Frightful Friday is a weekly meme in which I feature a particularly scary or chilling book that I’ve read that week. Feel free to grab the button & join in!
This week’s featured book, in this case an audio book, is The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry:
- Publisher:Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged edition (March 15, 2011)
- ISBN-10: 144178912X
- Source: Publisher
In the second book in the Joe Ledger series, ex-Baltimore cop Joe Ledger and his squad with the DMS (Department of Military Science) team are once again facing a fight against a danger beyond the scope of normal police/military work.
The Jakoby twins are unique creatures, purely albino, nearly identical twins despite being of the opposite sex. They are evil to the bone, with a history of creating genetically-altered animals and physically-enhanced mercenaries and the like to sell to the highest bidder. Their influence, in a sense, is their father Cyrus. Unbeknownst to them, he has his own hidden motivation: to continue the ethnic-cleansing plan initiated during Hitler’s rule. Never could they have imagined how far their father’s evil plans go. It is up to Ledger & the Echo team to put an end to this truly evil family, to stop the extinction clock ticking away…
One of the truly unique things about Maberry’s Ledger series isn’t just the storyline, but the fact that he creates a main character with a heart, real feelings, believable responses to the unbelievable things he is forced to deal with on a regular basis. Joe Ledger is a bad-ass. He’s dedicated to the DMS and to his team. That said, buried beneath all the bullet-proof vests, he’s a man reeling from losses in his life, both in the past and more recent. A truly genuine character, Joe Ledger is a character that fans from various genres will root for.
The audio production is phenomenal. I’ve said it before, I’ll continue to say it: Ray Porter hits it out of the park in his narrating role. I read this series before listening to the audios, and this is the only time that I’ve listened to a narrator and think “Yes! This man is the only man that could be the voice of Joe Ledger.” He captures the emotion, the grittiness in Ledger’s personality, in a way that others can not.
Bottom line: Looking for an fast-paced, intense, unique series? Maberry’s Joe Ledger series is the one for you. Highly recommended.
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