The Ascent

By: Adam Plantinga

Narrated by: Charles Halford, Christine Lakin

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

When a high security prison fails, a down-on-his luck cop and the governor’s daughter are going to have to team up if they’re going to escape in this "jaw-dropping, authentic, and absolutely gripping" (Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author) debut thriller from Adam Plantinga, whose first nonfiction book Lee Child praised as “truly excellent.”

Kurt Argento, an ex-Detroit street cop who can’t let injustice go—and who has the fighting skills to back up his idealism.

If he sees a young girl being dragged into an alley, he's going to rescue her and cause some damage.

When he does just that in a small corrupt Missouri town, he’s brutally beaten and thrown into a maximum-security prison.

Julie Wakefield, a grad student who happens to be the governor's daughter, is about to take a tour of the prison. But when a malfunction in the security system releases a horde of prisoners, a fierce struggle for survival ensues.

Argento must help a small band of staff and civilians, including Julie and her two state trooper handlers, make their way from the bottom floor to the roof to safety.

All that stands in their way are six floors of the most dangerous convicts in Missouri.

©2024 Adam Plantinga (P)2024 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

“The Ascent is jaw-dropping, authentic, and absolutely gripping.”—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of I Will Find You

“Adam Plantinga’s debut thriller, THE ASCENT, is a nail-biting ride out of Hell itself. It’s Dante’s Inferno—but with gangs, corruption, bone-breaking brawls, and a kick-ass, determined police officer struggling through it all to save another. It reads with raw authenticity and brutal honesty. Don’t miss this debut of a new crime-thriller star!”—James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kingdom of Bones

"Damn! I had to hold onto this one for dear life. THE ASCENT is a ferociously propulsive thriller. Plantinga creates a haunted house of horrors that’s utterly convincing, while at the same time keeping the focus on complex, layered, and engaging characters. An outstanding debut crime novel."—Lou Berney, Edgar award-winning author of November Road

Really hoping this book becomes a series!

I am an Audible power listener approaching 2000 titles and I have to say this listen most definitely lands in the top 1%. If you are a Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, or Orphan X (etc) fan you will love this book. I was so impressed I wanted more and was disappointed to find out that there is nothing. Not another novel anyway. Not even from the male narrator. He did a fantastic job and has a fantastic voice. I highly recommend this book. It quickly drew me in and was so engaged that I finished in 2 stints and that's because I had to sleep. I don't normally take the time to leave a review past the star rating but I want to make sure others have the opportunity to enjoy this listen.

Wow

This book was amazing, Great story and great characters. Can't wait for the next book.

Gripping and fast paced.

Amazing first book and the author’s experience as a LEO is obvious. I’m looking forward to more books by Plantinga.

Jack Reacher like

Fast action. A lot of violence. Very accurate depiction of a prison in the inmates behavior.

Twists and turns!

Overall very good, I really enjoyed the flawed hero. There’s definitely a lot of “look how badass street cops are” moments on a superficial first impression, but I liked the balancing of the main character’s internal dialogue with his wife as his better angel. It gives depth and humanity to complex situations encountered by someone naturally hardened by a career in law enforcement without the usual hard charging detective tropes. The author clearly worked in law enforcement & I appreciated the accuracy in not just actions but the emotional response to them.
I had no idea where the plot would take me and I loved that.

Gripping

Full of action, which usually isn’t my genre. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened and finished it in one day!

CRANK UP THE SPEED

Very slow and plodding at times, especially throughout the first third of the audiobook. Overall, though, the story was good, and the two narrators did a nice job keeping listeners entertained. Unclear whether there was a malfunction in the speed of the audiobook because it was clear but exceedingly slow, as if the narrators were required to stretch out the length of the story as much as possible; recommend setting the speed at a minimum of 1.3.

Rated R for Violence

I think that I am too much of a woman to handle how obscenely violent the world can be. I’m very grateful for the police and the prison officers. This book reminded me Oct 7th. Certain violence is beyond me.

Non stop action

Great Hero! Had to suspend some disbelief, but that was easy to do. Hopefully this is the beginning of a series.

Non stop action

well written. Main characters you can relate to. Straight forward plot. I really enjoyed this one.