Kill Zone

A Sniper Novel

By: Jack Coughlin, Donald A. Davis

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

An American general is captured by Islamic extremists in the Middle East. They threaten to behead him within days. One strange fact: Moments before he is rendered unconscious during the attack, the general notices that his unseen captors speak American English. What's going on?

Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson, a top level marine sniper, is vacationing on a boat in the Mediterranean when he receives orders to mount a top-secret mission to rescue the general. But as he and his men prepare to land in the Iraqi desert, they immediately come under ferocious attack, and Swanson is the only man left alive. How did the enemy know details of a mission known only to a few top government officials?

Swanson takes off across the desert alone to find the captured general and realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless and dangerous enemy: American mercenaries working for a very high-level group of American officials with ties to the White House itself, part of a clandestine conspiracy whose hidden agenda is nothing less than total control of the American military. Their sworn enemy is the captured general whose fate now rests in Sniper Swanson's hands.

Full of the kind of action author Jack Coughlin lived during his career as a marine sniper, Kill Zone marks the debut of an extraordinary writing team.

©2007 Jack Coughlin and Donald A. Davis (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Okay second half but this didn’t click for me

This book started rather slowly for me. There was a lot of cringe, groans, tropes and rants to begin and if this book had still been in my return window it might have been a DNF. But I persisted and the second half was okay with fairly constant action. What I like was the relatively constant action in the second half. What I didn’t like was several things. First, I really didn’t like the Kyle Swanson character - he just didn’t click for me. There were no other lead characters that I cared about either. Second, there was a lot of unrealistic behaviors. Of course you have to suspend your sense of reality with thriller books like these but there were several instances in which characters didn’t respond in the way they would certainly have in those situations. Third, there was a pervasive feeling of juvenile joke cartoonishness, as if the author was trying a bit too hard to appeal to a certain kind of reader. That said, if you do read this book, plow through because it does get better. Still I doubt that I will continue this series. There are a lot of better options in this genre. Lastly, I have to say that I did not like Luke Daniels as narrator. His voice for Kyle Swanson only made Swanson sound even more annoying than he otherwise would have, and many of his other characters sounded cartoonish.

Good read

Enjoyed the book. Narration was great and the story was well written. Kept my interest and can’t wait to start the next one

Regretfully Late to The Party

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

ABSOLUTELY! If you like the Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn or the Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor you will love this series of books featuring Kyle Swanson. Kill Zone was a great lead-off book!

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes! I listen to audiobooks while putting in long miles on a bicycle. The suspense the authors built up had me so totally lost in the story I missed turns and forgot where I was. The story was very well executed and full of twists and turns.

What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Very easy to distinguish between all the voices of the characters. He brought just the right amount of emotion to each character where appropriate.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened while riding the bike, commuting in the car, doing laundry, vacuuming and even through a speaker while in the shower so yes, I guess you could say it was close to in one sitting!

Any additional comments?

I am so sorry I'm so late to this series. Finished book 2 which was just as good and have book 3 ready to go after I finish re-listening to The Wastelands Dark Tower 3. Highly recommend it!

Great book. Well written.

A fantastic story. Well written, Marine. I plan on listening to the next book. I hope it’s as good as this one.

Love the gritty tale

Excellent company while working. Loved the plot line, tech and main character profile. Worth checking out!

Kyle Swan makes me proud to be an American

What did you love best about Kill Zone?

My first Kyle Swan story. The story was good, maybe a little far-fetched, but not totally out of the question that major military companies could try to influence gov in their direction. Also, I know there are progressives out there that want to write a new constitution. Combine that with a billionaire and there could be trouble.

What did you like best about this story?

The concept of BIG military business trying for a coup. Don't think for a minute that America would buy that, but it is cause to think. The excalibur technology and the scram jet were fun to read.

What aspect of Luke Daniels’s performance would you have changed?

The country bumpkin accent for Kyle's character.It was distracting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really moving, but I liked the aspect of Kyle that had him tell a general to shut up and let him do his job so they both could survive.

Luke Daniels not a great narrator

Daniels does a wide range of characters but all of the characters in a high ranking position sound exactly the same. Which is an attempt at a gravelly voice. It sounds forced and became a distraction for me. Other than that it’s a good story.

Good, not great, distracting mispronouncions

The story was good, although a few times the opposing side magically clued into things without having any clues. I would have given the narrator 5 stars if it weren't for annoying mispronouniations. In a story involving sheiks, it was super distracting to repeatedly hear them called "shakes" (really? Who doesn't know that?!)). Valet should trade the "t" for any "aye" and macabre zhould drop the "r!" Other than mispronunciations, the narrator was great at different voices, inflections and telling the story.

Excellent story

Where does Kill Zone rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It has a great story line with some real fantasy crap but it works everything into the story nicely.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader is an idiot. Learn the English language and proper pronunciation of words.

good book!

the story was a lot better than I originally thought. The book turned out to be awesome! the storyline was really good and believable and the narrator did a fantastic job. I can't wait to move on to the rest of the series.