The Paris Deadline

By: Max Byrd

Narrated by: Dennis Holland

From best-selling historical novelist Max Byrd comes a new novel set against the dramatic backdrop of Paris in the Jazz Age - a fascinating suspense tale interwoven with rich historical detail.

Paris, 1926: Newspaper reporter Toby Keats, a veteran of the Great War and the only American in Paris who doesn't know Hemingway, has lived a quiet life - until one day he comes into possession of a rare 18th-century automate, a very strange and somewhat scandalous mechanical duck. Highly sought after by an enigmatic American banker, European criminals, and the charming young American Elsie Short, the duck is rumored to hold the key to opening a new frontier in weapons technology for the German army, now beginning to threaten Europe once more. Haunted with his nightmarish past in the War, Toby pursues the truth behind the duck.

From the boites of the Left Bank to the dark prehistoric caverns of southern France, The Paris Deadline is a story of love, suspense, and mystery in a world stumbling toward catastrophe.

©2012 Max Byrd (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Keeps you guessing

This book was amazing. Not at all what I expected, but the combination of drama, history, and mystery creates an incredible story. Definitely recommend

a unique story with a unique characters!

I stumbled upon this while looking at the mystery section in Audible. I had enjoyed a previous audio I listened to by this author, so I decided to give a whirl.

It is 1926 and Toby Keats is an American newspaper reporter in Paris. He was a veteran of the Great War and loves this city. He loves his quiet life until he comes into a possession of a rare 18th century automate. It is a very strange and somewhat scandalous mechanical duck. It is highly sought after by an American banker, European Criminals, and Elsie Short. The duck is rumored to hold the key to opening a new frontier in weapons technology for the German army. Toby will risk it all to find the truth.

This was for a unique story with a unique set of characters and a weird mechanical duck. I had no idea what to really expect and I liked that. I really felt like anything could happen at any point.

I did go back and forth on how I felt for Toby. I think I had a love-hate with him if I am to be frank. There were times I had to roll my eyes at him but I enjoyed his tale and he was a good egg. I was rooting for him to succeed and get the girl and the duck.

That poor mechanical duck ;)

There were some slow parts here and Toby seemed to ramble a bit. Which fit his personality. He was for sure a rambler and thorough. I mean - he is a writer after all and this is his writings and accounts of what happened during that weird time in his life.

I adored the narrator. He was really good and his accents were fantastic from what I could tell.

Besides for the slow parts, I really enjoyed this. It was for sure a unique story with a unique characters. I was not sure how it was all going to end and I will say the ending got me there! WOAH! So good. I would love to see more Toby and his adventures.

I highly recommend this especially if you need a fun mystery. I'll give this 4 stars.

Great story!

And lots of good historical characters woven in. Narration developed the lead character well, but very spotty French pronunciation. Overlooked due to great storytelling though.

Tedious - could have been much shorter

I have never listened to something where you kept waiting for something to happen or for the author to just move on. I really enjoyed Pont Neuf his other book but this was so tedious. Give this one a miss.