Some Thrills, Lots of Problems

I also got this book free and for that price, it's not bad. There are some good things to report about the book, basically an interesting story, good characters that are well-developed and good dialog. However, counterbalancing that are some pretty awful plot devices, preposterous turns in the plot, and unclear character motivations. Thriller plots generally require that the protagonist doesn't know everything the omniscient reader does. The protagonist also must lack some prudence. After all, if a vicious killer were after me and my family, I would hole up in a cave on the other side of the world until he was caught. That wouldn't make for much of a story Yet, in this novel, the author has carried stupidity to a laughable extreme. Time and time again, our hero, Mike Houston, and his colleagues, eschew any attempt to track the killer, whom they know is tracking them. He leaves his daughter unguarded, so she can, predictably, be snatched. His final showdown with the sniper, out of his jurisdiction, is too far-fetched to be believable. I will say, from listening to this story, that the author has the potential to do better, and I would welcome another novel by him. I found the narration only fair. Christopher Price did a good job when speaking dialog, but the narrative portions of the story were delivered in a tedious, somewhat slow fashion that detracted from the story.

5 people found this helpful

Narration drove me crazy!

Would you ever listen to anything by Vaughn C. Hardacker again?

Don't think so.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Christopher Price?

Not sure however Christopher Price' voice was painful and dull. Drove me crazy and I only made it half way through before I had to give up.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment, the storyline was predictable and slow.

3 people found this helpful

A pleasant surprise

This book turned out to be a great find. I love the discounted books. It gives me a chance to try different authors and this one is a keeper. I am hoping that there are more written by him. The narrator was excellent too. I think it is very difficult to read a book out loud. This guy takes you right into the book.

2 people found this helpful

Lame

What disappointed you about Sniper?

This book was nothing but a collection standard plot devices and story lines. The book was entirely predictable and dull.

Has Sniper turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

What about Christopher Price’s performance did you like?

Price's performance was fine. He did the best he could with what he had to work with.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. However, I'm thrilled it was a free book and I didn't waste my money on it.

Any additional comments?

You can skip this book. You've already read it or watched it on TV, the characters just have different names.

2 people found this helpful

Houston, we have a problem.

Forgive me for that – I HAD to go there. In a book jam-packed with one cliché after another it just felt appropriate! I am not keen on the cop thriller genre but this one was free so what the heck! plus, I wanted something short to give me a little break from a longer book I am determined to finish.

Perhaps I am biased but to me these types of books are all too cliché: a hard-as-nails-tough-guy-determined cop with rocky past, shady characters milling about in the periphery, a solid partner to help pick up the pieces when it all falls apart, perhaps a little love story thrown in, find the murderer before he kills again race against time … and that’s not even related to the plot! same same same thing every time!

I won’t get into specific plot points of this book because I don’t want to inadvertently post a spoiler but it played out like a B-movie. I should have known when I read the line “deadly, sniper-to-sniper showdown” in the synopsis. GROAN.

This story was on par with every other murder, cop, find-the-bad-guy adventure. Nothing about it really stood out. For me, it was just ok. Barely.

(p.s. regarding the narration: the accents were farcical!!)

5 people found this helpful

Unimpressed

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I found the story to be unrealistic. The characters were unintelligent - something very bad when they are law enforcement officials and military personnel.
*** SPOILER****
The Sniper is reported to be in a white van, yet more than once the lead detectives ignore the obvious presence of a white van - one time when it is following Houston from Ann's. She sees the van but doesn't take special note of its presence....really?? Stupidity is a huge pet peeve of mine and its worse when the author tries to say the characters are smart. These detectives are supposed to be the best on the force and are assigned only to the sniper case, but miss a white van following them, don't report the stalking of Houston, repeated contacts by the suspect, don't contact the military when a connection is suspected w/military ops, etc, etc. *******
I kept thinking "these are the stupidest detectives". While I don't expect the characters to know everything the reader does, when they don't act on the info they do have, I can't help but to think them stupid. I much prefer intelligent, capable characters like Mitch Rapp, Dewey Andreas or even Peter Decker to oblivious ones like Mike Houston.
I did however find myself liking the Jimmy O character :) He seemed much more intelligent and competent than the BPD characters.

What about Christopher Price’s performance did you like?

The narrator did a good job with less than stellar material.

Any additional comments?

There was development of a side story that ended up being noise as opposed to supplementation of the story. If the author writes a sequel perhaps the story will end up being of significance, but as it stands, it's just space filler.

2 people found this helpful

great hook except for

really good book except for the recurring references to the USMC sniper manual. because a bit much

1 person found this helpful

Spare Yourself

As a regular reader of detective stories I have to say this was a weak, unrealistic, unlikely, and amateurish investigative book. The idea that a sniper hood who killed seven people, who revealed details that related him to the main character, would be tracked with no other assistance, backup, surveillance than an officer who is his partner is pretty silly. Could’ve used some real technical support from anyone who had a history of investigations in the real world

1 person found this helpful

disappointed

worse cop ever.. worse father ever.. first 3 chapters the crime could've been solve.. narrator kept slipping out of character..

1 person found this helpful

Sniper second read

Rushed through the first read slower pace revealed a story with well developed characters and plot

1 person found this helpful