Zero Tolerance

by James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski

Sergeant Jo Barnes (Hilary Swank) and her elite, all-female US Army investigative team are renowned for cracking complex sex-crime cases within the military. Their latest mission takes them to the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin Army Base in California, to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons—a soldier who accused a comrade of assault. But when the accused is inexplicably set free, their case takes a sinister turn.

As Jo, Maddie (Christine Ko), and Luna (Melonie Diaz) delve deeper, they encounter resistance at every turn. Facing a race against time, the trio is determined to uncover the truth at all costs, confronting dangerous adversaries who are capable of anything—even murder.

Coauthored by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski, Zero Tolerance is a heart-stopping thriller.

Genres: Audiobook, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Military Fiction, Contemporary

3 pages, Audible Audio

Published August 24, 2023

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently found some of these great ‘direct to audio’ James Patterson collaborations, I am highly excited to listen to yet another piece that includes Duane Swierczynski. A strong piece about an all-female military investigative team trying to get to the root of sex crimes within the Army. Told through a handful of chapters that push the envelope from the outset, the authors deliver a brilliant story that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

After the passing of the Zero Tolerance Act, Sergeant Jo Barnes leads her all-female US Army team into edgy investigations into sex crimes within the military. They refuse to stand down and seek predators who have used the silence of the military to cover-up their crimes.

Sent to Fort Irwin, California, Barnes and her team seek answers about the disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons, whose accusation of a fellow comrade has left many with questions. While there is a wall of silence that meets Barnes and the Zero Tolerance Team, things get significantly worse when the accused is released for reasons unknown.

Pushing past the silence, Barnes and her teammates must bring the accused to justice and find out what happened to Private Simmons. However, a twist during the court-martial could leave an indelible mark on the team, the proceedings, and the military as a whole. Barnes will have to make sure she is not compromised and gets answers, even if murder could silence her forever. A strong piece that kept me hooked for the short time it took to listen.

A strong story needs a hook from the opening moments. This audiobook had that and kept me listening with eagerness throughout. The narrative begins strong and keeps moving, tossing various characters into the mix and providing strong ideas in each chapter. There was little time to process the information, as the listener is forced to digest a great deal in short order. The authors provide a strong story and keep things on edge.

Told in what most might think of a new-age radio drama, the story had twists and turns to keep things moving even faster than the authors could have imagined. There was so much going on and I had to use my best concentration, as the different characters flavoured the story without a traditional narrative to keep the reader grounded. I have come to like these sorts of listening books and will scour my resources to find more to keep me entertained.

Kudos, Messrs. Patterson and Swierczynski, for another great project!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Tonya Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short of harassment cases happening in the armed forces. Which is sad, most go for schooling and to protect our country. It's a shame having to go in fighting for your own life!! Women need to be protected!! Humanity needs to be protected!!!

[Rochelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was free and not very good. The plot seemed ridiculously unrealistic.

[Tracy ✌ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t care for this one. I usually enjoy James Patterson’s Audible originals, but this one was drab.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent short story by James Patterson regarding the staggering numbers of cases of undocumented sexual harassment that occur in the military and the unit created to investigate those cases. I found this short read very enlightening as well as entertaining. Free on Audible and we’ll done ✅.

[Bookstash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler Notes

Zero Tolerance by James Patterson and
Duane Swierczynski (8/23)
(B N/A) [1-09-24] — A Short Story

An Audible Original Production
Audible Plus Catalogue Freebie

Audible: 2 hours 54 minutes

Audible: 3 Readers and Full Cast
Audible: Hilary Swank
Audible: Christine Ko
Audible: Melonie Diaz

US Army CID
Criminal Investigation Division
All-Female Investigators
Military Sex Crimes - Sexual Misconduct

Mojave Desert
Fort Irwin Army Base in California

Missing Female Soldiers
Intimidation- Harrassment
Cover-Ups - Buried Evidence
Bribes
Politics
Government Contracts
US Business Entitlements

Courtroom Scenes

Surprise Ending.

I enjoyed it.

[Dhamiera Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first time listening to a James Patterson story and it was great. The storyline stayed interesting throughout and the characters were well written. Those women were diligent from the beginning. Glad it ended the way it did.

[Emiko Bowling · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the very beginning this book has you intrigued! You don’t want miss anything :)

[Juan Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are beans everywhere, including the US Army. A story about the abuse of women in the military.

But it's not just there, I think we have to do a lot to stop the abuse of women by men.

[Rodica · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 rounded up. This was bad, really bad. Good cast and all, but the story? The plot holes? Thank mercy it was short.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed Zero Tolerance from Amazon today for a quick listen. I like full cast audiobooks for the most part. This one was great. I just didn’t take into account that it was military and there’s always a bunch of swearing. But overall I like that the zero tolerance team is trying to bring evil to light and find justice for people who’ve been sexually abused. This was a short story that seemed more like an episode. Nothing was truly resolved. Hopefully there will be more and Amazon will release them for free again. :)

[Paul Botterill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. It was a proper good versus evil battle with a hint of politics and big business. Set in a military setting it portrays the resistance to internal law enforcement in a manner that is exciting from start to finish

[Veronica M C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick listen with a serious subject. Most people have probably heard stories of females in the military getting raped by their fellow soldiers. This story shows how hard it can be to fight.
Although it was a serious subject matter, there were moments of light heartedness. The characters were interesting and diverse.
This short book was action packed. It felt like listening to a movie without seeing the screen.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the second book that I listened to that was done more like a production of a movie. I liked this story, the casting, and I’d def be into watching a screen adaptation of this!

[john · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an entertaining and suspenseful short story I listened to today via Audible. Hilary Swank headlines the ensemble cast of narrators. It was well written and the audio performance was excellent, well done!
Jo Barnes (Hilary Swank) leads a newly developed sex-crimes investigative team within the military to be assigned to the most serious cases. supposedly, the unit was formed to demonstrate how serious the military is about eradicating this behavior from it’s ranks.
As a veteran of the U.S. military, this rings of a noble yet lofty goal. I’m sure some changes have occurred since I was enlisted many years ago, if this story is any indication, not that much. The ole boy’s club protection network is alive and well.
Barnes and her team are a no-nonsense bunch and shoot straight. The story was very good and kept me engaged the whole time.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Patterson's Audible originals that I've listened to. Again, perfect for the car. Fully dramatized story, with Hilary Swank as one of the readers. The Zero Tolerance is for sexual abuse in the army. The "squad" investigates a rape in the Mojave desert. Lots of people being left out in the desert to die but not dying, a swipe at Big Tech, a courtroom scene. Everything doesn't just move along, it flies. I think it was Lee Child who said he goes back and cuts out everything that readers might think is even a little boring. Patterson/Swierczynski went back twice.

[Gr · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are some great mysteries revolving around the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID), with some outstanding female role models, but this is not one of them: terrible writing, unrealistic plot, and implausible actions from absurd characters. I am not a Patterson fan and I typically do not like audiobooks with a cast of characters, but I figured I would give it a try. Sorry, I wasted my time.

This story reads like a bad Hollywood screenplay written for late-night TV which failed to be picked up by the streaming services. When you consider how many really bad movies are on the streaming services, that is a major accomplishment.

If you have ever been in or around the military, you will laugh at how little the authors understand what they are writing about, and realize this book is a disservice to many outstanding female members of our armed forces. This book feels like a cheap Disney girl-power rip-off of The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille - an excellent book and the movie was not half bad.

Do not waste your time. I like Hillary Swank and I am surprised she got involved.

[David (F3 Fountainhead) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general premise to the plot was ok, about an army investigation into sexual misconduct. The production was good and the lead actor--well, it's Hillary Swank.

Unfortunately, those things couldn't overcome the cheesy dialogue, which sounded like it was written by a hs sophomore. It's possible Patterson missed a cliché in his cornball script of one dimensional characters, but I can't think of one. It's my first time with him--are they all like this?

This book was free with audible, and worth exactly what I paid. It's been a while, but I think I need to go back to John le Carré and Graham Greene. Those stories aren't as topical, but at least those guys can write.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise. Is there really a task force like this in the US Army? If not, there should be. The voice actors did a great job of bringing life to the story. The rogue investigator trope and the coercive techniques seemed like they would be illegal/inadmissible?

[Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book I wanted to try because of the full cast, and because it was short. I have had a lot of good luck lately, enjoying Audible’s offerings of full-cast books, and just full-cast stories in general this year. What did I get? It's little more than a subpar thriller, with little mystery.

The major issue for me is that a lot of this stuff surrounds the General and the Army being an antagonist for the story. They are so played up it is almost cartoony how much they try and stop the team from finding out who raped a woman that it is unbelievable. All of the events that happen are ones that in the real world could be used in court, and then, if not, would be a huge problem for the General and her career. Multiple rules regarding protocol and legal council are just ignored, as they try and stop the Zero Tolerance team from completing their mission.

Keep in mind that the team isn’t much better. They steal (sorry, “borrow”) cars, and even helicopters, make threats to enlisted personnel, and discharge their weapons seemingly to defend themselves when they should have no reason to do so, had they been even remotely competent in how to bring whitenesses in. Episodes of NCIS, which does play fast and loose with the protocol of the US military, seem to be experts compared to these guys.

When even a novice like me can see that there is a problem with the way things are handled on both sides, then I know that this is not going to be a fun ride. So what did I like? The voice cast does an excellent job, and the sound effects are top-notch. Sadly that isn’t enough for me to recommend this to anyone. I give it a two out of five.

[Perm Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is my personal 5 star rating system because I’m too lazy to write a review for every book.

5 stars -> OMFG. I couldn’t stop listening. I was engaged from beginning to end. The story & narrator was amazing. I 100% recommend this book & author. I was able to clearly follow each and every character.

4 stars -> It was pretty good. I would’ve rated 5 stars, But either the ending was lacking, I struggled to keep up with characters, or the story didn’t keep me fully engaged. The narrator was pretty good as well. I’m on the fence about recommending this book, It could go either way.

3 Stars -> It was boring at times & I missed chunks of the story. I most likely struggled to keep up with character developments. The only way I would recommend this book is if it was part of a series. The narrator was most likely average or just couldn’t fix a mediocre book.

2 Stars -> It was pretty horrible. I used it as background noise because I hadn’t had a chance to search for another book. The book either had a bad narrator, The character development was non existent, or the story was hot garbage. I would not recommend this book.

1 Star -> The absolute only reason I listened to this book was because i had no time to search for another one & I needed background noise. It was 1 step up from listening to the radio. I wouldn’t recommend this book to my worst enemy. Everything about this book was terrible. This is only recommended for people on death row and have absolutely nothing else to read.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m glad I listened to this. It wasn’t a fun read per se (given the dark content) put it was enjoyable in the way it was intended. Likable characters where there should be, and dislikable characters where they should be. It is a simple enough military thriller but that is what I wanted as a break from my longer form listens.

James Patterson writing female leads is always a joy. And this is very much female-dominated, all three protagonists and one of the main antagonists are women. It is largely women empowering women using their God given skills to do it. As with many of his recent works, this is co-written, this time with Duane Swierczynski. It is set up for a second entry. I hope at some point we get it. I'd love to spend more time with these characters.

The story follows Jo Barnes (Hilary Swank), Maddie (Christine Ko), and Luna (Melonie Diaz) on their first case as a team, enforcing a new Zero Tolerance law within the military. Jo is the leader, a war hero coming out of retirement for this, she has friends in high places and people respect her. Maddie is the team's lawyer, she comes from a family of powerful lawyers, she is logical. Luna is the teams wildcard she does what she has to to get sh*t done, she’s the comic relief. I found the three characters played well off each other. Luna never failed to give me a laugh when I needed it, Maddie’s self-talk was relatable, and Jo’s desperate want to get justice is the reason I love maverick leaders.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

Available on audible plus

Another compact audible production this one around 3 hrs with a full cast lead by Hilary Swank.

Jo Barnes a military hero and part of an elite all female US Army investigative team investigating sex crimes within the Military. Private Nichelle Simmons accused a comrade of assault then goes missing then her accused are inexplicably set free with their case taking a sinister turn.

As with these quick easy listens the production value is high, but personally I wouldn’t buy them, I don’t equate it with value for money, that’s just me. The length fits the story the emphasis is on short sharp action and doesn’t need character depth, although it would have been good to get Jo’s history, as the military hero label got me curious.

I wouldn’t describe the characters as likeable, more coldly efficient. Due to the compactness there’s always plenty going on to hold your attention

Perfect for people who enjoy dramatic quick easy entertaining listening. I would give the story 3.5⭐️with the production increasing the rating.

[Andrea Corley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love how they are doing these Audible Original books with a full cast and the spatial audio. It is totally a different reading experience, one that's incredibly fun and usually exciting! When I saw that Hillary Swank was "starring" in this book, I HAD to listen to it because she's a favorite actress of mine!

James Patterson books can either be a big hit or a big miss for me and Zero Tolerance was a BIG HIT! The story was great, funny, and exciting with the absolute best cast of characters! It was the best mixture of everything you love in a book...action, mystery, humor! There's honestly not much to NOT like about this book!

Zero Tolerance was narrated by a full cast consisting of Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, and Melonie Diaz who totally kicked butt not only in this story but at narrating this story!

Overall, excellent quick story that you can't go wrong with!

[TinaMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to audio narrated by a full cast: Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, and Melonie Diaz. I liked this cast and thought they did a good job with what they were given.

Sergeant Jo Barnes leads an all-female Zero Tolerance investigative team. These three have a reputation for solving complex sex-crimes. Jo, Maddie and Luna take on a case that takes them down a rabbit hole, of privilege and cover-ups, and puts them all in danger.

A short, fast paced read. I was disappointed with the stereo-typical characterizations and inaccuracies. There wasn't a lot of depth, the characters felt flat and story credibility was low. There were many scenes that didn't come across as very realistic, it felt like reading a B movie script and I was hoping for something deep, intense and engaging.

For more of my reviews follow my blog at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

If you prefer to listen to my reviews, you can find some of my reviews on Spotify here: https://anchor.fm/wyldheart-reads

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great. Far too short, would love more. It’s only my second performance audio, and it was so good. Hillary & the rest of the cast rocked.

It got the point across without the normal book detail, played the characters well and stayed in tune. (I love detail, but it all worked).

It lost a star for me by becoming a wee bit out there at the end. Spoilers, they go rogue, but seem to get away with it… did I miss a bit where they point out they were approved for hostile undercover work?

Also, one of the bad guys who tried to kill them and cover everything up seemed to get a promotion…?

Again, it all still worked, but seemed to go from bookreal (couldn’t see it playing out quite like that in real life), to outrageousallok (that would never happen, but if the book says so…?)

I’ll still leave it on my relisten list and pray for a series 😉

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"I'm not quitting."

A well performed Audible Original listen with Melonie Diaz especially good in her performance as Luna, one of the three woman team make up the investigative enforcer team of a recently passed Zero Tolerance policy within the military. This is their first case, their mission to determine what happened to a missing soldier, believed dead, following a suspected sexual assault. But the most likely soldier responsible has a very rich daddy. Although very enjoyable, it sounded contrived and greater differentiation in the female voices would have made individuals more instantly recognisable.

Short, at just under three hours, and currently free through the Audible Plus programme, it is certainly a pleasant way to pass the time for anyone enjoying well acted thrillers.

[Judith Trail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insomnia. Saw ad for an Audible book read by Hilary Swank and other actors, so decided to give it a try because I like Swank as an actor. Swank and the other actors did the best they could with the material, but as this novel just missed on all cylinders. Trying to be a female Jack Reacher, I like the premise of a group of army soldiers form a team to prosecute harassment cases. This gives a possible crime solving story as well as courtroom drama. Too bad that Patterson (or whoever actually wrote this) did not have convincing experience of the army and its practices nor did the author have the remotest clue of what happens in a courtroom. The behavior of the lawyers and clients would have been shut down immediately by a judge. However, without the improbable behavior of the lawyers in court, the author would be unable to finish the story. Disappointing.

[Bonnie Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

This “book” is more like a radio play, and there’s a lot to like, including stellar performances by actors like Hilary Swank. The premise: a team of U.S. Army investigators probing the disappearance of a female Private at Fort Irwin in the California Mojave Desert. The plot is intriguing, the characters believable and fully rounded, and the setting is well portrayed. However, because of the “book’s” structure—all dialog with a few sound effects—it was sometimes hard to tell who was speaking and what was going on, and it was also challenging to keep track of the supporting characters. A nicely satisfying conclusion, hinting at a sequel.

[Matt. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Zero Tolerance" by James Patterson is an Audible Original that grips you from the outset with its intense narrative and a stellar cast, led by Hilary Swank as Sergeant Jo Barnes. The story unfolds in the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin Army Base, where Sergeant Barnes and her all-female US Army investigative team embark on a mission to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons. As they dig deeper into the case, encountering resistance and facing a race against time, the plot takes unexpected turns, revealing a sinister underbelly within the military. Swank's powerful portrayal, along with Christine Ko and Melonie Diaz's compelling performances, creates a dynamic trio that brings Patterson's storytelling to life with a perfect blend of suspense, camaraderie, and urgency. The production quality, coupled with Patterson's masterful storytelling, makes "Zero Tolerance" a must-listen for those seeking a riveting and thought-provoking auditory experience.