The Nocturnal Library: spy thriller

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Blog Tour Review: Lethal Circuit (Audiobook)

Author: Lars Guignard

Narrator: Ben Sullivan

Published: August 8th 2013

Publisher: Fantastic Press

Lenght: 8 hrs and 26 mins

Source: Blog tour review copy

Buy: Audible

A Chinese satellite is on crash course with Earth.

It contains enough plutonium to irradiate a large city.

And that's the good news...

In the tradition of Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and Robert Ludlum, comes a new hero.

Michael Chase is a twenty-six year old backpacker, a recent college grad, an amateur. He flew to Hong Kong to find his missing father. Four hours later, he's running for his life. The Chinese Secret Police want him dead. The Conspiracy wants him dead. And the one person who he thinks is on his side, may want him dead too. If Michael is going to live, he'll need to find a hidden piece of Nazi technology lost since World War II. And he'll have to do it before anyone else. Because if he doesn't, a little plutonium is going to be the least of his problems.

In the two years since I started The Nocturnal Library, I’ve never once reviewed a spy thriller, and Lethal Circuit was such an excellent choice for a beginner. The fact remains, however, that I have no experience reviewing these, but I’ll try my best.

Although Michael’s father is a businessman who was mostly absent during his childhood, he raised Michael lovingly and they are, even in Michael’s adulthood, very close. So when his father suddenly goes missing somewhere in China, Michael is devastated, until he learns, several months late, that his father might just be alive after all. Upon receiving the news and the video to confirm it, Michael packs his bags and travels to Asia to locate his dad. But what awaits him in this foreign and often hostile country is more danger than he’d anticipated and quite a few surprises along the way.

The story is told mostly from Michael’s perspective, but Guignard included short chapters that focus on Michael’s pursuers. I must admit I found those chapters somewhat disruptive, especially since there was very little to indicate the change in perspectives. I’m not a fan of multiple points of view at best of times, but at least these chapters were short. While I could have done without them, they didn’t bother me nearly as much as I’d assumed when the first one started.

I quite liked Michael. There’s certain calmness in him that was reflected perfectly in Ben Sullivan’s excellent narration. Some might consider it dry at times, but he never slipped into an overly dramatic mode, which was especially important during the action scenes.

Reviewing a book like Lethal Circuit is extremely tricky. Everything I write or even hint at is potentially a spoiler, and I’d like to avoid those at all costs. I enjoyed every curveball this book threw at me and I wouldn’t want to rob you of the same experience. Suffice it to say that nothing is as it seems in Michael’s life. If you decide to read this, and you should, be ready for quite a few surprises.

A copy of this book was kindly provided through CBB Promotions for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.