“Speechless”, the sixth book in the Silence Jones Action Thriller series, continues to deliver on the success of its previous in the series which all include plenty of action, loads of excitement, and a high amount of intrigue while still making this one feel both unique and innovative. The story of Silence continues to be refined and molded by author Erik Carter while the audiobook’s narration by Gary Bennett is always welcomed for this series, and others. The story of Silence continues to expand as he continues to get into more and more difficult situations in the hopes of paying off his debt to the Watcher society while bringing justice to those who cannot get it themselves. If you are one who gravitates to the action thriller genre, I can say that you will have quite a bit to consume if you have not yet picked up any of the audiobooks in this series. If you have listened to any of the previous ones, I recommend you pick up this one as well, it delivers on all fronts.
As with many in the series, this one opens with a rather graphic scene of murder. Right away the author drops the listener off in this world filled with assassins and various Cuban cartels all waring against one another. We do have some new players in this game of cat and mouse along with many new characters attempting to put a stop to Silence himself. The story’s opening is even a bit comical (as much as murder can be) where multiple assassins are all vying for the same target, and none wants to be one upped by the others for the prize money. Here we get a view into the family cartels working out of Cuba and their activity which spills out into parts of the United States. We begin to see how many are involved in the Watcher program and how some of these agents need to work together to solve the main issue. We are introduced to Stiletto, The Rogue, The Blade, and The Shadow throughout the course of the story, many more then previous stories. We also see how much of an art murder can be in the hands of these people.
The author does a good job of always providing enough detail and background on Silence so that each of the audiobooks in the series could be listened to individually. However, I would recommend you listen to them in order, as you will gain some much more detail that way. I find the author weaving in detail relating to Ceci and her many words of wisdom, but here we also see Silence’s loving and caring side during these events as well. What may at first seem like a robotic killing machine because he must, really is juxtaposed to his caring and focus upon justice for those who cannot get it in the regular ways. I did long for conversations with his neighbor from earlier books, but for this story Silence was away from his past residence.
The audiobook’s narration over the six so far in the series is exceptionally done by Gary Bennett. He fills the role of Silence so well, and as the series has progressed, we have been able to hear more from Silence himself. I cannot think of just how hard it is to narrate that gravelly voice as you can feel the pain every time he speaks. I could not imagine another picking up the narration for this series because the characters are so well ingrained that changing things would upset the series too much. All of Mr. Bennett’s works are professional and audio is of the highest quality, this audiobook is no exception.
For parents and younger listeners, as with all the previous audiobooks in this series, this one contains profanity, drug use, and rather graphic violence. It is not intended to be listened to by younger audiences. I would recommend the series for more mature listeners or adults only. The story is good, but the subject matter may not be appropriate for younger ears.
In summary, this was a welcomed addition to the series and Silence continues to deliver on the action and suspense. The author keeps the characters consistent yet fluid in their actions keeping the listener on their toes. I enjoyed the wonderful narration and just how it brings you into the story with a smooth pace yet is often interrupted when Silence himself speaks. I laugh every time I hear someone say “talk” as this makes me think of our main character from this series. I recommend you give it a listen!