Power Switch

A Novel

By: Patrick Lee

Narrated by: Charles Hield

In 2000 corporate powers in Butte, Montana dismantle and sell a 90-year-old Fortune 500 Big Sky Power Company to allocate funds to their new fiber optic enterprise Connect West. The venture horrifically fails, and a popular fiber optic company board advisor disappears under dubious circumstances. At the insistence of deputy county attorney Maggie Lester, local law enforcement agencies and the FBI begin an intensive search for the missing advisor. Butte citizens who lost their investments and retirement savings with the company's tumultuous downfall and the corporate owners and executives all come under suspicion.

After a key suspect in the disappearance case is gunned down by a professional shooter, FBI agents Pete Walker and Mary Green's pursuit of the hired killer leads them from Butte to Las Vegas to Phoenix. Meanwhile, FBI Agents Walt Brooke and Darius Dixon investigate the possible connection of several wealthy Wall Street investment bankers in the murder for hire Montana case. As the investigators charge toward an inevitable confrontation with the hit man and his hidden employer, women most affected by the loss of Big Sky Power Company find themselves drawn into the unfolding drama. And, in a nail biting climax, agents Walker and Green line up in the cross hairs of the ruthless hit man.

©2012 Patrick C Lee (P)2013 Patrick C Lee

The first book from Audible that was unlistenable.

What disappointed you about Power Switch?

First off, as another reviewer has pointed out, this is not THE Patrick Lee of Ghost Country fame. I thought it was and bought the book based solely on this. My bad for not doing my research. I only made it about an hour into the book. The characters are cardboard cutouts, the story didn’t interest me at all, and the narration is awful. This would not even make a bad episode of pick your crime drama.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Anything not by this author or narrator.

How could the performance have been better?

Honestly if it had been read by a good narrator I’m not sure I would have made it through the story. The voice sounded like somebody’s grandpa who is reading a children’s book and doing a bad job of imitating Winnie the Poo. The last straw was when he read the name of the company Connect West as Connecticut West. I have no idea what happens after that point and don’t care.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Power Switch?

All of them and started over.

Any additional comments?

This is the only book I have downloaded from Audible in 7 years for which I would ask for my money back if I could.

This is not the Patrick Lee you're looking for...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you loved the Patrick Lee novels The Breach, Ghost County, and Deep Sky, then DON'T get Power Switch, as you'll be sorely disappointed. Power Switch is written by a different author than that of the Travis Chase trilogy, who happens to have the same name.

Would you be willing to try another book from Patrick Lee? Why or why not?

I actually contacted the Patrick Lee who wrote the Travis Chase trilogy, and he confirmed that Power Switch is not his. However, he did say that he has the first book of a new trilogy coming out in early 2014.

What didn’t you like about Charles Hield’s performance?

Even though I bought this book mistakenly, I tried to listen to it to get my money's worth. Unfortunately, I could only make it about a third of the way through due to the poor performance of Charles Hield. His reading voice makes every character in the book sound as if they're at least 70 years old. Sometimes that can be amusing, like when he's trying to portray a couple women in their mid-twenties, but usually is very tiresome to listen to. As for the book Power Switch itself, it's okay. The story isn't terrible, but it didn't really grab me either. If you read the publisher's summary for this book, you will have gathered everything I was able to get in listening to the first third of the book. Maybe something exciting happens in the later two-thirds, but I wasn't willing to find out.

Did Power Switch inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to go back to listening to podcasts until I had another Audible credit available for use.

Any additional comments?

If you're still interested in this book, be sure to listen to a sample before buying.