Direct Action

A Deckard Novel, Book 3

By: Jack Murphy

Narrated by: Don Hoeksema

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author, and Special Operations veteran, Jack Murphy comes a new military thriller about what happens when America's best go bad.

The right man in the wrong place.

They call themselves Liquid Sky. A group of rogue SEAL Team Six operators turned soldiers of fortune. They've got the training and combat experience to pull off the impossible as their client hires them to stoke the flames of the Arab Spring in certain Middle Eastern countries...and suppress it in others.

Deckard faces the most challenging mission of his career when he comes across intel that puts him hot on the trail of Liquid Sky's latest assassination in Pakistan. A mission that targets a pro-democracy advocate. Failing to stop the rogue cell, Deckard shoots from the hip and drops his name in the running to be Liquid Sky's newest member, replacing the one he just killed.

It is a mission unlike any other that Deckard has ever faced. As they strike their targets in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Egypt, and beyond, Deckard has to maintain his cover while sabotaging their operations. If he can hold out just a little longer, he might be able to find out who Liquid Sky is taking their marching orders from.

But the missions are only getting dirtier, and Deckard's hands are far from clean. When the time comes, not even Deckard knows if he will be able to do all that is necessary to take down Liquid Sky.

©2014 Jack Murphy (P)2015 Beacon Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"The plot of this novel is a work of fiction which ties a series of events together into a story, however, most of the individual situations, scenarios, and conversations in this book depict and describe factual events. The author was told by numerous people in the Special Operations and Intelligence Community that he would be murdered for investigating these subjects." (Jack Murphy)

Great story. Poor narration

Great story. Good character development. The narration was really bad cartoon voices and the only way he could pronounce that many words wrong is on purpose. I hope he has a good day job. Did anyone listen to this before it was released I'm sure the author didn't.

terrible narrator! !

Narrator needs to go back to school! !
pronounced so many words wrong that it made it miserable if not impossible to listen to !!

Not a complete audible series!!!

great book, but audible does not have the complete set. so you drop 60 bucks and can't complete the thing.

It's gritty, it's fast paced. Narrator was awesome

Would you consider the audio edition of Direct Action to be better than the print version?

Absolutely, Don's depiction of the story made it come off the page. The character's become real and you forget you're not really there. He handled all the characters with a unique change in voice tone. Subtle, not overdone. Even from the female characters to the military rough and rugged voice. I am now a fan for life!

What did you like best about this story?

You will have trouble putting it down. Great read. Decard is one of the good guys on a very thin line between doing what is right and what evils he has to live with. He must recruit himself into Liquid Sky a group so heinous and evil . Decard must find out how high up the orders come from. Very high up. The book has it all, action, violence, betrayal. You will actually be frightened by what you read because you know it's not all fiction by any means.

Which scene was your favorite?

Excellent read - Full of action at a fast pace. Found a writer that not only writes a thrilling and captivating book but he knows his subject.
I enjoyed listening to it from start to finish, no dull moment with Deckard and his crew, which makes it hard to pick one scene, I loved that romantic scene on the beach, with his girl. It was hot, hot, hot!

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

I consider this set of books as the most realistic of the genre, in terms of tactics, weapons, etc. The story wraps that action goodness around a tight read that leads one to wonder how much of it was fiction versus genuine as most of it is plausible. I'm a big fan of the 'fearless assassin' genre and these books are the best of the bunch, hands down. Could not put it down.

Any additional comments?

It’s gritty, it’s fast paced, it’s got more bang than a breaching charge and it's balls to the wall from cover to cover. Murphy’s latest, Direct Action, is all of this with a very healthy slab of contemporary world events thrown in for good measure. Yeah sure it’s a little controversial in parts but hey, it’s fiction, so it’s not necessary real...or is it? It’s the blending of fact and fiction that makes this book such a great read. If you’re interested in the murky world of SOF and the even darker world of contracting then this is the book for you. Another great audiobook narrated by Don, that comes highly recommended.

Great book, narrator needs to be read in on the terms he is reading

Great book, but the narrator need to be educated on the material he is reading. The mispronunciation of common words and phrases was driving me crazy.

worst narrator

narrator ruins the book with mispronounced words in every chapter
. I wish jack murphy would find a narrator who knows the subject.

Typical sex and shootum up in the war zone

The story was okay, the reader has a great voice, but the reader could stand a major brush up on pronunciation. So many words were spoken incorrectly that I found myself verbally reacting to the butchering of words.
I truly enjoy soldier of fortune stories but not much being offered here.
Even the sexy sceens were a little limp?

Good stories continue

Carrying on along the lines of the first two books by Jack Murphy, this one has the over the top action. A good distraction on my drive to and from work.
The narrator continues mispronouncing many words. It's now annoying.

Great story once you get used to the narration

the story's good, the narration on the other hand could use some work. He puts a lot of emphasis' on the wrong syllables.

Narrator was wrong for the book

The story was great just wrong narrator it took away from great story. I liked the way the book played out.