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  • Crisis

  • Luke Carlton, Book 1
  • By: Frank Gardner
  • Narrated by: John Sackville
  • Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (611 ratings)
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Crisis cover art

Crisis

By: Frank Gardner
Narrated by: John Sackville
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Summary

Introducing Luke Carlton - ex-Special Boat Service commando and now under contract to MI6 for some of its most dangerous missions. Sent into the steaming Colombian jungle to investigate the murder of a British intelligence officer, Luke finds himself caught up in the coils of a plot that has terrifying international dimensions.

Hunted down, captured, tortured and on the run from one of South America's most powerful and ruthless drugs cartels and its psychotic leader thirsting for revenge, Luke is in a life-or-death race against time to prevent a disaster on a truly terrifying scale: London is the target, the weapon is diabolical and the means of delivery is ingenious.

Drawing on his years of experience in reporting on security matters, Crisis is Frank Gardner's debut novel. Combining insider knowledge, up-to-the-minute hardware, fly-on-the-wall insights and heart-in-mouth excitement, Crisis boasts an irresistible, visceral frisson of authenticity: smart, fast-paced and furiously entertaining, here is a thriller for the 21st century.

©2016 Frank Gardner (P)2016 Random House Audiobooks

What listeners say about Crisis

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • 4 Stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good enthralling story.

A great captivating story but the narrator could be better, too "breathy", slightly too dramatic all the time.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but not great.

A good first novel, but I did feel that some heavier editing would have been helpful. Just a bit flabby in places.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Mr
  • 19-10-16

Edits!

Mature and intelligent thriller with a great level of 'insider' detail, well read. Sadly there are some poor edits which irritated but didn't stop me enjoying it.

Hopefully the start of a good little series!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Reader is important

Where does Crisis rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The story is good when you get into it. However, the reader although good with character voices is not at all good with the main reading. Honestly, he really needs to stop being so breathy, short and sharp and be more flowing. I found myself laughing at some of the reading.

What other book might you compare Crisis to, and why?

I suppose you could liken it to Fredrick Forsyth, not as good by a long way, but this was a debut novel and I am sure he will get into his stride.

Would you listen to another book narrated by John Sackville?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not moved but certainly had me listening for more was the part leading up to the planting of the destructive device.

Any additional comments?

A good book and I would listen to more by Frank Gardner, but not with John Sackville reading it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Dr
  • 21-09-16

Wow what a story

Frank Gardner's knowledge of the underworld is very evident and the clarity of his writing style adds impact and authenticity.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome

This book kept me coming back for more, excellent storyline! Well read and truly gripping!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An exciting and well read action adventure

This is an excellent fiction debut from Frank Gardner. Action, adventure, politics and foreign affairs combine to create a great book. Highly recommended.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Action Adventure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely I would. Because this is a sustained, exciting, fast paced story with no gaps in the narrative; the story is well constructed with more than one theme in it, and all these themes combine to make one compelling story; and the main characters are fully fleshed, three dimensional and believable.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The villain - the "Poor Little Thing" - is totally threatening and believable; while the hero - Luke Carlton - also has a back story which informs his actions. Neither are one dimensional; both are compelling. Any decent story of this nature, with the Secret Service pitted against groups posing security threats, needs both a hero and a villain who are a match for each other, this is what you get in this story.

What about John Sackville’s performance did you like?

I really liked John Sackville's narration. He has a very breathy, restless, almost staccato style of narration which doesn't relax or let up. At first, this threw me and initially I had a negative reaction to it. But as the story went on his narration actually complemented the fast pace of the story, drove it on and became part of it. I ended by wanting to hear a lot more stories narrated by him.

I have read the reviews of others who have not taken to John Sackville's distinctive style of narration; and - in a way, I understand this because initially I too found his distinctive style quite challenging, but then realised, several chapters in, how important his narration is in driving the story forward. What I would recommend to other listeners is to give him a chance, listen to him yourself and then make your own mind up. All I can say is, I really want to hear lots more audiobooks narrated by him!

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is an action adventure story: as such, to ask whether the listener had an emotional reaction is not really relevant - but I did find it very exciting.

Any additional comments?

Frank Gardner's story is really exciting and compelling; I understand it is his first novel. As such, in only one or two places there are small gaps or endings to a sub-plot, which seem slightly thin. But these are only very minor and John Sackville's narration carried the story forward so well that it did not detract from the overall story; and made it a great listening experience.

I really hope that Frank writes another Luke Carlton adventure and that it appears on Audible with John Sackville narrating it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting Author . Cliched story.

I had heard of Frank Gardner and was curious about his novel.

I was disappointed.

The 111 chapters, built for airport bookshop sales sacrificed plot and severely restricted character development.

It wasn't poor James Bond it was poor bulldog Drummond. What were the editors doing?

I didn't care about the characters and the plot was penny dreadful.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Read like a call of duty mission

Not that impressed with the author or narrator this time. The story sounded like I was listening to a mission objective video sequence in a computer game. Seemed a bit childish to be honest.

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1 person found this helpful