Killer Thriller

Ian Ludlow Thrillers, Book 2

De: Lee Goldberg

Narrado por: Adam Verner

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg’s action-packed sequel to The Washington Post bestseller True Fiction, a hapless writer is pitted against an enemy nation mounting a treacherous plot lifted from one of his thrillers.

Everybody loves Ian Ludlow’s action novels—especially the CIA—because the spies know something the public doesn’t: his fictional plots have a frightening tendency to come true. Ian is in Hong Kong with his resourceful assistant Margo French to research his wildest story yet—a deadly global conspiracy by Chinese intelligence to topple the United States.

What Ian doesn’t know is that his horrifying scenario is happening and that the Chinese mistakenly believe he’s an undercover superspy assigned to foil their scheme. Now Ian is trapped in his own terrifying thriller, on the run from assassins, and racing against time to prevent an epic disaster. He’s written himself into a corner that could cost his life...and his country.

©2019 Adventures in Television, Inc. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The pleasure here is watching Goldberg mock the thriller form while creating a first-rate one, boiling with chases, fights, sweaty-palm tension, snappy dialogue, and glamorous, exotic locations—this time, post-Maugham Hong Kong and its stunning outdoor escalators. It’s really a sophisticated exercise in metafiction: commenting on narrative while creating it.” (Booklist)

“Killer Thriller grabs you from page one with brilliant wit, sharply honed suspense, and a huge helping of pure originality.” (Jeffery Deaver, New York Times best-selling author)

What a HOOT!

The appealing characters Goldberg draws and the believable current national and international crisis situations he creates are waaay beYOND engaging and hilARious! His send-up of the VP Pence/Penny troglodyte is PRICELESS! And Ian’s partnership w/Margo!!! My daughter and I laughed till we cried. We hope to follow the Adorably HILARIOUS pair through Many more adventures.

Adam Verner’s voice is resonant w/a lovely timbre,
and his Ronnie voice in the last novel as well as his Damon-the-actor voice in this one are excellent. That said, in future efforts, please prevail upon him either to master accents or to read all characters w/his natural American English accent. His attempts at Turkish, Australian, British, French, and Chinese accents were unfortunately affected, mannered, and simply embarrassing. Also, it should not be too much to ask that he pronounce the name of the French city, Marseilles correctly.

Still, we luuove Goldberg’s sendup of all things cretinous in our current social and political culture sooo much that we definitely will listen to his first two Ian/Margo adventures again and look forward to collecting all future adventures. Thank you for a great treat!

Killer Thriller

Fun,Fun,Fun, I'm loving this series. I would recommend this book and series, great audiobook.

Excellent narration.

Good Story

Is this a multi-part story? Yes
Does it end in a cliffhanger? No
Genre(s) : Action Suspense

3.75 Stars for me!
My rating range of this story... 3 - 4 Stars
If significant, why?
Biggest deduction? n/a

Main Character Ratings...
H (Ian Ludlow) = 7-10
h (Margo French) = 8/10 - 9/10
TSTL Moment(s)? No

Narrator Rating(s)
M (Adam Verner) = 9/10
F () = n/a
If below 5/10, why?

If Comedy... Type? Funny parts
Funny, Cute, Cringe Inducing, Mixed or Just No!

Angst Level? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Internal Monolog/Dialog? Moderate
Light, Moderate, Heavy or Please Stop

Scenes with heat... Light

The back story... The H&h have gone to China for the filming of his next action novel. He is working on a story in which the Chinese are fitting surveillance into all electronics leaving China in a bid to gain control over the US. The Chinese Government snooped his laptop, saw the story and determined that he was a spy and the chase is on

Gist: Still no romance for the H as the H is a out and proud lesbian and she has a much better game than the H. She does have some fun in this story. The h has a much bigger role and pulls the H through several situations.

The drama explosion... The MCs have to go on a mission to stop an assassination.
Did it feel Real, OK or contrived? Ok
Was it OTT? Yes, in a fun way
Separation involved? No
Was it resolved properly or rushed? Mostly properly

Final Notes... The only drawback for me is that it looks like the author is getting a bit political. I am not a fan of the President during the time this story was being written but I like fiction for the escape from reality it provides.

HEA or HFN? N/A
Book Source: Kindle Unlimited

Love this book!

I listened to the audio version of both book one and two of Lee Goldberg’s Killer series. They are so entertaining that I wanted to listen to them in one sitting (or gardening session.) At first I thought the narrator had an odd voice, but I soon adjusted and decided that his voice was just right. He was able to convey the humor that was frequently needed. Now, on to book 3.

pretty good!

The stories are just getting started! Looking forward to Ian and Margo's next adventure! I laughed and was on the edge of my seat. Loved it!

Fun and easy read/listen

This was a fast and easy read/listen that doesn't really require too much mental attention but it is entertaining.

It is the second book in a series about writer Ian Ludlow and this time he gets himself in trouble because he writes a thriller detailing Chinese espionage that somehow hits a little too close to the mark and gains the attention of the MSS.

I listened to this completely on audio and it was one of those that was easy to put down and pick up if you had to stop and do other things without really losing too much of the story.

It's Mar-SAY, not Mar-SIGH!!!

Lee Goldberg delivers as always with a fast paced, action packed tale, including fun characters, interesting setting and witty dialogue. The narration was dreadful. Adam Verner's style, with oddly drawn out cadence and weird inflection that made every sentence sound like a question was utterly inappropriate for this type of novel. Also, who doesn't know how to pronounce Marseilles? (Maybe he was confusing it with Versailles? I honestly thought he said Versailles the first time, although it made zero sense.)
I was very disappointed to see that the next book in this series is also narrated by Adam Verner. I will not be listening to it.
Tip: Cranking the speed to 1.2 helps.

enjoyed

the story was great. It was believable to the extent it was believable. It was humorous when it needed to be humorous. I struggle with the inflection of the narrator when the characters are actually talking. It sounds sometimes like the characters are asking a question when they should be making a statement. Sometimes it sounded like the characters were whining. It didn't detract from the book it was just noticeable. Overall I enjoyed it

The satire is quite amusing

This book is a little overblown on action but I guess that is what most readers prefer. Because of the meta structure of the plot, the book is basically a how to manual of how to write a successful action novel. Self awareness jokes are woven in throughout the story, which got continuous giggling from me. And I really like the female side kick, the real spy.

Ian Ludlow is back accidentally saving the world

The second book in this series finds Ian Ludlow once again in the middle of a world impacting spy plot. And again, he hasn't a clue.
He stumbles his way through assassination attempts, stunts that would make James Bond sweat, and more misunderstandings than you can imagine.

The book is very enjoyable and finds a modified footing in the second volume of the series that can carry it forward. While you don't have to read the first volume to enjoy this book, it does help bring you up to speed on the relationships. I recommend this book.