Henry Abbott’s Ballistic is a fascinating deep dive into the inner workings of a unique, elite group of professionals whose mission is nothing less than redefining what’s possible in human performance. This is not a book about making money or building a brand. It's about a dedicated crew obsessed with outcomes, results, and pushing athletes to the absolute edge of their capabilities.

The audiobook, narrated with precision and clarity, is the perfect format for this kind of storytelling. The narration matches the seriousness and intensity of the subject matter, pulling you into the world of high-stakes training and relentless experimentation. The pacing and tone make it feel less like a textbook and more like an oral history of innovation and obsession.

Abbott crafts a compelling narrative about people working behind the scenes: scientists, coaches, thinkers, who have collaborated with some of the world’s best athletes to achieve measurable, often stunning, results. These are not your typical sports gurus offering motivational quotes. They are technicians of the human body and mind, grinding away at the margins to find what actually works.

That said, as a reader looking for personal takeaways, I found myself a little frustrated. This is not a book full of quick wins or actionable advice. There are no “10 steps to train like a pro” lists here. The story is more about them, the elite and the extraordinary, and less about what the rest of us can apply to our own lives. I was hoping for more insights or even hints on how a mere mortal might adapt some of these principles into their own performance goals.

Still, Ballistic is a compelling read (or listen) if you're fascinated by performance at the highest level and the people who dedicate their lives to making it happen. Just go in knowing it’s more about their journey than your to-do list.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC in audiobook format.

Ballistic: The New Science of Injury-Free Athletic Performance by Henry Abbott, narrated by Andrew Joseph Perez

In Ballistic, Henry Abbott doesn’t just rewrite the playbook on athletic performance—he reengineers the field itself. This isn’t your typical sports science manual. It’s a kinetic, data-driven narrative that pulses with urgency and optimism, revealing how the future of injury prevention lies not in ice baths or grit, but in understanding the physics of how we move.

Abbott, a seasoned data journalist and competitive athlete, centers his story around Dr. Marcus Elliott and the Peak Performance Project (P3), a cutting-edge lab where biomechanics meets machine learning. Through vivid storytelling and real-world case studies, Abbott shows how P3’s technology can predict injuries—like ACL tears or hamstring pulls—with the precision of a cardiologist reading an EKG43dcd9a7-70db-4a1f-b0ae-981daa162054. The science of “ballistic movement”—how we leap, land, and load our joints—becomes the lens through which we see not just elite athletes, but ourselves.

Andrew Joseph Perez’s narration is a perfect match for the material. His delivery is crisp and confident, with just enough warmth to humanize the science. He handles the technical passages with clarity and the personal stories with empathy, making the audiobook feel like a TED Talk crossed with a locker room pep talk.

Abbott doesn’t just speak to coaches and clinicians—he speaks to anyone with a body. Whether you’re a weekend warrior, a parent of a young athlete, or someone recovering from injury, this audiobook offers a new way to think about movement, risk, and resilience.

For listeners who crave the intersection of science, sport, and storytelling, Ballistic is a game-changer—equal parts revelation and revolution.