The China Riddle ~ Virtual Voice Narration Audiobook Review

THE CHINA RIDDLE: A CIA THRILLER

The Fastball Series, Book 9

By Philip Beck

Narrated by Virtual-Voice Narration

Political Thriller / Conspiracy / Suspense

Audiobook Length: 5 hours, 49 minutes

Print Length: 222 pages

Release Date: December 1, 2024

ABOUT THE BOOK: The China Riddle is an entertaining, fast-paced CIA thriller—set in Malibu, California, Washington, D.C., and Dallas, Texas—at the intersection of spy balloons, California fires, and an unresolved presidential assassination twenty years ago. National Airlines executive Lonny Jones and former CIA operative James Gill risk everything to unravel the mystery as the conspirators close in to silence them.

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HALL WAYS AUDIOBOOK REVIEW.  THE CHINA RIDDLE is a fabulous, fast-paced thriller -- and talk about timely! I really enjoyed the incorporation of current events and familiar things woven into an only too plausible conspiracy plot. Author Philip Beck includes spy balloons, wildfires, and even the war in Gaza but only lightly disguises well-known entities (Gophers instead of Buc'ee's; SNN instead of CNN, for example) to give the story an extra dusting of reality.  

I'd had THE CHINA RIDDLE on my TBR since I saw it on pre-order, and then I found that the audiobook version was included in my Audible membership. So, I read this book with my ears, and it was my first experience with a virtual narrator -- and it was surprisingly good, especially when you just want to hear a story read out loud. Also good if you're reading in print but don't want to pause reading while you do those pesky other things like work, chores, or running errands. Only a few speech patterns caught my ear. For example, an inconsistent pronunciation of the main character, Gill, made me think for a bit that there was also a character called Jill. 

Speaking of characters, THE CHINA RIDDLE has a huge cast of characters, and I felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. I may have been less frazzled had I read prior installments of the series (this is the ninth in the Fastball books) to know the key players from the get-go. Further confusing me, there is an inconsistency to what characters are called, hopping from first names to last names. But particularly, there are many politicians named, their roles in government described, and then they aren't important to the overall story. In the same vein, there were minute details of everyday actions all readers are familiar with that seemed to bog down the story instead of enriching the descriptions.  

These minor complaints are all issues easily rectified with a little more content editing, but honestly, the depth of the characterization of the important characters more than made up for the noise of the extras. Beck is outstanding at fleshing out the people he wants us to know, and in THE CHINA RIDDLE, he tugs readers to love or loathe accordingly.

I fully intend to explore more of this series and perhaps will go back to the beginning to see how the major character arcs began and to learn more of the relationships. And though the AI narration was fine for this time, I will get a print copy next round so I can better immerse myself in the story.