Liberty (Jake Grafton Series) [Abridged, Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Stephen Coonts (Author), Guerin Barry (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2010 | Series: Jake Grafton Series (Book 10)

On a quiet park bench in Manhattan - just miles from the ruins of the World Trade Center - a spymaster delivers a chilling secret message to Jake Grafton: A rogue Russian general has sold four nuclear warheads to a radical Islamic terrorist group, the Sword of Islam. The group intends to detonate them in America in the ultimate terror strike, the apocalypse that will trigger a holy war between Western civilization and the Muslim world. After passing the message on to his peers, Grafton is charged by the president with assembling a secret team to find the warheads before America's population centers are consumed by a nuclear holocaust. As he hunts for terrorists, Grafton soon finds himself up to his neck in power politics, techno-billionaires, money-grubbing traitors, anarchists, and spies. He also discovers that the terrorists don't all come from the Middle East. They come from places close to home. They masquerade as patriots. Some may even have the president's ear. With the survival of Western civilization at stake, Grafton pulls out all the stops. Calling on the assistance of the indomitable Toad Tarkington, and CIA burglar Tommy Carmellini, he raids the prisons to assemble his team while the clock ticks toward Armageddon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coonts's latest gripping espionage thriller (after America, Hong Kong and Cuba) continues the adventures of Adm. Jack Grafton as he pursues major malefactors. This time, a rogue Russian general has sold nuclear warheads to a Mideastern anti-American terrorist best known for "hacking some tourists to death with a machete" in Egypt. Grafton must identify and locate the terrorist and his cronies before he detonates the weapons in the U.S. The action moves from central Russia and Suez to the American east coast. Readers familiar with the series know that while Grafton's methods trample on the law, the FBI and, especially, the CIA, he will be supported by persons at the highest level of government. Coonts's naval background and his legal education bring considerable authority to the story, and the narrative is loaded with detailed information about terrorist networks, modern weaponry and international intrigue. The plot is so intricate and involves so many characters that readers might lose track of who's who, though Coonts delineates the major players skillfully. The best character is a computer hacker whom Grafton gets released from prison so that she can invade the databases of law enforcement agencies in Washington. The action is slam-bang, and shifts in point of view accelerate the tension. The climax, played out in the recently renovated interior of the Statue of Liberty, is made for the movies. By the novel's end, Grafton is so detested by law enforcement that the only thing for him to do is retire. Readers will hope it's only temporary.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In Coonts' eleventh novel, the hero is Rear Admiral Jake Grafton, and his assignment--big surprise!--is to stop the unthinkable before it's too late. Written after the September 11 attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, the plot involves a terrorist network that possesses nuclear weapons that may be used against the U.S. Grafton, who works for the FBI/CIA Joint Antiterrorism Task Force, discovers that a Russian general who "doesn't hate America, but loves money" has sold four missile warheads to a group called the Sword of Islam for $2 million. The plot continues through a series of mostly violent encounters in such varied places as Cairo, Florida, and New York City, and on a mysterious freighter, Olympic Voyager. The book's title suggests its conclusion: two men spotted on the balcony of the Statue of Liberty's torch. By the time readers get to that point, they will have enjoyed an exciting romp. Librarians beware. This latest Coonts yarn undoubtedly will make the best-seller lists. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Value Priced; Abridged edition (March 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 144180837X
• ISBN-13: 978-1441808370
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Coonts is the author of 14 New York Times bestsellers, the first of which was the classic flying tale, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER.
Born in 1946, Stephen Paul Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a coal-mining town of 6,000 population on the western slope of the Appalachian mountains. He majored in political science at West Virginia University, graduating in 1968 with an A.B. degree. Upon graduation he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida.
He received his Navy wings in August, 1969. After completion of fleet replacement training in the A-6 Intruder aircraft, Mr. Coonts reported to Attack Squadron 196 at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. He made two combat cruises aboard USS Enterprise during the final years of the Vietnam War as a member of this squadron. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz. He left active duty in 1977 and moved to Colorado. After short stints as a taxi driver and police officer, he entered the University of Colorado School of Law in the fall of 1977.
Mr. Coonts received his law degree in December, 1979, and moved to West Virginia to practice. He returned to Colorado in 1981 as a staff attorney specializing in oil and gas law for a large independent oil company.
His first novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, published in September 1986 by the Naval Institute Press, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover. A motion picture based on this novel, with the same title, was released nationwide in January 1991.
The success of his first novel allowed Mr. Coonts to devote himself full time to writing; he has been at it ever since. He and his wife, Deborah, enjoy flying and try to do as much of it as possible.
Mr. Coonts' books have been widely translated and republished in the British Commonwealth, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, China, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Latvia, and Israel.
Mr. Coonts was a trustee of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1990-1998. He was inducted into the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1992. The U.S. Naval Institute honored him with its Author of the Year Award for the year 1986 for his novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER. Mr. Coonts and his wife, Deborah, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read!!!!!!!, January 1, 2004

By 

John R. Linnell (New Gloucester, ME United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Liberty: A Jake Grafton Novel (Hardcover)

The scariest thing about this book is that it could be happening.Middle Eastern terrorists, The Sword of Islam, have located a corrupt Russian general who is willing to sell nuclear warheads which he is in charge of guarding. Four are delivered which sets in motion a riveting story of their delivery to the United States and the forces which are hunting them down in order to prevent the ultimate catastrophy.

Jake Grafton, a central figure in many of Coonts's book is put in charge of a secret antiterrorism task force by the President
and given powers to use which may be constitutionaly suspect, but necessary nonetheless. When his powers are described to him, Grafton tells the President that "If the press gets this, you'll be impeached and I'll go to prison." The President's response is that "The president has the inherant power to defend the nation. I'm using that power here and now." That pretty much sets the tone for what is to follow.

An interesting melange of characters flesh out the story and set up a tense and gripping situation in New York harbor involving Fleet Week, an armed atomic device on the torch platform of the Statue of Liberty and a desperate plan to avoid disaster. When informed of how Grafton plans to subdue the terrorists, the FBI wryly comments, "You don't have a plan." Maybe not, but it makes for page turning reading.

This tale is as current as tomorrows headlines and as scary as it gets. Let's hope that it never comes to that and remains fiction.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jake Grafton retires - and does it in style!, August 8, 2004

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Liberty: A Jake Grafton Novel (Jake Grafton Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was written in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy, and is very much influenced by that event. The story is somewhat reminiscent of Tom Clancy's "The Sum of all Fears": terrorists are smuggling nuclear weapons into the USA in an attempt to destroy western society.

I liked this book a lot. It's true that the book is colored by Sept. 11 and by the desire to have a story with real heroes doing heroic things and to paint the Islamic terrorists in as negative a way as possible. But despite this Stephen Coonts created a story that is quite thought-provoking, very scary, and featuring a fair number of "good guys" who are not as lily white as they first appear to be.

Another interesting aspect of the story is the picture that is painted of the political infighting between the politicians and the various organizations such as the CIA and the FBI and the military. Everyone should be working toward the goal of combating the terrorists, but in reality many people are working on their own private agendas.

The story is very complicated with a large number of characters and with several subplots. Unless you have a very good memory I'd recommend that you create a written roster of characters as you read the book, noting vital facts for each person and noting the pages they appear on. Then, when you realize that you're not sure if a character has already been presented or not, it's easy to look in your roster and see.

My roster of characters for Liberty ended up covering four pages with some 45 names on it! It was very satisfying being able to cross off the names of most of the bad guys as they met with violent ends. Of course, some of the good guys also lost their lives. In all, 18 entries in my roster ended with "killed on page xxx"!

In summary, a very exciting book with interesting subplots, unexpected twists in the story and good characters. My only criticism is that the lack of panic in the general population does not seem realistic - my guess is that if it became known that nuclear weapons were being smuggled into American cities that it would result in massive fleeing from the cities to the countryside.

This is the 10th and (presumably) final book in the "Jake Grafton series", with Jake announcing his retirement at the end of the book. Stephen Coonts has started a new series of novels starring Tommy Carmellini, another indication that it's unlikely that we'll see any more "Jake Grafton books".

So far I've read six of these 10 Jake Grafton books, have written reviews for all of the books I've read, and intend to read the remaining books if/when I get a hold of them. In other words, I recommend the series quite strongly.

Rennie Petersen

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liberty - Another Coonts Masterpiece, February 9, 2003

By 

Kurtis S Staples (Peoria, az) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Liberty: A Jake Grafton Novel (Hardcover)

Coonts has done it again. Jake Grafton is back, this time as Rear Admiral Grafton working in Anti-terrorism. Coonts, as always, never fails to keep you enthralled in action as he gracefully switches back and forth between the multiple story-line threads. This book is thrilling and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Just as before, Grafton seems to find a way to get out of a few pretty sticky situations. An awesome book and a great addition to the Jake Grafton Novel Series. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Way to Go Coonts, keep 'em coming please!