Targets of Deception

Jordan Sandor, Book 1

By: Jeffrey S. Stephens

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Ex-CIA agent Jordan Sandor races against time to prevent a worldwide terrorist plot in the thrilling prequel to Targets of Opportunity.

When Jordan Sandor resigned from active service with the Central Intelligence Agency, it was before September 11th, before the fall of Saddam Hussein, and before the world had so dramatically changed. He is reluctantly drawn back into action when a series of violent events leads him to suss out a new al-Qaeda conspiracy to initiate cataclysmic assaults with poison gas.

Sandor follows the deadly trail from New York to Florida to Paris and, ultimately, to the small town of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. Never sure who he can trust and who may be an enemy, Jordan relies on his experience, instincts, and skills as he risks his life to uncover plans for attacks against the United States and its allies. When Sandor discovers a rogue agent behind the plot, he realizes he is the one man who can prevent the catastrophe that could put the lives of millions of people at stake.

©2009 Jeffrey S. Stephens (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Great Spy Thriller

Jordan Sandor is an ex-spy basically. Worked for the CIA and made a lot of enemies while doing so. One of his few friends was Dan Peters who knew all about Jordan's past but liked him any. Theirs was a mutual respect and it led to Jordan agreeing to see a man Dan had come across who had a story to tell to someone who would know what the information was worth. But before they could meet up with the
guy, they met up with some folks they could have done without. Especially Dan who is fatally injured when they stop assist a downed officer.
The guy had a sister who can't keep herself out of trouble and who doesn't want out of whatever happened to him. She attaches herself to Jordan with the intent of "helping". She travels with him to Paris, Italy and points ocean-ward until Jordan gets a call from another old friend who tells him something he really didn't need to hear:
A fast-moving great listen which is the beginning of the Jordan Sandor group of tales. They don't pull any punches, sometimes you don't know if you like the hero and sometimes you know you don't.
Christopher Lane was outstanding with the delivery of the story.

Plenty of Murder, Espionage, Suspense & Thrills!!!

I can't believe this book has so few ratings. I also can't believe that no one has left a single review, especially with such high ratings. That is until now!
So, here goes. This is a really good, very complex espionage book. It is fast paced with tons of globe trotting danger.
The story begins when Jordan Sandor (ex CIA turned journalist) is contacted by another ex CIA agent turned traitor, Jimmy. He wants to trade terrorist secrets in exchange for leniency. Unfortunately he gets killed before he can tell Jordan about a plot to release deadly nerve gas in key US cities.
While in NYC for a debriefing he meets up with a woman (Christine) who claims to be Jimmy's half sister. They're able to slip away from their guards and go to find Jimmy's partner. The three set out to find the man running the terrorist and plotting destruction but when they find who he is, to Jordan's surprise, he already knows him.
Around every corner is danger as the terrorists try to eliminate every one with information that could expose their mission.
Christopher Lane is outstanding as the narrator.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!
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Above Average

This is the first book in the series and seems quite promising. I enjoy this genre and am always looking to add a new series to my listening list. I am not sure I like the hero, Jordan Sanders, he is a bit of a bully and plows his way through the novel. We will see what happens with the second novel ... Not as good at the Brad Taylor (Pike Logan) and Jack Coughlin (Kyle Swanson), Alex Berenson (John Wells) series ...

Entertaining

An meandering story of deceit & traitors. It’s entertaining. A good novel to take to the beach.

Outstanding espionage thriller!

I had never heard of author Jeffrey S. Stephens, so after Audible listener Shelley's reviews recommended of the first two novels in the Jordan Sandor series I looked up the author. He is a retired lawyer; do all lawyers strive to be novelists? The first of this 4 novel series was released in 2009 and the final one in 2016. Brilliance Audio, an Amazon company released all four in audio format during May of 2017. Targets of Deception has a great plot, near continuous action, and intense suspense. Christopher Lane is always an outstanding narrator.

This book had some good moments

I liked the story, but the performance of Mr Lane, the narrator, made it difficult to keep up. His voices were barely different for each character. I don’t know if I’m going to listen to any more of the series.