Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Duel to the Death by J. A. Jance
Narrator: Karen Ziemba
Series: Ali Reynolds #13
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio on March 20, 2018
Genres: Mystery
Length: 11 hours, 19 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble
After taking down the man responsible for his best friend’s death, Stuart Ramey thinks the case is finally closed. That is, until Stu finds himself left with a multimillion dollar fortune in Bitcoin in a desperate bid by Frigg, a rogue A.I. program created by the killer, to keep itself from being fully deactivated.
To sort out his situation and take Frigg down for good, Stu enlists the help of Ali Reynolds and the rest of his cyber security colleagues at High Noon Enterprises. But they are not the only ones who know about Frigg’s existence.
Graciella Miramar, an unassuming accountant to all appearances, is actually the right-hand woman to El Pescado, the leader of a dangerous drug cartel. She’ll do anything to get her hands on that program. With Frigg’s help, Graciella hopes to take over her father’s criminal underworld and become wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But Stu—and El Pescado and his henchmen—may not be so easily defeated.
I have read all three series by J.A. Jance for a long time. This Ali Reynolds series, is probably the least realistic of the three, and is not based on law enforcement personnel like the other series. I still love it. Ali was a news anchor who was briefly in law enforcement and now works with her husband’s high-tech firm. I reviewed Man Overboard last spring. It involved AI, artificial intelligence.
Duel to the Death picks up right where it ended. And I loved it so much! The focus is on Stuart Ramey and the AI more than Ali and B. It was great to have more development of their characters. The intelligence and careful planning was so fun to watch. The machinations with the drug cartel were suspenseful with plenty of potential for violence.
Frigg was a joy to see in action. I felt worried she would be a problem or they would shut her down. I’m excited to see what happens now if she remains part of the team! I really can’t wait for more.
Narration:
I listened to Karen Ziemba previously on Man Overboard so this felt just right. I did like the unique voices for different characters and I don’t always notice them. She was easy to understand and it was a pleasure to listen to her. Frigg and Stuart being main characters were particularly well done. I used a 1.25x speed.
Listen to a clip:
Rating Breakdown | |
---|---|
Writing | |
Characters | |
Dialogue | |
Narration (Audio) | |
Overall: |
- Read-along & #Giveaway: Edge – Innkeeper by Ilona Andrews @ilonaandrews @reneeraudman @natalienaudus @AceBooksPub @nyliterary @TantorAudio @AudibleStudios #Read-along #GIVEAWAY #LoveAudiobooks - December 1, 2024
- Sunday Post –1 December 2024 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - December 1, 2024
- All Folked Up by Penny Reid @ReidRomance #KindleUnlimited - November 30, 2024
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2018 Audiobook Challenge
- 2018 New Release Challenge