Optional Retirement Plan

By: Chris Pourteau

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

When retiring isn't an option, it's kill or be killed.

Stacks Fischer is a killer for hire. For more than three decades, he’s loyally served the Syndicate Corporation as its most-feared and respected enforcer around the solar system. He’s buried the company’s dirty laundry six feet deep, no matter who had to be taken out to do it.

Now, Stacks has a problem - he’s losing his mind to incurable form of dementia, and unwittingly spilling corporate secrets in public.

When SynCorp decides Fischer has outlived his usefulness, they decide it's time to permanently retire him. But Stacks isn’t quite ready to go. With every one of SynCorp’s Five Factions gunning for him - and his own mind slowly rebelling - Fischer leads a pack of would-be assassins in a final, deadly chase across the solar system.

The old hit man refuses to fade quietly into oblivion at the hands of his disease or the business he's dedicated his life to. He’s choosing an Optional Retirement Plan.

Don't miss this pulse-pounding science fiction thriller filled with twists that will leave you on the edge of your seat. It's perfect for fans of Titanborn, The Expanse, and Minority Report.

©2019 Christopher Pourteau (P)2019 Aethon Books

Outstanding

This is a great story with one of my favorite narrators! I highly recommend it. Well done!

old-timer’s disease

I’m normally do not listen to sci-fi mystery but felt this on sounded interesting and did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the crazy character of Stacks he was humorous, sarcastic and sad with prognosis of old-timer’s disease and how he stays an assassin when he is being forced into retirement. Good narration. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you

Fantastic ride from beginning to end.

I loved the twist in this book. It appears fairly early on but it's an absolutely different take on storytelling. It was a fun crime romp around an assassin who is about to retire. that's all I can say without giving the game away but it's a great read. R.C Bray brings Chris Porteau's character to life in a vivid and visceral way.

This old dog still has some bite left in him...

Optional Retirement Plan is the story of how Stacks Fischer, an aging Syndicate Corporation hitman, chose to 'go out' -- like a badass and on his own terms. The book is set in a future where humanity has colonized the moon and mars, the earth is dying, and everything is ruled by the mob-like and iron-handed Syndicate Corporation. Once trusted with the Syndicate's darkest secrets, now old-man Fischer and his waning mind has become a liability and must be put down, one way or another.

Optional Retirement Plan is a well-written and fast-paced page-turner. It's best to start reading it on a long weekend, as you'll have a hard time putting it down. You would think "fast-paced" and old man wouldn't mesh together well in a story, but Fischer is an old dog that refuses to be put down. Fischer is a well-developed character and the narrative is told from his first-person perspective. You'll feel his deep pain and frustration over the betrayals at the end of his life (those of his own body, mind, and the Syndicate) and can't help but to connect to the old bastard. The whole story feels like a sci-fi film noir and while it certainly goes to some dark places, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat, rooting for Fischer. This is the first book I've finished this year, but I can tell it's going to be one of the best too.

The audiobook for Optional Retirement Plan is performed by R.C. Bray, who is an outstanding narrator and a longtime favorite of mine. It's for Bray that I gave the audio version of the book a chance, and he takes a great book and makes it even better. His voice is perfect for Fischer's first-person account and I can't find a single flaw in the performance. Even if my review doesn't convince you to get the book, get the audio version for Bray.

Thank you to Aethon Books who provided me this book free of charge at my request.

Very Good

What an interesting story line, really enjoyed it and as always RC Bray did a fantastic job bringing it alive

Great character, atmosphere and voice acting

A forcibly retired hit man on the run - battling "Old Timer's Disease" - sound grim? Well it is but RC Bray's excellent portrayal and Chris Porteau's story and dialogue give this tale pathos, punch and actually some pretty funny lines by Stacks Fisher,the target of the Retirement Plan. Nice homage to mafia tropes. Mafia on Mars? Sure!

Read it

"Surprise Ending. " Superbly done. Well written. Bray is as usual fantastic. So enjoy. Read.

AWESOME

THIS WAS A BOOK THAT MADE OTHER BOOKS ok TO LISTEN TO . I THOUGHT OF BRUCE WILLIS CROSSED WITH HARRISON FORD AND CLINT EASTWOOD IN THIS STORY.

Grabs You from Chapter One

What do you do when you’re a hitman whose boss thinks you’re slipping into Alzheimer’s and wants to “permanently retire” you before you can spill any more of the company’s secrets? That’s the problem facing Stacks Fischer in Chris Porteau’s excellent sf thriller, Optional Retirement Plan. To make matters even worse for Fischer, he’s not even sure he has Alzheimer’s and so he’s trying to figure out if he’s actually sick or being set up while trying to avoid assassins trying to collect the bounty on his head.

Stacks Fischer is a fascinating protagonist. He should not be likable, but he truly is. He should not be sympathetic, but you can’t help but feel for him as he struggles to find out what’s wrong with him. He has a code of honor and a sense of—well not justice, but something remarkably close to it that makes him easy to cheer for. It helps that narrator R.C. Bray has the perfect voice for Fischer, bringing his pain to life as he struggles to keep living for just a few more days.

I’ve noticed that Porteau has other books set in this universe. I’m going to have to give them a try.

I received this book from Audiobook Boom in exchange for an honest review.

A match made in heaven!!!

I loved the story. There was the right amount of action and story. It allows you to create the environment in your own way. The detail allows for imagination and creatively to flow from the reader. There is enough of a back story to allow the story to develop without taking away from the story. I hope there is a squall. It is worth the time. Excellent writing and great narrating by Mr. Bray.