Deep Black

Deep Black, Book 1

By: Stephen Coonts, Jim DeFelice

Narrated by: J. Charles

A spy plane gathering data on a new Russian weapon is blown out of the sky by a mysterious MiG. Is it an accident, or the start of the next world war? One U.S. agency has what it takes to find out - the National Security Agency and its covert operations team: DEEP BLACK.

Working for the NSA, ex-Marine sniper Charlie Dean is dispatched to Russia, hooking up with former Delta Force trooper Lia DeFrancesca to find out what happened to the plane. The Deep Black team stumbles across an even more alarming secret - a plot to assassinate the Russian president and overthrow the democratic government by force. The coup could have dire consequences for Russia and the world.

With no clearance from the government it's called on to protect, the National Security Agency goes to war. But before Lia and Dean can unravel the conspiracy, they learn that one of the spy plane's passengers - an NSA techie - survived the crash. Critical information could fall into enemy hands. And that enemy is playing to the death.

Special ops: listen to another Deep Black thriller.©2004 Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Coonts knows how to write and build suspense." ( The New York Times Book Review)

Much armament detail; little character development

This is good story, but it was underdeveloped. Maybe those who enjoy endless details about the characters' firearms, ammunition, and high tech military devices will appreciate this book, but I prefer getting to know the characters themselves. Unfortunately the narrator's tendency to make many of the characters sound inappropriately arrogant compounded the problem.

Great espionage thriller

Listened to by my husband: Really enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the complexity of the missions. Only complaint was that the narrator read the book way too fast, and had to slow down the playback to catch everything and everyone in the story. Planning on getting all the Deep Black Books after this first sample.

Constant Childish Banter Between Characters

Story was good but childish banter between characters got old very quickly. Real people don’t interact that way 24/7 like the characters in this book. The banter is a distraction.

Deep Black

I found this book good enough. I will admit that I didn't like it as well as some other works by Coonts. His Grafton series is excellent. It is good enough for me to listen to the second book in this series. The narrator J. Charles is a fine reader but I found myself thinking Dick Hill would have done better. I also found myself thinking the story line was a little on the outside. I like fiction stories that maybe, sort of kind of, with some imagination be true. I found myself thinking my foot to this story line and the interactions of the main characters. Over all it was OK. Coonts has done better. I hope the series picks up steam.

Ah, new adventures on the horizon

Good action story with great humor! This is the start of something I'm going to look forward to.

Loved it

I totally enjoyed this book. Great cast of characters. The performance was ok but Tommy Carr sounded like Peter Griffin from family guy.

Strange, hard to follow, waste of a credit

What would have made Deep Black better?

Better narrator.

Has Deep Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

What didn’t you like about J. Charles’s performance?

Tough to differentiate between different characters when he was reading. Seemed to be reading at 1.5x speed so the novel was tough to follow.

Any additional comments?

Not worth it.

Ugh...

I've read most of Coonts books and enjoyed them.
This book however was extremely poorly written with characters that seemed to have just entered puberty. I struggled to get through this unsophisticated, poorly narrated book. Can't believe there are actually a series of them. Ugh.

Find a plot and stick with it

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Have no idea who would enjoy it.

Has Deep Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I love the genre and typically like the author. This book was so bad, I seriously wonder if Coonts simply received a check for allowing someone to use his name. There are five separate plot lines running simultaneously and none are wrapped up at the end. It's almost as if the author realized the story was getting long and only had one chapter left to finish the book.

What didn’t you like about J. Charles’s performance?

Different characters require different voices, and those voices should stay the same throughout the story. I found myself on MANY occasions rewinding because I didn't realize he had switched characters. There were also many instances where the accent for a character switched in the same scene.

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

Disappointment.

Any additional comments?

I listen to books while traveling. This one put me to sleep on the plane so often that I thought perhaps I didn't like it because I was only getting a few pages at a time before I'd nod off. I decided to try it AGAIN while making an 8 hr drive, thinking it would be easier to follow. It WAS easier, but only because the traffic on the freeway kept me awake.

Deep black

Struggled to get through this one. I have read every Jake Grafton novel by Coonts and love them. Deep Black doesn't hold a candle to Grafton series.