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    No Fortunate Son
    No Fortunate Son
    No Fortunate Son
    Audiobook13 hours

    No Fortunate Son

    Written by Brad Taylor

    Narrated by Henry Strozier and Rich Orlow

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In the latest military thriller from the retired Delta Force Operator and New York Times bestselling author, a hostage situation places America's most powerful political elite at the mercy of its worst enemies. When veteran operator Pike Logan and partner Jennifer Cahill receive a letter from Blaisdell Consulting-the umbrella cover company for their real employer, a top secret counterterrorist unit called the Taskforce-they expect orders for their next mission-impossible tasking. Instead, they learn that their latest actions have gotten them fired, despite having saved thousands of innocent lives. Pike's shock and fury is redirected when their commander, Colonel Kurt Hale, asks him and Jennifer for help with a personal matter: His niece Kylie, an exchange student in England, has gone missing. Neither Pike nor Jennifer understands how critical her disappearance will become. Meanwhile, all Taskforce teams have been redirected to a developing situation. A terrorist organization has targeted military relatives of key members of the US government, including the vice president's son. Their seizure of hostages was far-reaching and meticulously coordinated, and the full extent of the threat-and potential demands-has thrown the government into turmoil. They face a terrible choice: Cease counter-terrorist operations, or watch hostages die one by one. How much is a single life worth? Unless the Taskforce can decipher the web of lies devised by their enemies, the United States is about to find out.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 13, 2015
    ISBN9781490647517
    No Fortunate Son
    Author

    Brad Taylor

    Brad Taylor, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), is a twenty-one-year veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry and Special Forces, includ­ing eight years with Delta Force. Taylor retired in 2010 after serving more than two decades and participating in Oper­ation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has written seventeen New York Times bestsellers and is a security consultant on asymmetric threats for various agencies. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife and two daughters.

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    Reviews for No Fortunate Son

    4.5/5

    107 ratings15 reviews

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    • 5/5
      No Fortunate SonBook 11: A Pike Logan ThrillerRecorded Audio BooksNew York, NYAudio Book C02926(11 CDs/13 Hrs)No Fortunate Son, Brad Taylor’s latest contribution to the thriller genre, has taken an unusual turn from the usual terrorists-run-amuck type of story. Actually, it takes several turns and twists that will keep readers wondering what will happen next. Prepare to lose some sleep over this if you begin the book around bedtime. You will be turning pages or, in the case of the audio book, listening until you’re simply too exhausted to continue. This is the first of Taylor’s books that I have read, and if this is any indicator of his overall writing style and his ability to craft story, then I’ve got my work cut out for me to catch up on his numerous other works – and I’m sure I’ll enjoy every second of it. I try not to spend too much time comparing one author to another. I feel every author should be evaluated on his/her own style and technique. I have, however, come to appreciate the talent of such writers as Tom Clancy and Vince Flynn over the last few years and I find that Brad Taylor ranks right up there with the masters of modern-day thriller writers. With the passing of Clancy and Flynn, I was a bit unsure where the next great storyteller was going to come from. Now, I know. I find that Taylor’s characters are interesting and unconventional. No cookie-cutter typecasting here. The characters are easy to keep straight as the story moves along, despite the frenzied pace that takes readers on a great romp around the globe. The only character name I flinched over, even on the second hearing of this story, was “Mason Jar.” The name simply seemed out of place with the others and I found myself cringing each time it came up. I did appreciate that the female characters in his story were not portrayed as so demure that one would, under real circumstances, want to slap them. They show strength and courage, and realistically some fear and uncertainty about their circumstances, but they’re not princesses waiting to be saved. The audio reading of No Fortunate Son, from Recorded Books, is very well done. Dual narrators, Henry Strozier and Rich Orlow bring their unique talents for voices to the audio version and keep things interesting. After two passes through the audio version I could find no technical flaws at all. The audio is crisp, clear, and the volume levels are consistent throughout, avoiding that tendency to wear out the up-and-down volume controls on the player with recordings of lesser quality. . I have no doubt that the Taylor’s story is reflective of his own professional training and experiences. It’s always nice to have that measure of realism woven in to a story, as well as seeing the characters using new and interesting technology to bring the bad guys to bay. The conclusion of this story is both interesting and unexpected. No all-too-convenient conclusion would work here. That being said, No Fortunate Son should be on everyone’s reading list.
    • 3/5
      When I first started listening to this audio version of the book a while back, it was alright. In fact, I got to disk three of eleven. Yet there was something about it that I did not continue on listening. I was looking for something to read and came across this one again. I popped it in and started from the beginning again. I have to say that this time around I was more invested in the story. Although it was not until the second disk that I felt the story really began. This is where Colonel Kurt Hale asks for Pike and Jennifer's help to find his niece. In the beginning I was not feeling the female voice as it kind of came off like a drag queen with the deep voice but I got used to it. Listening to this book is one that I felt I enjoyed better this way. I probably would have put it down if I had been reading it myself. There was plenty of action and I thought the narration performed by Henry Strozier and Rich Orlow was done nicely.
    • 4/5
      This action packed CD kept me on the edge of my seat. I don't often read or listen to suspense stories, I'm more of a literary fiction, women's fiction fan, but I am trying to expand my horizons. This was a great choice to read being somewhat new to the genre. The story is action packed, Terrorists have kidnapped members of the families of key military workers and Pike Logan and Kurt Hale are sent to get them back. Thought to be an Islamic they discover that the real culprits are the IRA. The plot has lots of twists that are neatly tied up by the end of the story.
    • 4/5
      This is a multi-layered suspense story that certainly kept my reading until the last sentence. First you have Pike Logan (who worked for a secret Special Ops unit of the US) was decommissioned and without a job. But when relatives of employees of the US government are kidnapped, he is asked by a friend to locate his niece (who so happened to get kidnapped with the vice-president’s son). So when Pike and his partner Jennifer find more in their search for the girl then the official US government teams, they finally get assistance. Pike goes all out and gets closer to the kidnappers, whom seem to be unraveling as their plan deteriorates. I have read other Pike Logan stories, but this is by far the best.
    • 4/5
      This was a very good story. Held my attention listening to it on the way to and from work. I am not a great fan of Books on CD however is was nice listening to it on the ride of 1 hour each way.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! The story and characters are engaging from the first page! The premise of the book is unfortunately quite believable, and more than a little scary. There was no shortage of plot twists to keep you guessing. I will, by all means, be reading more books by Mr. Taylor!
    • 5/5
      Awesome book. Intrigue, espionage, action and adventure...all rolled into one. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
    • 4/5
      This is the 7th book in the Pike Logan series and is the first book I've read by Brad Taylor. A group of terrorists, the new IRA has come to town and they have big plans. They need funding and to get it they are willing to do a little wheeling and dealing with other terrorists and criminal organizations to get their big payday. The plan mainly revolves around the kidnapping and ransoming of several military personnel related to important government politicians. Unfortunately for them, they miscalculated and one of their targets was on a date with a girl, one who means a lot to a very dangerous man.Overall, a decent thriller like James Patterson or James Rollins. Fast paced and lots of fun. Just don't think too much about the plot or Pikes luck in stumbling on to the right places at the right time, and never really getting into trouble.
    • 5/5
      This review is for the recorded version of No Fortunate Son that I received through LibraryThing Early Reviewers. This Recorded Books version was very well done with the tone of the characters, portrayed by two unique voices, giving me the feeling that I knew them all. This the first Pike Logan Thriller that I have read and meeting Task Force Operatives Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill in this one convinces me that I need to go back and learn where they came from. I was intrigued by the fast paced action and the twistingly complicated plot involving a group of Irish kidnappers, a Croatian arms dealer, and a pair of Somalia terrorists. OhMy!
    • 4/5
      Disaffected peoples of the world unite! In No Fortunate Son, a mercenary whose outfit was just fired by the US Government, finds himself re-employed through back channels to find the missing niece of his former commander. Meanwhile, there's another high profile kidnapping -- the vice-president's son. People-hunter extraordinaire Pike Logan is off to Europe to investigate the niece's last known whereabouts at one of the colleges of Oxford University. The plot involves three groups of terrorists: Irish, who are pining for the days of the IRA and looking to bring attention to themselves, Serbians, who are out to avenge drone strikes, and the Somalis, who are employed stooges mostly in for the money and jihad. The lead bad guy is Irish, and he has to keep the hostages on the move until he can rake in vast sums of untraceable bitcoin as ransom.The audiobook version uses two voices, a decidedly younger voice for chapters that are Pike Logan POV; and the narrator, who has a grizzled, old voice. In some chapters where Logan speaks but is not POV, the old narrator continues on, making one wonder if Logan is 30 or 60. That aside, the pace is good, lots of action, good local flavor in England, Ireland, France and Belgium. I've not read any of the other Pike Logan books (this is number 7) and while there are references to events in past novels, I didn't feel it was required knowledge to enjoy this thriller.
    • 5/5
      This review is for the recorded version of the book: Recorded Books; eleven compact discs, thirteen hours.In this timely and terrifying narrative, Kurt Hale’s niece Kylie has disappeared and he presses Pike Logan into service to find her. But it soon becomes clear that Kylie’s disappearance is not an isolated incident; family members of several key Washington officials have been kidnapped. And with the vice president’s son being one of the hostages, the Task Force must find a way to get them back. Here the bad guys loathsomely evil, the good guys aren’t above breaking a few rules to rescue the hostages, and readers are treated to a story filled with twists and turns and plenty of non-stop action. As might be expected with this tale of terrorists and intrigue, there’s plenty of violence and coarse language, but it is appropriate to the rough characters and gritty situations. Henry Strozier and Rich Orlow serve as the readers for this unabridged edition and their reading carries just the right tone for the various characters. The book is recorded in three minute tracks, making bookmarking easy; however, listeners are likely to be far too involved in this narrative to make use of them.Recommended.
    • 3/5
      Operatives Pike Logan and his partner, Jennifer Cahill receive a letter terminating their services with Blaisdell Consulting, an umbrella company of their real employer, a counterterrorist unit called the Taskforce. Some governmental officials felt that Pike and Jennifer had gone too far in their last case.They arrive in Washington and their commander, Col.Kurt Hale ask them for help because his niece is missing. He thinks it's part of some terror operation where a number of children of government officials have been kidnapped.Hale says he'll pay them privately and that he's worried about Kylie, his niece who is an exchange student in England.Pike and Jennifer get to work and it's as if Jason Bourne and James Bond were mixed together. There is a complicated plot involving a splinter group of IRA terrorists, a Croatian arms dealer, and Somalia terrorists have combined to plan the capture of the children of government officials for a unique ransome, combined with a jewel robbery and the Somalia's planting a bomb in London.There's lots of action interspersed with meetings in Washington of the officials who were skeptical of Pike and Jennifer from their past operation. The children of many of these officials are involved and we observe their thoughts.The novel was very complicated and had to be read slowly to appreciate it. The author is a master of suspense but the action was long in coming and I was growing weary of what would come next.I enjoyed the story and look forward to another book by Brad Taylor but wish this one ended sooner.
    • 5/5
      Task Force's Pike and Logan are officially fired from their covert government relationship (contract?) but are recommissioned, unofficially, by their former boss when his daughter and several other relatives of government officials, including the VP's son, are kidnapped by terrorists. Who are the terrorists? Islamist extremists? Eastern Europeans? Non-stop action with plenty of espionage tactics and bag of tricks procedures. I enjoyed this read to the max. There is upsetting killing and some language, but nothing more than you would see on contemporary news programs. It's right up to date and well-worth your time. My thanks to Penguin's First to Read program for a complimentary copy of the book.
    • 3/5
      (No fortunate son ) in this book Brad Tylor uses his soldiery’s experiences to write it. We can identify that throw reading this book. It talked about a group of terrorists whom kidnapping the military relatives of key U.S. officials. That make the solders in hard situation either letting terrorism continue or saving a life, that show how one life worth.
    • 4/5
      No Fortunate Son by Brad Taylor is an exciting thriller that will both satisfy current fans of the Pike Logan series as well as win him new ones.Nephilim “Pike” Logan is one of the great action hero names and he certainly doesn’t disappoint. Taylor adds some layers to his hero so it’s not constant run and shoot but requires some brains and some skill to unravel the terrorists plot. Here again, Taylor invents a nicely complicated terrorist plot involving the new IRA, a group of ruthless Bosnian jewel thieves and Somali terrorists on the one side, with a government stressed over high value hostages, red herrings, and government assets on and off the books pulling in all different directions.The multi-layered plot is one of the things that sets this book apart from a lot of other military thrillers. Not only are some false paths laid out, but the actual clues lead in different directions because of the complexity of the terrorists plan leaving Pike Logan to rely on his instincts and a little bit of luck to lead him to the truth. It also creates enough doubt in his mind to realize one wrong guess could cause the death of the people he’s trying to rescue.The action is also top-notch with great firefights, chase scenes and car chases. There is enough here to satisfy any action fan, with a little bit extra to satisfy those who like intricate plotting. This is an outstanding character and both a book and a series worth checking out. Highly recommended.I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book.