Phantom Orbit

A Thriller

By: David Ignatius

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

A subtle and masterful novel from a prescient voice on the cutting edge of spy literature.

David Ignatius is known for his uncanny ability, in novel after novel, to predict the next great national security headline. In Phantom Orbit, he presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it. Volkov returns to Moscow and continues his secret work. The puzzle holds untold consequences for space warfare.

The years pass, and they are not kind to Volkov. After the loss of his son, a prosecutor who’d been too tough on corruption, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Volkov makes the fraught decision to contact the CIA. He writes: Satellites are your enemies, especially your own. … Hidden codes can make time stop and turn north into south. … If you are smart, you will find me.

With this timely novel, Ignatius addresses our moment of renewed interest in space exploration amid geopolitical tumult. Phantom Orbit brims with the author’s vital insights and casts Volkov as the man who, at the risk of his life, may be able to stop the Doomsday clock.

©2024 David Ignatius (P)2024 Recorded Books

Too much story, not enough payoff

This is more like a shaggy dog story than a thriller. Long, long sections of not entirely convincing character development followed by a brief semi-thrilling conclusion. Great narration helps some.

What will happen next????

Wow I couldn’t stop listening! Very engaging story. And a bit unnerving too. More please

Wonderful character development

The characters and their motivations were believable. Plot was intriguing. Narrator was well matched to audiobook.

Fantastic. Perfect self contained story ripped right from real life.

Loved this, and impressed with David's writing style. So glad I gave this a try.

Ignatius keeps getting better

Pretty cool to see the evolution of what is now a very accomplished fiction author.

Ignatius weaves current insider Knowledge into Prescience

The author takes a very long time to move all the chess pieces into place but eventually sculpts an important piece of Fiction into a cautionary tale that may soon become critically important Non-Fiction.

The most valuable take-away is the portrayal of the all too common reluctance of any bureaucracy to understand and accept the obvious value of the outliers in their midst.

Four stars. ****

Ignatius’ best yet. I couldn’t put it down.

Fast paced, very current, and technically accurate.

There’s nothing to dislike.

I’ll be anxiously awaiting David’s next thriller.

Future History

Very many verified details made the listen tedious in the beginning. The motivation for future actions too complete.

the details of the people involved

I was on the edge of my chair till the last chapter. the intriguing nature and detail fell away to a very well used narrative of spy espionage. double agents
did not stand up to the rest of the story well

The good work done by our intelligence agencies behind the scenes

This was a really good listen and I really appreciate the story telling…I will definitely suggest this book to anyone interested in world affairs