Remote Control

By: Andy McNab

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

After his mission is suddenly terminated in Washington, D.C., British Intelligence agent Nick Stone decides to visit an old colleague, Kev Brown. But when Stone arrives at his friend's eerily quiet suburban home, he discovers a chilling scene of carnage. Every member of the Brown family has been brutally slaughtered except one: seven-year-old Kelly Brown. His instincts on red alert and adrenaline in overdrive, Stone grabs the girl and runs - with anonymous assassins in hot pursuit. But is it Stone they want to silence, or the innocent child? Or both?

During a heart-pounding chase that takes the resourceful, sometimes ruthless seasoned pro and his frightened young charge from Washington to Florida, and across the Atlantic to England, Stone begins to piece together a shocking global conspiracy. Thrust into a lethal game of cat-and-mouse, Stone is certain of two things: He and Kelly are on their own; no one can be trusted. And his darkest fears about the shadowy link between politics, money, and terrorism are about to be realized.

Combining relentless action, daring escapes, and breathless plotting with chillingly authentic operational detail rarely seen in thrillers, Remote Control is a novel so real and so suspenseful it sets a new standard for the genre.

©1999 Andy McNab (P)2005 Phoenix Books Inc.

Critic reviews

"Barrett's British accent is perfect for the part of the British intelligence agent, and he portrays the main character with skill." (AudioFile) "McNab reliably delivers the believable, real-life details and keeps readers' attention with steady, careful prose until the predictable but satisfying end." (Publishers Weekly)

worst English and Irish accents ever

incredibly hard to listen to given the awful attempts at English and Irish accents. Surely they could have found a British actor to do this. ruined what could have been a good story

My First McNab Fiction Piece - MASTERPIECE

I have been a long-time fan of Andy McNab's autobiographies and other non-fiction works, but I was hesitant to read his fiction for the longest time. I'm glad I got over that hesitation, because this book is very, very fun. It somehow breaks the mold of spy thrillers of a similar nature, which often get caught up in the bureaucracies of spy organizations, while still paying homage to the classics of the genre. The story was believable, grounded, and enjoyable (I attribute this to Mr. McNab's real-world SAS experience). The author's writing is only made better by the stellar performance of Mr. Barrett, whom I applaud.

If you are looking for a fun, grounded spy thriller, look no further. The one gripe I have is that this is the first in a series of books released by Mr. McNab, but these other titles are not allowed to be purchased in the US. I would love to read the full series, especially after having read this one.

Main character was creepy.

This is the first bad review I have ever left!
When the main character wasn't bathing the little girl, he was lying to her and/or manipulating her into endangering her life to save his own. Perhaps the unabridged version doesn't make him seem like such a bumbling creeper.
The ending was extremely abrupt, as if even the author was disgusted with the direction in which he had taken the character.
The narration was great :-)

Story Just Stopped

The story was typical for the genre and was running pretty well...then, it just stopped. Protagonists were temporarily safe, but there wasn't any satisfactory resolution for the long term. I felt like it stopped mid-story.

Not as expected.

ends abruptly. Everything seemed like it happened accidentally instead of at least some bit of a plan as you would expect from SAS

Didn't finish it.

Poorly written, tedious storyline, boring and annoying presenter. Got about half-way before I realised life is too short to listen to rubbish.

not Jack Reacher-esk

this was supposedly a Jack Reacher-esk type book. i did not like all the curse words, most were not needed. i thought the storyline was choppy in spots.

Definitely not worth it … a waste of time

This is a terrible book … everything is in the first person and it becomes tedious almost immediately. Even after struggling through the audible the book ended very abruptly leaving the bad guys alive and well.

Stopped

It feels like the story was never finished. Is there something wrong with the recording?