This was a brilliant MI16 based spy thriller with plenty of twists and turns and interest throughout.
Great pacing to keep you on the edge of your toes and engaging characters.

Although I enjoyed this book and finished it I must confess to being a tiny bit disappointed. The plot was good and characters well defined, but it was mostly linear, quite simplistic in the telling and I was left with a sense that I'd heard or read all the elements of the story elsewhere (in film and book), so it didn't have a new twist to offer me. The plot revolved around an extreme right-wing terrorist group and the lengths they'd go to without really considering the consequences of their actions. Some of them were supposed to be quite intelligent so this didn't entirely ring true, but perhaps the point is that this is the nature of extremism and indoctrination.

The initial setting was in the arctic, and it was a very dramatic start. The international aspects of the plot were interesting. I liked the main character - Luke - but found his whining, selfish and unsupportive girlfriend a bit much. The references to Covid-19 and lockdowns made the book feel quite contemporary, and the unnamed prime minister was able to string several sentences together coherently so was clearly post-Boris. There were many acronyms used and these were constantly having to be explained to other characters, who would have known what they stood for anyway, so that felt contrived.

In summary, a nice, easy read that won't tax the brain too much - but sometimes that's just what you need. 3.5 stars.

One of my favourites. Frank Gardner written something amazing followed by the suspense building narration which keeps you caught throughout the story. I love how fast-paced it is and so relatable to the current worldwide scenario. Couldn't have been a better experience

Outbreak was an enjoyable, gripping and entertaining story to listen to.
Set post COVID, this is a running theme but now they face a worse virus; which has been weaponised by terrorists.

Frank Gardner has the knowledge, experience and insight to write about things that are just within the probable, and I’d read more of his Luke Carlton series. He’s built a strong character, and through him we gain an interesting glimpse into the world of espionage and terrorist organisations. I felt that the storyline had been meticulously constructed and based on a detailed knowledge of similar real-world events. Its’ a great spy thriller, with a similar scope to the best James Bond plots, but without all the sexy bits. The novel itself was fast-paced, with many twists and turns before they got to the somewhat inevitable ending (although the last line opens up a whole new possibility).

However, right from the start, I found this audiobook to be rather an uncomfortable listen. I don’t read non-fiction as a general rule, mainly because I use reading as my escape and, although I also don’t read a lot of fantasy, things about real world problems get me anxious. Whilst this novel is definitely fiction (I hope!), there were a huge amount of mentions to real-world current affairs events, including Covid-19. For me, it was just too soon - I don’t really want to be reading about the Covid pandemic whilst we’re still tackling it. I’m sure, however, that some people will love this book for the same reason that I disliked it. Many readers will be looking for a novel that acknowledges the events of the last year, and this may well be the one for them.

As a reader, I was certainly kept on my toes with the many changes of setting and scenario. I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, which was set on an isolated outpost in Svalbard, but then we were swiftly back in London. We visited Russia at one point, with some horrific scenes of torture, and then it was back to Braintree in Essex. This novel certainly has a bond-esque backdrop!

As an audiobook, I found this novel to be well-read, and that on the whole, the narrator helped to bring the characters to life. The pacing and volume added to the novel’s tension and action. My only pet hate was that as soon as the author mentioned that one character spoke with slightly-noticeable hint of a northern accent, the narrator suddenly went full-on Coronation Street - being a northerner myself, I found that a little laughable.

Overall, if you’re looking for an action-packed, fast-paced spy thriller, then I would recommend this book. However, at this point, I found that my anxiety was triggered by all the mentions of real-world events, and so for me personally, in 2021, it’s not the read that I was hoping for.

This was a really entertaining listen, sometimes the female voices were a bit off but that is okay in the grand scheme of things. You can really tell that it is very well researched. Really good story.

My only critiscm is that what happened at the lake with the model craft and the car. I was expecting something to happen but it just ended with a chilling line.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and penguin audio but the review is entirely my own

I was quite excited when I read the the description for an audio book written by Frank Gardner and narrated by Jonathan Keeble and was very happy to be approved to listen to it.

"Deep within the Arctic Circle, three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station trudge through a blizzard in search of shelter. They see a cabin ahead. It appears abandoned. No lights. No snowmobile outside. But as they push open the door, the smell hits them. Rank and foetid: there's something bad inside...."

I believe this is the third book with the character Luke Carlton, but it doesn't matter if you haven't read the others as this book can easily be read and picked up without the need to read the other two prior to this so works extremely well as a standalone,

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, with many references to current or recent world pandemic and other outbreaks etc. and felt it was very well researched. Great audio book.

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK Audio, Netgalley and Transworld Digital for the opportunity to review this audio book.

My thanks to Penguin Random House U.K. Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook of ‘Outbreak’ by Frank Gardner in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook edition is narrated by Jonathan Keeble with a running time of 11 hours, 38 minutes at 1x speed.

Before reading I wasn’t aware that this is the third in Gardner’s thrillers featuring MI6 operative Luke Carlton. However, Gardner provided enough background on Carlton so I didn’t feel at all lost.

The novel is set in the spring of 2022 and opens with three scientists from the UK's Arctic Research Station caught in a blizzard. Seeking shelter they come across a seemingly abandoned cabin, though inside they find a dying man with horrific symptoms. Given the novel’s title it isn’t a spoiler to disclose that pretty quickly an outbreak of a very nasty disease begins to spread, which leads to a full-scale operation to both contain it and discover its origins.

British Intelligence becomes involved and Luke is despatched to Lithuania where intercepted messages suggest answers to the contagion may lie. A twisty trail is uncovered. No further details to avoid spoilers.

With respect to the audiobook edition, its narrator, Jonathan Keeble, is one of the best known British voice actors with multiple awards and an impressive number of audiobook titles on his CV. His voice is mature and authoritative and I felt that his reading of ‘Outbreak’ was excellent.

Overall, I found ‘Outbreak’ a fast paced espionage thriller with the timely subject of humanity’s vulnerability to a virulent disease. It’s oddly comforting to read this a thriller about an even worse disease threatening humanity than our current pandemic.

It held my attention throughout and I plan to read the two earlier Luke Carlton books as well as any future ones.

Unfortunately I was unable to finish this audiobook. I found the narration very bland & uninteresting which was disappointing as I had high hopes for it.

I am hopeful that I will try again in the future, at which point I will update my review.

Thank you to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this as a pre release.

I also got the book as well as the audio version and I have done my review under the book version. In brief though this was a great solid spooky thriller and well paced. The narrator has done an excellent job.
I previously gave this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I saw that this was written by Frank Gardner, who I have always admired then I saw it narrated by Johnathan Keeble, well, I was sold.

I really enjoyed this spook story, it had me hooked and I found myself listening to it in the early hours as I needed to know what was happening to Luke!
Great research by the author which made it sound all very realistic.
Highly recommended.

Outbreak by Frank Gardner

I was attracted to this by the premise and the setting in the Arctic and the opening was indeed enticing! But after that my interest was lost, mostly because not a lot happens, there are some very dim characters making unbelievable decisions and because bubonic plague seemed a strange choice of disease to pick, considering that it still exists today and can be treated with antibiotics. It's set after the Covid Pandemic so the references to that were interesting. But all in all rather disappointing. The audiobook narration was, however, very good.

Amazing to read that Frank Gardner started writing Outbreak before we found ourselves in the throes of a real life pandemic. Somewhat prescient readers may think. Outbreak is a further outing for M16 operative Luke Carlton though this was the first for me. Thrillers are my favourite genre and the plot is tremendous involving a deadly pathogen and the race against time to prevent it being unleashed on an unsuspecting public which is still recovering from COVID 19 upending their lives.
For me though the writing is so pedantic and repetitive. It began to amuse me that, aside from Luke, every other character’s name was written/narrated in full (first name and surname) every time. Furthermore every character, and there are so many, had to have his or her credentials explained almost every time they reappeared. I lost a lot of patience with this. The many female characters are very one dimensional. In contrast the men’s physical appearances are so well described alongside their mannerisms and clothes. Most of the women just pursed their lips endlessly.
I struggled with the narrator. His Luke Carlton voice was very Grant Mitchell (EastEnders), the Norwegians, Lithuanians and Russians very similar (think Sergei the meerkat) and the women were frankly odd. Given that there were so many women in the story I would have loved to have heard a woman read those roles.
I suspect this book will appeal to men primarily as the violence is quite graphic and there are lengthy descriptions of guns and vehicles.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the audiobook..

Under normal circumstances I could listen to Jonathan Keeble narrate the menu at my local McDonald’s and enjoy every minute so why did I not enjoy this book? Answers on a postcard please

The narrator has a really old fashioned voice. I can’t quite put my finger on why it comes across this way. I was put off a little because it sounded like it was going to be one of those typical spy novels; all James Bond and so on. However I started to really enjoy the story about the deadly virus and thought I was wrong. Then, boom! The undercover, rip-roaring adventure begins and the book loses me. It was great hearing all the up to date stuff about COVID, though

3,5 stars. I’m always drawn to a conspiracy thriller, a d even before our present situation in the midst of a pandemic, I’ve enjoyed books on plagues and viruses. Weird, I know! Outbreak is a fairly run of the mill spy/action thriller with all the required ingredients: damaged but effective main character, a cast of sympathetic/efficient female characters around him, an international plot with both a ticking timer and the potential of millions/billions dead. The one person who can save the day is Luke Carlton. But as these thriller go, I feel this one kept the tension in the storyline fairly well, it paced its action and its relationship building effectively, and it got just enough of the science for it to be sort of believable — and had the bad guy/s been slightly less stock-standard baddies it would have gone up a notch for me. A no nonsense, no effort required airport read.

Recommended for the boysy action thriller reader, and if you’re into pandemic books, perfect!

I listened to this as an audio, and though the narrator was a tad older/gruffer than I saw the main character, he still did a great job (and well done on those accents!).

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for letting me listen to the audio galley in advance of publication in exchange for an honest review!

I received this audiobook free from Penquin and Netgalley for a review. A good solid thriller well paced. The narrator has done an excellent job.

I was slightly disappointed with this one...

The blurb suggests a large proportion would be set in the Arctic Research Station...it isn’t. The blurb suggests it’s going to be a high octane thriller...it also isn’t. I was all for reading something completely different to what I got.

I didn’t mind that it was a book about a deadly virus and it was very akin to our real world situation BUT the boom references almost every single bioattack we’ve had and uses every three letter abbreviation under the sun. This made it feel like the book was trying too hard.

The plot was okay but not a lot happened after the release of Agent X. Lots of meeting and chatting but not a lot of doing until the last chapter?

Thank you to NetGalley, Frank Gardner and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book is very close to home with the Corona Virus pandemic. I liked the way it’s been written as a thriller with MI6. This is not the usual book I would read but I thoroughly enjoyed it. A lot of the facts about Corona Virus and the way viruses attack the body were correct which was refreshing. A great and unexpected thriller.

This was a whopper of a dramatic race against time to prevent a new deadly virus being unleashed by a far right extremist groups as an attempt to ethnically cleanse GB.
A convincing narrator added depth and tension to this fast paced thriller.
#EnjoyableCommute
This was a fantastic audiobook which I enjoyed on my commute to work.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review