The Devil's Light

By: Richard North Patterson

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris

In August of 2011 an Al Qaeda operative masterminds the theft of a Pakistani military weapon: a two-hundred-pound nuclear warhead, capable of causing destruction on an unprecedented scale. A chilling transmission is then broadcast to the world, promising a major attack on a US city to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Intelligence indicates that the bomb has been smuggled out of Pakistan and is en route to the US, with Washington, D.C. or New York the likely target. Yet this information is but an elaborate decoy and, as the CIA focuses on thwarting a domestic attack, the weapon moves ever closer to its true target. Agent Brooke Chandler senses the deception.

Chandler, a once-prodigious field operative ravaged by the memories of loved ones lost, thinks he understands how the bomb is being transported, and has an idea how to locate it. First he must convince his superiors of his conviction. And then, before it is too late, find and disable the threat. If he fails, millions will die, and the world map as we know it will become a collector’s item.

©2011 Quercus Publishing PLC (P)2012 Simon and Schuster

Informative and exciting

What does Dennis Boutsikaris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Dennis is a great actor and a gifted narrator.

Any additional comments?

It was interesting to see that ISIL was referred to as a major threat many years ago. How come we didn't know?

too lengthy

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

no. too much detail background leading to conclusion.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

the last 2 hrs. of listening
unlike all previous r.n. patterson books.

Do you think The Devil's Light needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

no

Any additional comments?

no

Ok, but a bit predictable

This is a pretty decent tale, but like all such efforts that rely on current events it suffers due to the real-life loss of Osama bin Laden, one of the book's main villains. The author had no way of predicting bin Laden would have been killed before the book hit the streets, but that doesn't do the progression of the novel any good. The main character in this book is well developed and multi-dimensional, unlike a lot of protagonists in the spy agent genre. The possibility that some of the terror outfits out there these days want -- and may obtain -- a nuclear weapon is as plausible in real life as it is in The Devil's Light. But out hero manages, at the last moment, of course, to derail the effort to use the weapon. The ending is a bit troubling and sort of trite. I really do not like spy novels that finish with the lead character finding out that the best thing he/she can do after being successful in whatever they've been up to is to resign and go another direction in life. That's not realistic and does not capture the way things actually work. These people do their jobs, achieve, fail, whatever, and then go on to their next challenge.

Exciting fiction/consistent Author

Good story read in exciting fashion. Consistently excellent author. You will not be disappointed. Read it, and others of his.