Red Cell

A Novel

By: Mark Henshaw

Narrated by: Rob Patterson

Red Cell follows Kyra Stryker and Jonathan Burke, two outcasts in the Agency who are brought together in the Red Cell, the agency’s out-of-the-box think tank. Stryker is a young and beautiful agent who’s struggling to recover from a job gone bad during her first assignment in Venezuela, while Burke is a straight-laced analyst who’s pissed off all his colleagues with his knack for always being right, political consequences be damned.

When a raid on Chinese spies in Taiwan ends in a shootout, CIA Director Cooke turns to the Red Cell to figure out why China is ready to invade the island nation without any fear of reprisal from the U.S. Navy. Stryker and Burke’s only lead is the top CIA informant in China, codenamed Pioneer, and they’re tasked with extracting him before the Chinese can get to him.

From the White House to a Navy battleship in the South China Sea, Henshaw takes listeners on a whirlwind race against time as Stryker and Burke try to save Pioneer and discover the hidden threat to America’s power and keeping the peace: China’s top secret weapon, the Assassin’s Mace.

©2012 Mark Henshaw (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Good story but terrible narration and editing

Other reviews have said this, but it is worth repeating. The story was good but nearly ruined by the narrator. Almost monotone, except for oddly emphasizing a word out of place. Very few pauses, even between sentences and paragraphs, it was like listening to a 30 minute run on sentence. This made it difficult to follow when the location changed and different characters were speaking. Editing didn’t catch or fix these issues or even out different recordings. It felt like the audiobook was an afterthought. Very unfortunate.

Creative engaging story.

The story was fast-paced and consistently engaging. The author creatively describes emotions. He possesses an expansive knowledge of technical topics such as weaponry, espionage, aviation and wields it well. Excellent character development. perhaps my favorite facet of this author's writing is the conspicuous absence of profanity which is typically littered throughout books of this genre. I found that very refreshing. Instead, he obliquely but vividly describes how the character used the profanity sparing the reader from tiring exposure to vulgarity. I listened to book number two from this series prior to this one and I think they could be read in any order. I'm going to get number three now. Goodbye.

Good

What did you love best about Red Cell?

It was a different area of focus than what I usually listen to.

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

It was good.

Good action story

This is my first book by Mark Henshaw. This book starts out as a spy story in Venezuela when CIA agent Kyra Stryker escapes a trap but is wounded. On her return to Washington D.C. she is assigned to the Red Cell an out of the box analyst group headed by Jonathan Burke. They are busy with a problem in Taiwan and China trying to discover what secret weapon the Chinese have developed. They discover the Assassin's Mace and while trying to find out what it is they have to meet and bring out one of the CIA asset in China called Pioneer. The first half of the book is spies and suspense the second half of the book is naval ship and air action. Lots of excitment and a fast pace story. Rob Patterson does a great job with the narration. Henshaw does a great job in tying up the story at the end of the book, so many authors leave us readers hanging.

A Great Read

Red Cell is Mark Henshaw's first novel and it's excellent. The story bounces around a bit at the beginning, not in a distracting way, but in a way that compels you to stay engaged and pay attention. I liistened to the book in my car during the 30' drives to and from work. There were times duing the second half of the book that I took the long route just to be able to listen longer! The characters have lots of depth and the story is wonderfully detailed. The narration by Rob Patterson was well done and complemented the excellent story. I'm definitely a Henshaw fan and will look forward to upcoming novels.

Engaging and Fun Story

What made the experience of listening to Red Cell the most enjoyable?

The story was interesting

What was one of the most memorable moments of Red Cell?

Great action sequences

How could the performance have been better?

Performance was horrible - sounded low budget. Every voice was exactly the same, which made following the story difficult at times.

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

No

Compelling story, well told...very badly read.

Feel bad for the narrator of this one... he is clearly in the wrong business. It's a tribute to the quality of the story that it compelled me to endure the reader's tonally flat (except for a couple of oddly incongruous moments) and choppy delivery. Why would... anyone ... think... that ... it makes .... sense to... read... sentences... like ... this?
Given how good the sequel is, I think it would be worth exploring a new audio production of Red Cell. Haven't read the third book yet, but this shows signs of being a strong series.(Book 2 has a different narrator.)

Well done espionage thriller

Red Cell marks the evolution of the spy novel from Soviet / cold war era through terrorism to now China as the major threat. "Red" teams are typically structured as sparing partners for war gaming. Here, the "red cell" consists of a CIA intellectual renegade and a rookie covert operative on the losing end of poorly planned (but not executed) mission. Together they piece together a series of disparate clues that point to a far more organized and complex Chinese attempt to takeover Taiwan with geopolitical ramifications.

The pacing is excellent with a back and forth between covert operations and analytic breakthroughs. Both main characters also get opportunities to perform beyond their assigned roles. There are no real surprises, but the action is nonstop, especially in the second half. Perhaps the only criticism is the scene shifting within chapters that comes off as a cinematic attempt at parallel editing, but results mostly in a disjointed delivery.

The narration is excellent with a quite respectable range of voices, especially for the Chinese characters.

Another great novel by Henshaw

Fast moving and exciting. The characters were believable and well developed. Can't wait for the next assignment for John and Kiera! The narration, however, was horrible. Patterson's reading was like a robot. It was both monotone and choppy. It diminished the experience of the whole story.

Interesting story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Worthwhile read but performance by Rob Patterson was flat and boring. There were also gaps and repeated words and phrases in the recording.

Would you be willing to try another one of Rob Patterson’s performances?

No, there are much better readers out there.

Did Red Cell inspire you to do anything?

No