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    The Switch
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    The Switch
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    The Switch
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Switch

    Written by Joseph Finder

    Narrated by Steven Kearney

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A simple mix up throws one innocent man into the crosshairs of sinister government secrets and ruthless political ambitions in New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder's timely, electrifying new thriller.

    Michael Tanner is on his way home from a business trip when he accidentally picks up the wrong MacBook in an airport security line. He doesn't notice the mix-up until he arrives home in Boston, but by then it's too late. Tanner's curiosity gets the better of him when he discovers that the owner is a US senator and that the laptop contains top secret files.    
     
    When Senator Susan Robbins realizes she's come back with the wrong laptop, she calls her young chief of staff, Will Abbott, in a panic. Both know that the senator broke the law by uploading classified documents onto her personal computer. If those documents wind up in the wrong hands, it could be Snowden 2.0—and her career in politics will be over. She needs to recover the MacBook before it's too late.
     
    When Will fails to gain Tanner's cooperation, he is forced to take measures to retrieve the laptop before a bigger security breach is revealed.  He turns to an unscrupulous "fixer" for help.  In the meantime, the security agency whose files the senator has appropriated has its own methods, darker still—and suddenly Tanner finds himself a hunted man, on the run, terrified for the safety of his family, in desperate need of a plan, and able to trust no one.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJun 13, 2017
    ISBN9781524723644
    Unavailable
    The Switch
    Author

    Joseph Finder

    Joseph Finder is the author of several New York Times bestselling thrillers, including Buried Secrets, High Crimes, Paranoia and the first Nick Heller novel, Vanished. Killer Instinct won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Thriller, and Company Man won the Barry and Gumshoe Awards for Best Thriller. High Crimes was the basis of the Morgan Freeman/Ashley Judd movie, and Paranoia was the basis for 2013 film with Liam Hemsworth, Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. Born in Chicago, Finder studied Russian at Yale and Harvard. He was recruited by the CIA, but decided he preferred writing fiction. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association for Former Intelligence Officers, he lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

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    Reviews for The Switch

    3.5/5

    67 ratings13 reviews

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    • 2/5
      When he gets home from a business trip, Michael Tanner, owner of a specialist coffee-roasting business in Boston, discovers that the laptop he picked up after going through airport security is not his own. Eager to find out who has his machine, his attempts to get into the laptop he now has are made ludicrously easy when he discovers a pink post-it, complete with the security password stuck to the bottom of the machine! When he gains access he discovers that it belongs to Senator Susan Robbins, and that it contains top secret, highly confidential files. Believing that the very fact that he has read some of the content of the files is sufficient to put himself at risk, he then makes a decision which will lead him into an increasingly complex web of danger and deception. Meanwhile, in Washington Senator Robbins is in a state of panic because she knows that having downloaded this sensitive material onto her a personal laptop is a breach of security rules and that her career will be finished if this is discovered. She therefore instructs her trusted top aide, Will Abbot, to retrieve it – by any means necessary. The subsequent attempts, by legitimate and illegitimate means, to either relinquish or retrieve the laptop result in Tanner going on the run, aware that the contents of the files he has seen are so politically sensitive that his life is now in danger. This story, which involves deception, double-dealing, contract-killers, conspiracy theories – and even car-chases! – is told in short, alternating chapters which follow the fast-developing action from Tanner’s and Senator Robbins’ perspectives. However, there were times when I found that, rather than increasing any feeling of tension and menace, the switches were sometimes so quick that they in fact had the opposite effect, often interrupting the flow of the narrative. Although this is an easy and quite entertaining read, I have to admit that, as a result of some of the ludicrous decisions taken by the main characters, leading to a simple mix-up becoming complicated beyond belief, the plotting felt equally ludicrous and a considerable degree of suspension of disbelief was required! At one point, towards the end of the story, one of the National Security agents who interviewed Tanner remarks that he is “a smart guy who made a couple of bad decisions” – at which point I felt like shouting out-loud “What do you mean, a COUPLE??!!” Also, according to my husband, the words “for goodness sake!!” were frequently- heard exclamations as I shook my head in disbelief at yet another ill-thought-out action from one or other of the main characters! Having shared all these negative observations, I do have to admit that I felt I had to read to the end in order to find out how everything was resolved – and I did feel like cheering Michael Tanner on when he found himself up against the forces of government! Another plus was that I discovered a lot about coffee beans and roasting! However, the story remained something of a disappointment because, with its very contemporary themes (Edward Snowden/WikiLeaks/whistle-blowers, erosion of civil liberties following 9/11, government surveillance of personal communications etc.) it could have been so much more interesting and engaging had the plot been less fanciful. However, these very themes, should any reading group choose to read this book, would make for some very lively discussions.
    • 4/5
      Mike Tanner is not thriving, personally or professionally. His wife, Sarah, has moved out and may soon file for divorce. Mike's niche coffee business, "Tanner Roast," is losing major accounts to a cutthroat competitor. As if these problems were not enough to give him indigestion, Mike grabs the wrong laptop while moving through airport security. "The Switch," by Joseph Finder, is a thriller about an Everyman caught up in a situation that could cost him his life.

      When reading books of this type, its helps to suspend one's disbelief. What are the odds that a powerful legislator would be stupid enough to keep highly classified information on her personal laptop and leave a Post-It note containing her password stuck to the computer? We're talking career suicide here. The author, of course, is channeling a former Democratic nominee for president who landed in hot water for using a private email server to conduct official business. Will Abbott, Robbins' chief of staff, is blindly loyal to his boss and hopes to occupy the White House if and when Robbins is elected president. In his desperation to retrieve the laptop, Abbott sets in motion illegal and dangerous schemes to achieve his goal.

      Joseph Finder avoids some of the more common pitfalls that frequently trip up action-adventure writers. The author imbues his hero, Mike, with street smarts, but does not insult us by transforming him into a superhero. Clearly in over his head, Mike scrambles to stay ahead of his pursuers. He does not have an arsenal of weapons or an army of bodyguards to protect him, so he stays alive by using his powers of reasoning, negotiation, and when all else fails, hiding. Abbott, a new dad who adores his wife and child, is no Neanderthal. He is an intelligent individual who, in an effort to correct a disastrous mistake, makes a bad situation worse. In this entertaining and briskly-paced novel, Joseph Finder tackles such themes as the intrusive specter of electronic surveillance on private citizens. "The Switch" should appeal to fans of "ripped-from-the headlines" political thrillers.
    • 3/5
      Entertaining but far-fetched - seriously, who would keep a laptop that is picked up accidentally in an airport security line rather than just returning it to its rightful owner, especially when one has to endure being chased by the NSA, hitmen, the Russians, and God knows who else? Good entertainment, however. And the ending was funny.
    • 5/5
      This story begins as a mistake anybody could make at an airport security line. When Michael Tanner opens up what he thinks is his MacBook at home and discovers it isn't his, he also discovers that the owner uses their name to login and has left their password conveniently on the bottom of the computer on a post-it note. He uses the password to log in to the laptop and that is when he discovers it contains sensitive material, and becomes aware of who it belongs to.The Senator to whom the MacBook belongs rings her chief of staff in a panic, but does not admit she has left the password so conveniently on the laptop. However chief of staff, Will Abbott, agrees to take the laptop she has brought back and to find out who it belongs to. Will manages to find someone to break into Michael's laptop and to work out how to contact him.However when Will rings Michael Tanner he doesn't say he is ringing on behalf of the senator and Michael becomes suspicious and says he doesn't have the laptop.That triggers off a chain of reactions with at least two groups of people trying to get hold of the senator's laptop. The story raises some moral questions too. What should Michael have done when he first discovered who owned the laptop he brought home by mistake?The consequences are dire for both Michael Tanner and all those involved.An engrossing read.
    • 4/5
      This is a scary story about what can happen when bad things happen to good people. Michael Tanner inadvertently walks away from an airport security checkpoint with someone else's laptop computer, leaving his own behind. No really big deal until it is revealed that the laptop belongs to a senior US Senator who has illegally downloaded ultra secret government security information to it. The Senator faces political ruin if this becomes public. Tanner's nightmare begins when the Senator tries to get her computer back. It's a fast-paced tense chase, with Tanner in real jeopardy -- he's desperate to get things back to normal. The book is an entertaining read, that leaves the reader with the message to make sure they get their own computer back at airport security!Recommended.
    • 3/5
      Joseph Finder, author of "The Switch" (TS) has written more than a dozen novels over a 35 year career. Titles include "The Zero Hour", High Crimes", "Killer Instinct". I read one several years ago, liked it very much, read the next novel, didn't care for it, and passed on his subsequent books until I read a one sentence description of TS. It grabbed me, I ordered it right away and put it on top of my nightstand stack (that's somewhat metaphorical since I read a Kindle version, but I did bump a lot of other books I had intended to read first).Tanner - it's his last name but everyone calls him Tanner - is trying to rush through airport security to catch his soon-to-depart cross country flight. As he is about to gather up all his stuff after passing through the X-ray machine there is a small distraction and he must step aside briefly. It costs him valuable seconds and now he must really rush. He grabs his shoes and belt, and the basket with all his pocket stuff, and finally his laptop. Tanner races to the gate and is the last one to board. Only when he is airborne does he realize he has someone else's computer. Ditto for the US Senator who passed through the line at the same time and is also headed back East, but on a different flight. And that's the genius of the hook - and it's a great hook.....we've all been there. We've raced through security, we've scooped up our stuff strewn all over the place, we pray we haven't lost something, we get away as fast we can. A totally plausible beginning and a story that can now unfold in so many intriguing ways.TS soon becomes a bit of a cat and mouse tale - no pun there. But it's not between Tanner and the Senator. Rather the other duelist becomes the Senator's Chief of Staff, Will Abbot. The plot unfolds nicely, at least at the beginning. Each now has the other guy's computer. But no identification, no passwords. Now what? We get a lot of background on each character. Neither is exactly lovable, there are no white knights here. Don't be thinking Robert Redford in "Three Days of the Condor". Back to TS.... We quickly come to the first fork in the road and here's where I had my first major problem with the book. Once Tanner realizes he has the laptop version of a nuclear bomb, why not turn it over to the police or the FBI or ??? Instead, Tanner is given a rather weak rationale by a friend to keep it. Red light and buzzer goes off for me; doesn't feel right, and suddenly the book has morphed into an action movie. And never escapes, all the way to the end. If you're going to enjoy this book from this point on you will need to suspend common sense, logic, and faith in some government institutions. I must add that the climax is fairly predictable, and in the end everything turns up aces for one of the characters, and I mean everything. But it's not over; there's an epilogue which I feel like I've seen in a few flicks. It's best skipped but who skips epilogues?Well, this wasn't a good book for me, I'll likely not read another Finder, at least not right away. But it made me think who it is that might really enjoy TS and it led me to create this little test you might enjoy. Disclaimers: No guarantees, don't take it too seriously. I assume no correlation with reader reviews on this site. This one minute survey might be a predictor of how you would rate TS. Start with a 5 star rating. Then subtract a half star for every question below which you you answer "false":1) I like action movies very much2) I read no more than 5-6 books a year on average3) Most of my reading is done when I'm on a kick-back vacation, or flying somewhere4) I have very little faith and trust in government intelligence agencies.5) Oswald did not act alone6) I am not a mom who has/had a colicky baby (if this one is false, subtract two full stars)
    • 3/5
      Entertaining, but wow, NSA, hiitmen and all that adventure over a laptop. High suspense for a long time. Needs to be shorter. And what Senator uses a Mac?
    • 3/5
      Who would think a guy minding his own business, would end up being hunted by the NSA, Russians and hitmen? And right to the end of the story, he’s being chased because of a laptop he ended up with accidently. Although it seemed a little far-fetched, it was a great way to escape my reality.
    • 4/5
      From the beginning to when the last page is turned you are waiting for the last shoe to drop. The author kept me on the edge of my seat, and you will be wondering to the end of this book whom will end up surviving, if any.Tanner innocently takes the wrong computer at the LAX airport, and because of this his life is about to change forever. Two families, one with a young baby and the other still waiting to have children, parallel lives, but oh so different. Now to what length will someone or many go to get this computer back?With what has happened in our country I had little doubt that this could really be a true story, names and dates changed. Yes a truly believable tale and once you start you won’t be able to put this one down, I couldn’t it kept me looking for answers.I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Penguin Group, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 4/5
      Senator Susan Robbins arrives in Washington, D.C. unknowingly carrying Michael Tanner’s laptop. When she realizes she has the wrong MacBook, she tasks Will Abbott, her chief of staff, with retrieving her personal computer. Meanwhile, Michael Tanner returns home to Boston after a business trip, only to discover that, in his haste to get through the airport security line, he’s accidently picked up a laptop belonging to Senator Susan Robbins. Shortly after his discovery, Michael finds himself in desperate straits as Abbott hires an unconscionable “fixer” to retrieve the laptop and, at the same time, government agents set their sights on retrieving the top secret files illegally uploaded to the senator’s computer. Peopled with believable characters, a straight-from-the-headlines premise, and page-turning action that continually ramps up the suspense, readers will find it difficult to set this book aside. Although Michael’s initial decision seems inexplicable and out of character, many readers will find the what-happens-next narrative to be both clever and compelling.Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      .Trying to open your laptop after a trip and discovering that you accidently picked up the wrong one while going through the airport security check would be a big problem. You would probably check with the airport and the airline to see if the person who had your laptop had reported it and then made arrangements to exchange them.When that happened to Michael Tanner after he flew from Los Angeles to Boston, his first thought was to find out what happened to his computer. Luckily, or stupidly and the case may have been, the owner of the one he had in his possession stuck a Post-it with the password to the bottom of the case. Tanner was able to open it and saw it belonged to an S. Robbins, a US Senator and it had some top-secret files on it.Tanner owned a high quality coffee processing and distribution company. His wife had just left him he was having problems selling the formerly successful product, and he was afraid the company would be forced to close.Meanwhile, the Senator, Susan Robbins, a veteran and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, discovered the switch when she returned to DC. In a panic, she called her chief-of-staff, Will Abbott, and asked him to retrieve it. She and Abbott realized that they would be in a lot of trouble if anyone found out top secret information about the US intelligence services was on the computer. It should never have been loaded but she wanted to study it while she was away and asked him to do it. Planning to run for President sometime in the future, she realized she couldn’t involve the police or any other agency to find it.Abbott was able to discover Michael Tanner’s name and location and proceeded to call him to make the switch. But Tanner knew that the owner was a female Senator. The caller ID was not from the Senate and the person on the phone was male; he hung up on him. In addition, his computer was password locked. How had they found him?Since someone else knew he had it (because of the phone call from Abbott), Tanner spoke to a couple of trusted people, including a newspaper reporter about his dilemma. The reporter, seeing a Pulitzer Prize in his future. gave advice that made Tanner become almost paranoid about what he should and do: As long as he had the computer, they wouldn’t kill him.Abbott, on the other hand, thought that since Tanner had hung up on him, he would not be cooperative about returning it. He and his boss wondered if the switch was deliberate? What if he realized what was on it? What would he do with it? He called in some heavy hitters to retrieve it.Meanwhile, word did get out about the switch and the top secret information on the laptop. Other agencies and countries joined the hunt while Tanner didn’t know who to trust and tried to keep from being caught.There were some interesting, timely observations about our society:“[The kids] know we live our lives in public now....They tell each other everything; they put everything online....They know there’s no such thing as privacy anymore.”“In the era of fake news...no one’s gonna believe you....But we live in a post-truth era. The only thing people believe is ‘you can’t believe what you hear.’ We’ve all gotten jaundiced and cynical. The truth these days has been devalued like Weimar currency..”“The difference between God and a US senator? God doesn’t think he’s a Senator.”THE SWITCH could easily be worth more stars if I was basing it on the plot and the writing. It moved swiftly and kept my attention. While the identities of each of the major characters were clear, some of the minor ones were shallow stereotypes. The situation was a stretch but made for an interesting story. There were some minor repetitions. However, I really hated the format: Unnecessarily excessively short chapters. When the chapters alternated, which they did at times, the effect was too much choppiness. When they were continuations of the previous chapter, I resented having to turn pages to the next one.Too many authors, or publishers, today seem to think that their readers have extremely short attention spans. I find that insulting. The story has 370 pages and 82 pages. It could have been told in 300 pages. There is nothing on the book indicating it was printed on recycled paper. I can only wonder how many trees were unnecessarily destroyed for its publication.
    • 4/5
      Title: The SwitchAuthor: Joseph Finder Pages: 384Year: 2017Publisher: DuttonMy rating 4 out of 5 stars.I have never read a Joseph Finder novel. I wanted to read this particular book as the synopsis drew my interest. The only drawback in reading the book is the use of taking God’s name in vain, which should never be used at all. The author has a strong plot in the book, strong characters that kept my attention throughout the novel. However, occasionally the word would show up and it was like a distraction that didn’t add anything to the story. Frankly, it was offensive.The premise of a businessman accidentally getting the wrong laptop at the airport that belonged to a senator was great. From there, the way one character used multiple nefarious ways to regain the computer was intriguing. The businessman wanted to do the right thing before someone besides himself was hurt or killed.I wondered how far the senator’s assistant was willing to go to attain a higher government position. Plus, the constant tension of involving others in trying to get the laptop back, both with non-threatening and extremely threatening ways made me wonder if the man calling the shots was ever going to stop doing so. The possible political ramifications of what was on that senator’s laptop was the paramount and sole focus of the senator’s assistant.Readers will find out how a businessman trying to salvage his business comes out in the end when he refuses to simply allow the government official to tell him what to do or threaten him. I hope in Joseph Finder’s future books he will refrain from using God’s name that way and look for other means of expression for his characters. He really is a talented writer with a great story many might read if he were to remove the language because the story can stand on its own without using it.
    • 3/5
      Joseph Finder’s ‘The Switch’ is a high energy thriller that you really need to suspend disbelief to consume. The plot is plausible at the high level (a guy going through an airport security line picks up the wrong laptop, which happens to contain top secret information about a government program that a US senator had illegally downloaded), but so many questions about the behavior of the characters arise that it limited my enjoyment of a story that should’ve been right up my alley. I’ve found Finder’s writing to be of what I call the ‘generic thriller’ variety. Nothing special, moves the story forward, mediocre dialogue, nothing sending you to a dictionary for a definition. The plot itself proceeds at a good clip as what ought to be a pretty easy trade of laptops turns into very sinister stuff involving the NSA, FBI, high level US government officials, hit men, Russian agents, and others who want to get their hands on a laptop that should’ve been returned. I think it’s easy to get caught up in a plot like this and not stop to think after every character’s decision or act whether it really made sense. If you do that, you’ll probably think this is a fine thriller. If you do take the time to think about it, though, you should find a lot of holes in the story. It’s a fast read with a lot of action, so it’s an enjoyable, but not very believable, read.