The Cutout
Kindle
$5.99
Available instantly
 Audiobook
 
Hardcover
$12.92
Paperback Bunko
$17.08

This title is not available for you

Sorry, this title is no longer available. Please try using the search feature as another version of this work may be available. If you think we've made a mistake, please contact Audible Customer Care at 1-888-283-5051.

Continue browsing
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

The Cutout Audible Audiobook – Abridged

Francine Mathews (Author), Trini Alvarado (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 108 ratings
See all formats and editions

Cutout: a third person used to conceal the contact between two people. A pawn.

They were partners - lovers in a business where betrayal is a heartbeat away. CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael lost her husband, Eric, when his plane was blown out of the sky by an elite group of terrorists known as 30 April.

Now her dead husband has surfaced among those responsible for an explosion that rocks Berlin - and the brutal kidnapping of the US Vice President. Uncertain of Eric’s motives and loyalties, the Agency plays its last, best card: Eric’s wife - the Cutout.

Is Eric a rogue agent gone bad? Or has he thrown himself under deep cover to terminate a ruthless psychopath? Caroline is drawn into a dizzying maze where one wrong turn will mean certain death...and in which the Cutout will be the first to fall.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    6 hours and 34 minutes
  2. Author
    Francine Mathews
  3. Narrator
    Trini Alvarado
  4. Audible release date
    February 21, 2001
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B00005AVWR
  8. Version
    Abridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Product details

Listening Length 6 hours and 34 minutes
Author Francine Mathews
Narrator Trini Alvarado
Audible.com Release Date February 21, 2001
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Abridged
Language English
ASIN B00005AVWR
Best Sellers Rank #466,000 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1,781 in Political Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals)
#3,545 in Espionage Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals)
#4,391 in Terrorism (Books)

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
108 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jana L.Perskie
5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Novel Of International Politics & Espionage
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2005
Verified Purchase
US Vice President Sophie Payne is on an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany. As she begins a controversial speech to crowds gathered near the US Embassy in Berlin, a terrorist attack is launched. A bomb goes off in front of the Brandenburg Gate, killing and wounding many, including Ms. Payne's bodyguard. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, a helicopter lands, terrorists grab the vice president and make an effortless get-away. Later, as the CIA director and her associates review the videotape of the kidnapping, they recognize the face of the pilot and are stunned into silence. And these folks, who have seen and heard just about everything, are not easily shocked.

Caroline Carmichael is a CIA intelligence analyst specializing in European terrorist groups. Her husband, Eric, former CIA operative and European station chief, had been killed two years before when the plane he was on exploded over the Aegean Sea. Since then, all Caroline's work for the Counterterrorism Center, (CTC), has focused on one disciplined, deadly group of Eastern European killers, the "30 April Organization." Their agenda is to cleanse Europe of all non-Aryans and their MO is terror. Croatian Mlan Krucevic, is the organization's leader. He is a trained geneticist who uses biological agents in human experiments. A fanatic, like his father before him, he is a former director of prison camps in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of Muslims and Serbs. His file reads like sadistic horror fiction. It was Krucevic who had a bomb placed on MedAir 901, Eric Carmichael's fatal flight. The 30 April Organization, under Krucevic's command, is also responsible for kidnapping Sophie Payne.

Caroline's expertise on everything pertaining to 30 April, its history, methods, motives and the psychology of its members, leads to her active involvement in the plan to rescue the Vice President. However, as the complex plot unwinds, and Central European governments begin to crumble, the reader discovers that much more than the life of a high ranking US official is at stake.

"The Cutout" is an outstanding novel of espionage and international politics - chillingly realistic, especially given Francine Mathews' personal knowledge of her subject. She is a former CIA analyst. Her descriptions of the intelligence community are fascinating and credible, as is her tour through the killing fields of Bosnia, and the glimpses she provides of the savage results of religious and ethnic hatreds which have existed in this region for centuries.

"Cutout" is an Intelligence term for a go-between, a pawn. I found "The Cutout" to be more than just an intelligent action thriller and a riveting read. Ms. Mathews' presents a fascinating political scenario, where a German chancellor is assassinated. His replacement is a representative from Germany's Social Conservative Party, with a hidden agenda to annex Central Europe, and the means to do it. This overriding plot is gripping, as is the kidnapping of the US Vice President. The author masterfully juggles and merges various storylines. Her characters are strong and well developed. "The Cutout" also brings into play a moral topic which has been discussed widely, especially since 9/11. It's that old Machiavellian, "Does the end justify the means?" How far should our Intelligence operatives go, whether in dealing with evil, (working with people like Saddam Hussein, or former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega), or in perpetrating it themselves, (i.e., as inside agents, performing terrorists acts themselves, so as not to blow their cover), in order to wipe-out the larger evil? "The Cutout" makes for a compelling read and I highly recommend it. I just ordered the sequel, "Blown."

JANA
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Bruce George Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars Currently reading the book
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
The book is good. However, it could be a lot better if it was not for the use of profanity... I do not understand why authors would have to incorporate profanity in a book- assuming it would make the book better... However, it creates a distraction in my opinion. As stated, I am still reading it and it is quite, inventive. Mind you, it is FICTION and I myself keep forgetting that. Other than that, good book.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Nancy M
5.0 out of 5 stars quilty pleasure reading
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
I love this author. I started reading her under her pen name, Stephanie Barron. I ate up EVERY one of her historical novels written in the guise of Jane Austen. Really good reading. I had to find something else by her and learned in her online biography that she was once employed by the CIA. It is obvious she knows what she writing about in this action drama that involves a CIA desk employee who gets planted in a terrorist plot to save a kidnapped vice president. It seems like it could come out of the current news. I read almost non-stop for the whole holiday break (I'm a teacher) on my new kindle! Good read.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
sean r driscoll
4.0 out of 5 stars A great story
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2015
Verified Purchase
And I loved the characters. And felt the Pace thought. I felt the last quarter of the book dragged a bit. But could have been me
Helpful
 Report
20pagesaday
5.0 out of 5 stars An Absolutely Excellent Read!
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
Cutout is a top-notch political suspense / thriller. The settings, the characters, the action and the plot twists were expertly detailed and laid out for the reader to travel. I can say this without reservation: I've paid 10 times more for one-tenth the story. Absolutely worth reading and can't wait for the next.
Helpful
 Report
Richard
4.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful Thriller
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2015
Verified Purchase
Good read. The author held my interest all the way through story with plenty of suspense.
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020
Verified Purchase
Excellent
Helpful
 Report
Nathan
2.0 out of 5 stars The CIA.. on the Lifetime Channel
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2006
No doubt, author Francine Mathews knows her stuff when it comes to forming a well-tuned spy novel - as previous reviewers have mentioned, her experience (as a former employee of the CIA) shows.

However, from start to finish, I felt like I was watching (reading) a spy story made by the Lifetime channel. Caroline, aka Mad Dog (which made me think of the horrid, cheap wine the entire time I'm afraid), seemed to go from shocked and devastated widow to suddenly G.I. Jane at end of the book.. and then back to tough analyst while laying in a hospital bed. Her husband Eric seemed to be nothing more than a cardboard cutout (no pun) of a tough guy. And the ending was something I would expect out of some kind of sad and dramatic Lifetime show.

Mathews has potential, but this novel is not something I can see pleasing many previous spy novel fans. Her knowledge of tradecraft and the intelligence community reflected in the book, but her characters are overly cliche and dramatic. If you're new to the genre and want an okay read, then try this novel out. Otherwise, I would suggest something else.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report