What happens when you take a perfectly good thriller and add a soundtrack that nobody asked for?
I was three hours into my drive home - yes, three hours, don't ask about the I-10 backup - when I realized I'd been grinding my teeth. Not because of the traffic. Because every time Scott Brick would hit a tense moment, this random digital music would swell up like we're in a made-for-TV movie from 1997. Carlos texted asking if I was okay because I'd been sitting in the driveway for twenty minutes. I was fine. I was just... processing my feelings about the Booktrack Edition.
When the Narrator Gets It But the Production Doesn't
Here's the thing - Scott Brick absolutely nails John Corey. The cocky ex-NYPD cop who thinks he's the smartest person in every room? Brick delivers that arrogance with just enough humor that you're laughing with Corey instead of wanting to smack him. The one-liners land. When Corey's being insufferable to his FBI colleagues, Brick's timing is perfect - that little pause before the punchline, the slight uptick in tone that says "I know I'm being a jackass and I don't care."
But then the music kicks in.
Look, I work nights in a trauma center. I know what appropriate background noise sounds like. The beeps, the ventilators, the quiet chaos - it fades into the background because it belongs there. This Booktrack music? It's like someone decided the ICU needed a DJ. Some listeners apparently love it. I am not those listeners. There were moments - especially during the torture scenes (yes, there are torture scenes, and they're intense, fair warning) - where the music felt almost random. Like it was scored for a different book entirely.
The Actual Story Under All That Noise
Once I mentally learned to tune out the soundtrack - took about six hours, honestly - there's a solid thriller here. A Libyan terrorist called "The Lion" is supposedly defecting at JFK. Something goes very wrong on that flight. And then Corey and his partner Kate Mayfield are chasing this guy across the country.
DeMille does something interesting with point-of-view that I both appreciated and found annoying. The story jumps between first person (Corey) and third person (the terrorist), and honestly? Those shifts are abrupt. I'd be deep in Corey's head, and suddenly we're watching the Lion from the outside. It works for tension - you know things Corey doesn't - but it takes adjustment. At 3 AM after a rough shift, those transitions hit different. Not always in a good way.
The pacing is... well, it's 24 hours and 45 minutes. There are stretches where events feel repetitive. Ice Princess had similar pacing issues in the middle sections, though at least that one didn't add a soundtrack to the slow parts. Corey investigates. Corey makes a sarcastic comment. Corey investigates more. But when it picks up? That ending - I was pulling into my garage and I just sat there, engine off, because I was not leaving until I heard how this played out.
Who's Going to Love This (And Who Should Run)
If you're already a John Corey fan, Scott Brick is apparently THE narrator for this series, and I get why. He's got the voice, the attitude, the delivery. If you're new to DeMille, this is a solid entry point - just maybe don't start with the Booktrack Edition.
Skip this if you need focused listening - it's not your background-while-cooking audiobook. The POV shifts, the complex narrative, the (ugh) music that demands attention whether you want to give it or not - you need to actually pay attention. And if you're sensitive to violence, heads up. The torture descriptions are detailed. This is not how hospitals work, trust me, but it's effective at being disturbing.
Clocking Out
I yelled at my dashboard during this one, but not about medical inaccuracies for once. I yelled at the music. I yelled at Corey being smug. I yelled at that cliffhanger-style ending that had me sitting in my dark garage like a weirdo.
Scott Brick's narration is legitimately excellent. Clear audio, great character work, perfect delivery of DeMille's particular brand of thriller humor. But the Booktrack Edition is a gamble. Some people apparently find the music "immersive." I found it like someone playing hold music during my favorite podcast.
My recommendation: if you can find the regular edition, get that. If this is your only option, give it a few hours to see if you're a soundtrack person. You'll know pretty quickly which camp you're in.
Carlos asked why I looked so annoyed when I finally came inside. I blamed the traffic. But we both knew.
