Fault Line

Ben Treven, Book 1

By: Barry Eisler

Narrated by: Barry Eisler

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

In Silicon Valley, the eccentric inventor of a new encryption application is murdered in an apparent drug deal.

In Istanbul, a cynical undercover operator receives a frantic call from his estranged brother, a patent lawyer who believes he is the next victim.

And on the sun-drenched slopes of Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley's nerve center of money and technology, old family hurts sting anew as two brothers who share nothing but blood and bitterness wage a desperate battle against a faceless enemy.

Alex Treven has sacrificed everything to achieve his sole ambition: making partner in his high-tech law firm. But then the inventor of a technology Alex is banking on is murdered...and the patent examiner who reviewed it dies...and Alex himself narrowly escapes an attack in his own home. Off balance, out of ideas, and running out of time, he knows the one person who can help him is the last person he'd ever ask: his brother.

Ben Treven is a Military Liaison Element, an elite undercover soldier paid to "find, fix, and finish" high-value targets in America's Global War on Terror. Disenchanted with what he sees as America's culture of denial and decadence, Ben lives his detached life in the shadows because the black ops world is all he really knows - and because other than Alex, who he hasn't spoken to since their mother died, his family is long gone.

But blood is thicker than water, and when he receives Alex's frantic call, Ben hurries to San Francisco to help him. Only then does Alex reveal that there's another player who knows of the technology: Sarah Hosseini, a young Iranian American lawyer who Alex has long secretly desired...and who Ben immediately distrusts. As these three radically different people struggle to identify the forces attempting to silence them, Ben and Alex are forced to examine the events that drove them apart - even as Sarah's presence, and her own secret wants, deepens the fault line between them.

Fault Line centers on a conspiracy that has spun out of the shadows and into the streets of America, a conspiracy that can be stopped only by three people - three people with different worldviews, different grievances, different motives. To survive the forces arrayed against them, they'll first have to survive each other.

©2009 Barry Eisler (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Good read

I like the story, it went fast and kept my interest. I enjoy the author is the reader also

Not up to normal standard

The book was ok, but had a lot of cheesy, poorly written parts that were frustrating to listen to. Really thought about giving up a number times, but I’m a big John Rain fan so I hoped it would get better.
The constant arugula takes and disagreements between the two brothers just dragged on and lacked any sense of creativity.
The ending was so lacking that it’s as if the author gave up.
There was some decent action and suspense, but overall this book was a swing and a miss.

Not up to the usual Barry Eisler quality

Would you try another book from Barry Eisler and/or Barry Eisler?

Definitely

Would you recommend Fault Line to your friends? Why or why not?

No.
This pertains to the audible version. I've enjoyed all of Barry's John Rain books. Audible wise, he does his male characters extremely well. The female's not so much but, because they aren't heavy primary's, I've been able to handle the female characters. Well, Delilah got to me a bit but the story got me though.
In fault line, that wasn't the case. From the moment Sarah opened her mouth with Ben, her dialogue and voice caused my skin grated. Add to that the ignorance of Sarah and Ben requiring explanations for things anyone could figure out for themselves. The "romance" was flat and unbelievable.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Barry Eisler?

For the men, I'd keep Barry. For the females ....maybe Lily Swan

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Fantastic writer

Barry Eisler is now my favorite writer, great character build up, his spy tech is very insightful, very good story line, as well as his smooth narration of his material. one of the best....

Excellent Book! Excellent Narrator!

I really enjoyed this book and looking forward to the next one. The characters were very interesting and I want to continue along with them. Good suspense—I really didn’t know how they were going to get out of their predicament. Highly recommended!

Worth the listen, but not as good Eisler’s other stuff.

This book lacks a likable hero. It’s okay for main characters to be flawed, but these ones are all whiny and petty. Two brothers who take sibling rivalry so far as to wish each other were dead and a girl who can only be snippy even though her inter-dialog tells her not to be. Result was that I wasn’t really pulling for any of them. Pretty good story though. I’ll probably finush the series.

Good story, but with liberal whinny characters...

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

It was ok story line and was good the story line that is.
Author is a good reader.

Would you recommend Fault Line to your friends? Why or why not?

If your really up for political left leaning ideology rants in a action, suspense drama. Author does express the opinions of whiners very well. Understand why only 3 years in government service his views based on his books would find covert policies tough to deal with on a daily basis.

What about Barry Eisler’s performance did you like?

Good voice smooth reader...a little sleep inducing at times.

Do you think Fault Line needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Only if you lay off the political one-sidedness...tell the story go lighter on the politics and whining.

Any additional comments?

Barry and a good writer. Whinny Alex, typical liberal, pompous, arrogant, snowflake drove me nuts whining about his brother. Sarah, political racist, oh poor me with some signs of character. Even the hero Ben gets a touchy in the end. Storyline good. Ending a bit weak.

The Weakest of all his stories- from a huge fan

Huge fan of all of his books, but this one is the weakest of all of his stories. Superficial plot, but packed with overwrought, one dimensional emotions, driven by a simplistic, almost cliche family back story. The emotions and feelings are not well expressed and you find yourself not liking either lead character and it doesn’t do anything to set up the character for future adventures- the complete opposite of how the author emotionally developed the John Rain character. You can definitely skip this one without worry.

Excellent! Better then the Rain series.

Would you listen to Fault Line again? Why?

If I didn't have another book to listen to I probably would.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ben Treven - I would hope!

Any additional comments?

This was a really good book. I liked it much better then the John Rain series. Fast paced thriller with ever changing enemies. I hesitated about this purchase because of both the price and the narrator who is also the author (Barry Eisler). I'm not sure why it is so little, $4.79 I think. But this is better then some of the much more expensive books I've purchased. Eisler did a superb job with his narration. His inflections came through perfectly, I imagine just the way he intended when he wrote it. Makes sense. My next purchase - the second in this series, I hope he's working on book three.

Well Done

The author’s understanding of covert ops concepts and his smooth reading, make this book a pleasure to hear. Kudos!