the spy boss who calls everyone "Old Fruit" in almost every sentence. Does anyone really talk like that? It just seems like a poorly done and unfunny caricature to me but maybe the author knows weird people that talk that way.
There were a number of abbreviations and acronyms that might make perfect sense to anyone in the forces or who watches military type TV shows but some of them baffled me and had to resort to Google to figure them out. Maybe an initial explanation on the first use would have helped.
I have mixed feelings about the narrator. He was pleasant enough to listen to and did a good job with numerous accents, male and female voices and appeared to pronounce foreign words and locations without difficulty. Sadly he messed up some pretty basic english words and phrases that were quite cringeworthy. For example, he pronounced "op", an abbreviation for operation, as "O.P." and Frigid was pronounced with a hard G instead of a soft G, so FriGid etc. Schoolboy errors that let the narration down.
I hope the next book in the series is improved as I'd like to hear what happens next, though perhaps I'll go and find the earlier "Strike Back" to learn of the character's history first.
No matter, I liked the sound of this book and quite enjoyed the story, the characters and the plot. While the foul language, violence and gore didn't concern me I was put off by the endlessly repetitive use of "mucker" and the spy boss who calls everyone "Old Fruit" in almost every sentence. Does anyone really talk like that? It just seems like a poorly done and unfunny caricature to me but maybe the author knows weird people that talk that way.
There were a number of abbreviations and acronyms that might make perfect sense to anyone in the forces or who watches military type TV shows but some of them baffled me and had to resort to Google to figure them out. Maybe an initial explanation on the first use would have helped.
I have mixed feelings about the narrator. He was pleasant enough to listen to and did a good job with numerous accents, male and female voices and appeared to pronounce foreign words and locations without difficulty. Sadly he messed up some pretty basic english words and phrases that were quite cringeworthy. For example, he pronounced "op", an abbreviation for operation, as "O.P." and Frigid was pronounced with a hard G instead of a soft G, so FriGid etc. Schoolboy errors that let the narration down.
I hope the next book in the series is improved as I'd like to hear what happens next, though perhaps I'll go and find the earlier "Strike Back" to learn of the character's history first.