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The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel
The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel
The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel
Audiobook14 hours

The Kill Switch: A Tucker Wayne Novel

Written by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood

Narrated by Scott Aiello

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

From bestselling authors James Rollins and Grant Blackwood, the first installment in an exciting new thriller series based on the Sigma Force novels featuring former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his partner, Army working dog Kane, introduced in the New York Times bestseller Bloodline and the e-original story "Tracker."

Former Army Ranger Tucker Wayne and his military working dog Kane are recruited by Sigma Force to extract a Russian pharmaceutical magnate from Siberia. A scientific genius, the drug tycoon holds the biological key to a new weapon system, a danger engineered from the ancient past to terrorize the modern world.

From the frozen steppes of Russia to the sun-blasted savannahs of Africa, Tucker and Kane must piece together a mystery going back to the origins of life on Earth—before the ancient peril can destroy the heartland of America, and with it, all of humankind.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateMay 13, 2014
ISBN9780062309068
Author

James Rollins

James Rollins is the author of international thrillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. His Sigma series has been lauded as one of the “top crowd pleasers” (New York Times) and one of the “hottest summer reads” (People magazine). In each novel, acclaimed for its originality, Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets—and he does it all at breakneck speed and with stunning insight. He lives in the Sierra Nevada.

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Reviews for The Kill Switch

Rating: 4.595744680851064 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

47 ratings15 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the first of a series involving Tucker Wayne and Kane whom we met in Rollins' book, Bloodline. It is part of the Sigma universe, but only as a spin-off. Sigma plays a critical role in this book, but we encounter few of the normal Sigma characters.Instead, our two heroes are Tucker Wayne and his Belgian Malinois who have to extract a Russian botnist who has made a discovery that could, as in many of Rollins' novels, save or destroy the world. Also like Rollins' novels, they travel all around the globe, from the tip-top in Russia to southern Africa. However, there is much less jumping around between multiple plot lines and multiple continents.Other standard Rollins' devices includes caves, people refusing to die, and dogs on their haunches.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was much better than the second book in the Tucker Wayne series, "War Hawk," which I reviewed earlier. More action, and not as predictable.|My only complaint in both his series thus far, is that I wish he would involve Kane, the dog, more in his stories. He seems to involve him more in "War Hawk" then here, but "The Kill Switch" had more action and more twists in the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kill Switch is filled with action-packed adventure. Many twists and turns keep Tucker and Kane busy in this thriller, while they search for an organism that can 'kill' a deadly contaminant from the beginning of life, accompanied by an unlikely team.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mr. Rollins never fails to entertain, and I loved this rollicking adventure. I am a huge dog lover (I have a professional Therapy Dog), am very familiar with their behavior, training, and personalities, and Kane was portrayed and rendered very realistically. I loved that Mr. Rollins and Mr. Blackwood stepped outside of the genre norms with two formidable female villains instead of the standard evil male villain (although we got one of those too!). Although vastly different in their methods, skills, and style, both women were equally deadly. LOVED the line about "getting some new shoes" (won't give that one away). The setting and scenes were realistic, the action and plot fast-paced and well-constructed, and the story progression seamless and perfectly executed. Another suspenseful, blistering page turner from the master of action and adventure. I love Tucker and Kane and their harmonious teamwork, and eagerly look forward to their next adventure. Kudos and bravo Mr. Rollins and Mr. Blackwood!

    Kerry Alan Denney, multiple award-winning author of SOULSNATCHER (Lazy Day Publishing, May 2014) and JAGANNATH (coming February 2015 from Permuted Press)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loaded with action and situations that seem impossible to escape. Love the main characters, a former Army ranger and and his canine partner. No romance or sentimentality - just a riveting, robust, fast moving story. Highly recommend.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Tucker Wayne and Kane, his militarily trained dog, the combo introduced in the SIGMA series book Bloodline are the main characters in this thriller.As usual in a Rollins' thriller the authors start with a past event, in this case the Boer Wars. Then we fast forward to the present. Tucker and Kane are in Russia finishing a freelance job when Tucker gets a call from the head of SIGMA and gets given a job. Get a guy out of Russia through non-traditional ways. Of course, if it were really that easy there wouldn't be a book. The Op springs quite the leak and he and his charge wind up with killers on their trail as they try to save themselves as well as saving the world.The Prologue was a little hard to get into, perhaps because I know next to nothing about the Boer Wars, but once the narrative got back to the present it smoothed out and it turned into an amazing thriller.A lot of the characters were pretty great too. SIGMA gave Tucker a handler, Ruth Harper. Almost all of the interactions were over Tucker's SAT phone and I thought it was an interesting way to approach the relationship. Other characters that really stood out were Christopher Nkomo and his brothers. (So much so that I really would love a short story just about them). There was a nobility to how the authors wrote them that was very refreshing.Then there was Kane. My favorite Kane scene was one he had with three lionesses. And that scene illustrates brilliantly how well Rollins and Blackwood wrote the non-human character of Kane. And they did write him so well. They managed to give him emotions and character, but they didn't anthropomorphize him. He was my favorite character in the book (he managed to beat Tucker by a paw).This wasn't Rollins' first thriller, and it won't be his last, but so far it's my favorite by a long shot.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Title - The Kill SwitchAuthor - James Rollins & Grant BlackwoodStory Summary - Tucker Wayne is a veteran who is enjoying his work in the private sector When the Sigma Force and its Director Painter Crowe come calling. He's worked with them before and while he didn't mind it, Tucker and his partner have no intention of becoming part of any Government agency. But this call is important and Tucker is in the right place in the right time to pull it off. Smack dab in the middle of Mother Russia. Tucker and his partner; Kane, a military trained dog must extract a Russian scientist specializing in botanical bioweapons from Russian soil and spirit him back to the US. Only this is not just some biological weapon they've found."..De Klerk did not need to check, and Roosa did not need to ask. Linden was dead. The medical aide draped a blanket over his ravaged corpse. "How many are afflicted so far?" Roosa asked, his voice cracking. "Seven." "And the prognosis for them?" "Unless I can discover the source and counteract it, I fear they will all die. Like this boy. But that's not the worst news." Roosa finally tore his eyes away from the boy's draped body. "This is only the beginning. More will surely get sick..." From Russia, to Turkey, to the mountains of Namibia. Tucker and Kane must guard the lives of their charges as they search out the weapon that has not seen the light of day since the beginning of time.Review - James Rollins just keep rolling along. The pace, the intelligence and the humanity that he ingests into all of his novels. What Rollins and Blackwood do so well here is emphasizing the relationship between Tucker and Kane. A relationship made stronger by the tragic loss Kane's partner Abel, in service. The science behind the weapon is well researched and the novel infused with settings both exotic and dangerous. This is the beginning of the new Cold War thrillers that were prevalent years ago with LeCarre and Clancy. As with all Sigma Force novels, the action is fast and furious with enough wit to keep it together. A really good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    James Rollins knows how to take interesting tidbits from history and science and turn them into an adrenaline-fueled thriller. In the case of The Kill Switch, the history is the Boer War and the science involves something that could very well be the stem cells of the plant world. Add to the history and science the intriguing duo of Tucker Wayne and Kane, and the enjoyment factor increases tenfold.Having already read a bit about this man and his dog, I was looking forward to a little background on the two of them, and I was not disappointed. Tucker's childhood and his service in the military have led him to make rules for himself that can cause problems. One of those rules is that he won't kill a dog. Dogs have given him the love, the friendship, and the loyalty that humans never have, and although his "rule" makes sense to him, it is something that does put him and the others at risk. Kane, the Belgian shepherd, is just as devoted to Tucker as Tucker is to him. He is intelligent, extremely well-trained, and I can see some readers turning the pages of The Kill Switch and thinking that Kane is Super Dog, a fantasy of Rollins' imagination. Truth is, anyone who knows what these war dogs are capable of doing says that Rollins downplays their abilities.I enjoyed this book for increasing my knowledge about Tucker and Kane, and I found the tie-in to the Boer War and the science fascinating. The action is almost non-stop, but if there is a weakness in this book it is the fact that too much of that action is predictable. However, I look forward to seeing what's in store for these two.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I love James Rollins; I really do. I have no problem with the suspend-your-disbelief action sequences; I love all that.Unfortunately, I have to give "The Kill Switch" a rating of "meh." The book is at its best when it focuses on the relationship between Tucker and his K-9 partner Kane, whether they are out in the field in the midst of action or just hanging together. I really liked the parts told from Kane's point of view.The book was entertaining, but it never quite pulled me all the way in. At times it seemed as if I was starting to get pulled in (and I eagerly anticipated losing myself in the storyline), and then suddenly the book would switch gears and I'd get yanked back out. Not fun. When I read a book, I want to get lost in it, to get immersed in it so that I forget my surroundings. "The Kill Switch" did not do that.I was never emotionally connected to any of the characters, and that's the problem. There was a lot of action, a good plot, great twists. But the character development was lacking. The book really needed to develop all its primary characters in greater depth so as to make the reader have a vested interest in them. Because I didn't connect with any of the characters, I really didn't care whether they lived or died, and that's why the book was less engaging than it could have been.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The thrills never slow down. James Rollins has another winning series on his hands I think!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Kill Switch by James Rollins and Grant Blackwood400 pages Harper CollinsApril 8, 2014ISBN-13: 978-0-06-213525-4Does some ancient microbiological material hide deep in the Earth? One that, if recovered, could foster marvelous advances in science and medicine? Or in the wrong hands lead to mankind’s ultimate destruction? This is the premise behind The Kill Switch, the latest thriller from James Rollins (and co-author Grant Blackwood). Typical of Rollins’ work, the story jumps across the globe from Russia, to Istanbul, to Africa, to the US, and offers a diverse cast of well-developed characters and a tightly woven plot that grabs the reader and doesn’t let go.US Army Ranger Tucker Wayne, along with his constant canine companion Kane, a military trained Belgian Malinois, is charged with infiltrating Russia’s most secret and well-guarded institutions and extracting Dr. Abram Bukolov, who just might know where to find the elusive LUCA—the progenitor substance that holds so much promise—-and danger.Extracting Bukolov proves to be no easy task. Tucker and Kane, with the help of Russian billionaire industrialist Bogdan Fedoseev, Bukolov’s former student Stanimir Utkin, and Anya, Bukolov’s assistant and daughter, must avoid Russian military and GRU spy network, beautiful and ruthless Swedish sniper Felice Nilsson, and Russian General Artur Kharzin, who has evil plans for LUCA. Plans that echo the worst Cold War nightmares.After safely escorting Bukolov from Russian territory, a convoluted and harrowing adventure in its own right, Tucker’s problems are just beginning. The intrepid group immediately heads to South Africa, the presumed location of LUCA. But where is it? Based on his study of Doctor Paulos de Klerk’s journal, which survived the bloody and prolonged Boer War, Bukolov believes the Earth’s only living source of LUCA is deep in the jungle enclosed a long-lost cave. With such detailed information, could finding the LUCA remnants be that difficult? And what of General Kharzin and the ruthless Felice? Can Tucker beat them to the prize? The convergence of these forces raises tension, the pace quickens, and the twists and turns become unnerving as Tucker is dragged deeply into an inhospitable terrain, Kharzin and Felice in pursuit. This is a classic Rollins tale that draws on a broad range of science, warfare, pursuit and escape, and plot twists on very page. Rollins’ fans will love it, and new readers will immediately join the Rollins bandwagon. Highly recommended.DP Lyle, award-winning author of the Dub Walker and Samantha Cody thriller series
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another book that really surprised me, this one is a tightly wound, linear story that really develops the lead characters well and forges a real kinetic bond between the lead character, Tucker Wayne, and his sidekick, Kane, an extremely intelligent and loyal shepherd dog. Wayne is charged by the Rollins creation of Sigma Force of extracting Dr. Bukolov out of Russia and his knowledge of a botanical organism that can affect the world positively, or negatively if it were to fall into the wrong hands (think weaponized, biological bomb). What follows is a very readable, well-flowing story that ends on a real nail-biter on the northern shores of the Great Lakes. I found myself really rooting for Kane to pull through the difficult situations that the authors put him in, and am really looking forward to more Wayne/Kane adventures in the future. One of my pleasant surprises of 2014...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The plot doesn't quit. The characters are interesting and well done. Cain is especially well done. He is a real dog and a loveable canine. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent work by Rollins yet again
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Slow at first but turned fast paced quickly and never let up. Friends aren’t always what they seem. I love the relationship between Tucker and Kane. What an awesome dog. The setting was great and spanned 3 different regions of the world.