Larry

one of those rare hidden gems

Revisado: 09-22-20

Really exceptional story. One of the reviews mentioned it started slowly. Dont think he listened to the same story I did because this story has no slow points, only fast and faster points. Another review mentioned foul language. There was some f bombs by the female protagonist but, rather than it being over the top, it was realistic in how people (at least the people I know, talk. The one (and only) flaw I saw was in the male protagonist: he was simply too goody-goody and naive. I felt he could have still been The Good Guy and been a little more street smart.

The narrator's performance was a significant portion of the "wow!" feeling I have having just finished the story. His female voices were separate, distinct, and believable. My first listen of this narrator and I plan on looking up his other stuff.

The book is well worth a credit although I took advantage of the "Audible Exclusives" (or whatever they are calling it, i forget). I will definitely be anxiously awaiting the sequel.

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Amateurish Attempt

Revisado: 08-07-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I recieved it in exchange for an honest review and am a big fan of not just anti-heroes, but outright "bad guys" so I began it with high hopes.
The first 10mins were ok, not special but not bad. Unfortunately it went downhill from there. A few of the most obvious and deserved criticisms:
1. In a superhero story, one can expect a story to center on the use and management of the various powers, or at least expound on them every now and then. Ridiculously, the story barely mentions employing superpowers, oftentimes just saying "I beat him/her then I..."
2. Everything just goes his way. A couple of keystrokes and he transfers a billion rubles from a Russian mobster's acct to his banking acct from the Russians desktop pc (this is done many times). He suddenly and for no apparent reason gets a magical ring and is able to use it to make any woman his sex slave (several detailed and very gratuitous sexcapades <ie, rapes> are documented). For no commonsense reason, the protagonist's cold/ice powers allows him to turn into mist, thereby making him un-injurable and able to infiltrate any place, any time. A magic sword that can store things in a pocket dimension and can cut anything. Examples could go on and on...
3. Absolutely NO character development. There was less than 5mins of dialogue in the entire book. The narrator had a very distinctive voice and was adequate considering what he was working with. He had one or two sentences as a German speaking English and did it very well. 99% of the time he could only narrate becuz thats what the material was. I think the narrator would excel in an "Old West" situation (he had the voice that I could imagine belonging to a Sam Elliott/cattleman) but judging him on Memoirs is kinda unfair to the narrator.
4. Very disjointed plot. i think the author self-published this. I congratulate any author who is able to do that and pull it off successfully. Unfortunately, this one didnt. I truly think a good editor could have corrected many, if not all, of the issues. I completely understand that a story is the author's "baby", his/her "labor of love", and an author can view constuctive criticism as a hostile attack on his very soul... To this author I would say this: experienced authors (Jim Butcher, Larry Correia, et al) SWEAR by their editors openly and often. I would recommend you at least consider using one and not taking their advice as a personal attack.
Anyone looking for a superior supervillain book, I can HIGHLY recommend "Forging Hephaestus " by Drew Hayes. I regretfully recommend skipping "Memoirs".
Note: I have only written one negative review prior to this one. I normally believe "if u can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" but with all of the 5 star "I love Iceblade" reviews, I felt somone should be honest and let you know what you are getting with your hard-earned credit...

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Outstanding atypical werewolf story

Revisado: 01-29-17

Breeds is a new and fresh take on the werewolf genre. It starts with a grumpy (to put it mildly) old man and, within the first 5 minutes, you are hooked. No teenager angst, no “oh woe is me, I just want to be liked” here. This is a story about werewolves hunting and not being apologetic about it. The synopsis available on Audible/Goodreads is sufficient and I would recommend avoiding spoilers; experience the book with open eyes and you will enjoy the discoveries. Now, there are some new twists introduced that are not in the typical werewolf story (not gonna ruin the surprises with spoilers) and kudos to Mr Blackmore for the inventiveness of his plot. He certainly has built a novel plot worthy of further exploration in future books and, after finishing Breeds, Book 1, in two days, I immediately purchased the aptly named “Breeds, Book 2”, because, frankly, I simply didn’t want the adventure to end. Thankfully, Book 2 picked up immediately where Book 1 left off and was just as satisfying but ended on an excellent cliffhanger that has me “jonesing” for the third and final installment of the trilogy (not out yet as I write this, damnit!).

Sean Runnette is the voice talent/performer of this excellent audiobook. I immediately recognized him from Mark Tufo’s Zombie Fallout series and, honestly, it took me a few minutes to disassociate the ZF experience with his voice and get in the mindset of a new, unfamiliar book. But after that initial “audio vertigo”, it was totally worth it. Mr Runnette completely owned every character and provided unique voices to all, male and female. In addition, he expertly built tension into the story with his pacing and nuanced performance. His professional and unique performance made an excellent book a “must-hear” movie-of-the-mind audio experience.

Bottom line: Breeds is among the best werewolf books I have listened to. Fyi, the only werewolf audiobook I can think of that is better off the top of my head is “Monster Hunter Alpha” by Larry Correia so Mr Blackmore is in rarified literary territory and is to be congratulated when his only real competition is the unsurpassable MHI franchise.

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Cthulhu updated and taken to the next logical step

Revisado: 11-23-16

Cthulhu Armageddon is an outstanding addition to the Cthulhu mythos and faithful to the sanity-warping vision of H.P. Lovecraft. As someone who has listened to several of Lovecraft’s tales over the years, I can appreciate the obvious respect the author demonstrates for the Cthulhu genre while he solidly lays the foundation of his own unique new chapter that I believe Mr. Lovecraft would approve of. Of particular note, the author’s depiction of a devastated wasteland as a result of the rising of the Great Old Ones was expertly done while leaving plenty of room for further exploration in the upcoming sequel, The Tower of Zhaal, available in a few months (info courtesy of the author via his blog).

The synopsis found on Goodreads is a little misleading. It isn’t exactly wrong but it definitely doesn’t do the novel’s plot justice or inform the reader/listener enough. I was under the impression it was a Wild West version of an apololyptic tale involving Cthulhu. Forget the “Wild West’ part. The story is the equivalent of a squad leader who sets out to avenge his murdered soldiers and kill the Evil Professor who has gained Power from the Old Ones amidst the remnants of the fallen human civilization and survive the various factions of survivors living in the wasteland that the Earth has become as a result of the Great Old Ones’ rising. The story is not as simplistic as my description and there are many surprises and twists in the plot, but I think the above is enough to inform without ruining the pleasure of discovering for yourself the surprises in this excellent book. Just don’t expect a “Man With No Name” character/story…

The outstanding performance by Jeffrey Kafer really added to the various moods evoked by this novel. From the gruffness and stoicism of a combat veteran hunting horrors from beyond space-time to the machinations of a psychic/witch to the innocence of a child who has had her world turned upside down to a likeable ghoul trying to hold onto his humanity, Mr. Kafer’s narration/performance was spot on and added that extra ingredient that results in an audiobook that the listener is simply unable to stop listening to. Mr. Kafer has rapidly established his narration pedigree with quality performances and, having more than a handful of audiobooks with his narration, he has never disappointed. While I have listened to several of Mr. Phipps’ audiobooks and enjoyed them all (they were all narrated by Mr, Kafer), seeing that this narration was by Mr. Kafer was the deciding factor for spending my hard-earned Audible credit on Cthulhu Armageddon.

If you are not familiar with the Cthulhu mythos, I recommend hitting the library and I am sure you will find many audiobooks and print editions available. If you just want a taste to see if the genre is for you, I recommend the approximately 20 minute tale called “Dagon”. There are many tales to choose from, but Dagon is a particular favorite of mine. Anyways, it should serve as a good introduction and litmus test for your interest of the genre. Just be aware that this genre does not (and should not!) have many happy moments. Due to the Powers involved, there are no happy endings, the good guys don’t win, and characters are going to die.

Bottom line: Cthulhu Armageddon was an excellent listening experience. It benefitted from an excellent plot, suspense, vision, and a professional vocal performance that resulted in me finishing this riveting 8hr 30min audiobook in one day and immediately wanting more. I will be the first to preorder the sequel. Highly recommended!

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Surprisingly excellent and original Urban Fantasy

Revisado: 08-17-16

Imperium caught me by surprise only 10 minutes into it by how good it was. Original, imaginative, and complex all apply but what really threw me was how polished this inventive urban fantasy was. I have read/listened to many freshman and sophomore entries of the urban fantasy genre and, while most are good and a few are excellent, less than a handful of the freshman attempts achieve the sophistication, world-building, and tight plotting that Imperium does. Imperium is an outstanding novel and the first entrant to what promises to be an exceptional series called The Caulborn.

Vincent, our noble protagonist, is a demi-god living in Boston and working for a clandestine agency who polices the hidden supernatural elements of modern society. The synopsis for Imperium found on Audible/Goodreads is sufficient for an intro, just let me say that there are so many elements of growth and exploration available in this remarkable world Mr Olivo has built that I don’t see any of the tired and stale plot situations that one can readily find in some other Urban Fantasy series making an appearance in this series if you choose to follow it. I would even like some backstory, maybe even a prequel (which I usually detest), the story and characters are just that damn interesting. The supporting characters, not just the main character, are “fleshed out” wonderfully and their interactions are believable.

Ian McEuen delivered a superb performance and contributed significantly to my enjoyment of the audiobook. He had many unique voices for not only a lot of characters but a lot of species and did a wonderful job of keeping all of those unique voices tied to unique characters. Mr McEuen’s voices were so distinctive that I built mental images of the characters based solely on the particular nuanced voice he gave them. I haven’t heard a performance by Mr McEuen before, but with his professional performance of Imperium, I have no doubt he will be a Voice in demand. He delivered a nuanced performance that built tension when required and levity when appropriate.

In short, if you like the Urban Fantasy genre, Imperium deserves your attention and your hard-earned credit. With its marvelous world-building and unique characters coupled with a masterful narration performance, Imperium should serve as a wake-up call to the rest of the genre that they had best up their game or this upstart new author will show them how it should properly be done!

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. It has no impact on my review, positive or negative.

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Fresh and unique urban fantasy novel

Revisado: 07-18-16

Balance is a very good and unique entry in the already overly crowded urban fantasy genre. Balance is the first book of a 6 book series (so far, as of 7/16). If you are tired of the same old story of a magic using private investigator, give Balance a try. It is an enjoyable and interesting take on Good vs Evil and explores the possibility and responsibilities of a third party in that two party fight. I can see how there are going to be significant moral quandaries in future installments as one party or another gains the upper hand and the protagonist and his allies return balance to the conflict. It will be interesting to see how the protagonist and his allies handle them these moral dilemmas and where it takes them in their personal development.

Just a few minutes into the story our protagonist, Landon, gets killed. He wakes up in Purgatory and soon learns that he is unique: he is exactly equal parts angelic, demonic, and human and, as such, is needed to represent the cosmic force of balance in the ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell. His mission is to make sure neither party, Heaven or Hell, ever gets the upper hand because if they do, humanity will be the real loser. He is soon thrown, untrained, into the thick of things on Earth and learns that both of the forces of Heaven and Hell agree on only one thing: the representatives of Balance are universally hated and killed on sight. Landon has powers but no idea what they are or how to use them and it is interesting to see how he adapts to his circumstances. Along the way Landon picks up a few allies and their inclusion promises depth and character growth in subsequent adventures. The plot is fast-paced and easily held my attention as I finished this almost 10 hr audiobook in a day and a half. I *greatly* appreciated that the author refrained from making this an angst-ridden novel of “o woe is me, am I Good or Bad?” and had the protagonist accept his role and move on.

The narration by Jeff Hays was superb. He demonstrated remarkable skill with his voice. For example, a 10 year old girl sounded like a 10 yr old girl, not a man trying to sound like a girl (I am still trying to figure out how he did it!). There were plenty of opportunities for him to show off his talents: cultured Italian accented English, demonic and angelic voices of both sexes, rage, grief, remorse. There were several instances of appropriate and intentional overdubbing (for ex, a giggle/chuckle in the background as the character spoke) and several examples of the use of electronic voice modulation as a were-beast or angel or demon raged and it was said in the text how the character’s voice reverberated… This was an excellent example of how an audiobook experience can be more than just a book read aloud. This was simply a superb performance and it elevated a good book to very good status. I have added Mr Hays to my “Narrators-to-be-watched” category and would gladly base a buying decision on his choice as narrator/performer of that audiobook. The production quality was above average and showed an attention to detail that I normally associate with Audible Studios or Blackstone Audio productions; for production quality, a compliment doesn’t get much better than that!

Balance is a worthy entry into the urban fantasy genre and a promising start to a series with unlimited potential. The real stars of this book were the interesting premise and the excellent narration. With a lot of the character development and world building out of the way, I anticipate successive novels will be difficult for the listener to hit pause. I am definitely going to be exploring more of this interesting world and conflict Mr Forbes has given us.

I received this audiobook for free courtesy of Audiobook Jukebox in exchange for a fair and unbiased review and doing so has no effect on my review, positive or negative.

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Grafters take center stage

Revisado: 07-10-16

I rank this as a 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5
In 2012, Daniel O’Malley published his debut novel “The Rook”. An instant best seller, it was nothing short of brilliant in its vision and execution and, in my opinion, the strongest and best debut of an author since Stephen King’s “Carrie”. In short, I LOVED IT! And I am not the only one with this opinion; look at the reviews on Audible or Goodreads and you will see overwhelming adoration of not only “The Rook” as a novel but the book’s protagonist, Myfawney Thomas.

2016 brings us the sequel: Stiletto. It took awhile to get to book form but, considering the tremendous height of the bar set by “The Rook”, “Stiletto” has some huge shoes to fill so I couldn’t begrudge the extra time. I had pre-ordered the audiobook a month or more in advance and stayed up late so I could download it as soon as it was available. Yep, I am a fanboy…

I was caught off-guard immediately when not only was the book narrated by Moira Quirk (as opposed to Susan Duerdan, who narrated “The Rook”), but the book is told in first person by a young Grafter woman, Odette, and a young Checquy woman, Pawn Clemens. You have to understand that Myfawney Thomas of “The Rook” inspires such feelings of loyalty (“love” wouldn’t be too strong a word also) that it is almost heresy to not have her at the forefront of its sequel. Not only is she not at the forefront, she is barely mentioned until the second half of “Stiletto”. I see it as a huge gamble by the author, but one that I believe payed off and will ultimately provide freedom to the author in future sequels. Other reviewers will probably not agree: they will say that while “Stiletto” is good, they couldn’t get into it because Myfawney wasn’t there. This is why I felt I needed to expound on Myfawney’s overwhelming influence on the success of “The Rook”: any sequel that didn’t continue with Myfawney’s first person narrative was going to be doomed to lukewarm reviews by a significant percentage of reviewers because of her absence alone, regardless of Stiletto’s plot or the author’s skill.

A brief synopsis: “Stiletto” picks up immediately following the events of “The Rook” with the proposed incorporation of the Grafters and a Grafter delegation is in London to hammer out the terms and conditions of the Grafters joining the Checquy. The Grafters are keeping secret (or trying to) the fact that they are being systematically hunted by an unknown group. Combine this with the inbred hatred the Grafters and the Checquy are taught to feel about each other from a early age and the tension is a powder keg with a lit fuse. Stiletto is told in the first person by Odette, a young Grafter woman and the Checquy guard who is assigned as her body guard, Pawn Clemens. Through their eyes, the listener/reader gets to experience the intense hatred and mistrust that each group has for the other and to contemplate what it might take to have the two groups become one without outright civil war.

Moira Quirk delivered an outstanding performance and narration. I had noticed immediately that she was not the same narrator who performed “The Rook”, but since “Stiletto” isn’t about Myfawney Thomas, it makes sense to have a different narrator and she demonstrated skill, talent, and a remarkable amount of distinct voices and accents for the myriad of characters contained in “Stiletto”.

Bottom Line: “Stiletto” is an excellent sequel to “The Rook” if the listener/reader is able to accept it on its own merit and a continuation of the Checquy's storyline. If the audience is looking for “a part two to The Rook”, he/she is going to be disappointed. At over 23 hrs of entertainment, “Stiletto” is a welcome addition to the mythos of the Checquy and will contribute significantly to its current and future success in both plotlines and fresh characters.

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Very good premise

Revisado: 07-10-16

I rank this as a 3.5 on a scale of 1 to 5
This is one of those urban fantasy novels that will have every other urban fantasy author thinking “Damn, why didn’t I think of that?” It is a worthy entry into the genre and should garner quite a following for the inevitable series.

The synopsis available on Goodreads and Audible is sufficient for the plotline. In brief, it is about a James Bond type character who works for a secret global organization that polices the supernatural and keeps the existence of the supernatural from rest of the world.

I had just finished two books (the Supervillainy series) by both the same author and same narrator, had been intrigued by the premise of “Esoterrorism” and was a little curious on what I was getting into. After all, the hallmark of “Supervillainy” was the snarkiness and humor and it was portrayed well. But “Esoterrorism” sounded like a more serious minded work based on the synopsis. Let me say right here that Esoterrorism bears nothing in common with “Supervillainy”: this is a serious treatise on policing the paranormal and Jeffrey Kafer delivered a serious performance with a gravitas that I didn’t associate with him after becoming associated with his very good comedic performance of “Supervillainy”.

“Esoterrorism” isn’t as polished as a Jim Butcher/Dresden novel and the climax/showdown was a tad brief and anti-climactic for my tastes. It made me think the author hit a desired number for his word count and that it was time to wrap it up. I could be wrong but I don’t feel the plot dictated the climax as soon as it occurred, that the flow of the events and plot was a little forced if that makes sense. I don’t mean to give the impression that I didn’t enjoy the novel, just that this good novel had the potential to be a great novel. I will get the sequel when it comes out and I think this series will be one I will be following for years to come.

Jeffrey Kafer’s performance was excellent. He far exceeded my expectations in delivering a serious performance and I had difficulty reconciling that this was the same narrator I had enjoyed listening to the previous day deliver a comedic performance.

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A fun bit of escapism

Revisado: 07-04-16

It was only 30 minutes or so into “The Dinosaur 4” that I began to compare this fun audiobook to the various “creature features” available on any given weekend on the SyFy Channel. Whether it is Megladon vs Mecha-Shark or Sharknado, there is an inherent joy to be found in a little escapism mixed with the blood of characters that were too slow to get out of the way of something with rediciously large teeth. Especially so when it is well done within these mainly low-budget movies. Dinosaur 4 compares very favorably to the “Well Done” members of this genre and I could very easily see it as a SyFy movie one day. Dinosaur 4 shares many characteristics of the typical entrée of this genre: small cast of characters, a minimum of different locale changes, stereotypical characters, and (most importantly) predators with big teeth.

This 8 hour audiobook started off with a bang, wasting no time in getting to the action. Within 10 minutes of hitting play, we are back in time and can see the writing on the wall for the first victim. Character development is done on the fly and, while the characters are stereotypical in their motives and actions, it works: we have a dislike for him or her, we are rooting for that one to survive, we have the 70 yr old widow knitting a scarf, and the 20 know-it-all punk and everyone inbetween… in short, like in the creature features, we have the annoying ones who we want to get eaten and we have the brave noble ones who we hope will save the day. We start off with 10 characters and not everyone is gonna make it to the end. And some of the victims and survivors are going to be surprises.

The performance by Nick Podehl was excellent. Mr Podehl has established himself as a new arrival to the Top Tier of professional narrators and he does not disappoint with his skilled narration. He provided unique voices and accents to each character and there was never a question of who was speaking at any given time.

I would not say The Dinosaur 4 is a literary masterpiece, but then again, it isn’t supposed to be. It is simply a well written, fun bit of escapism. I enjoyed it and I think you will also.

I received a copy of The Dinosaur 4 in exchange for a fair and unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookJukebox.

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Very Good Assassin Story Without the Angst

Revisado: 07-03-16

I was pleasantly surprised by this assassin novel. It started off knee-deep in action, let off a tad for a very brief but interesting backstory, and kicked some significant butt all the way to the conclusion.

The brief synopsis available on Audible and Goodreads is sufficient. This is one of those books that is best when the listener/reader doesn’t know what is coming next and I highly recommend avoiding spoilers for this fast-paced story. There are some very good plot twists and the ending was quite good, serving as a stand-alone novel while leaving the window open for sequels.

The narration by Jack Wallen, Jr was very good. I initially thought his voice for Gabriel was too quiet and was expecting more of a “Scott Brick bad-assedness” type voice but after only a few minutes I became comfortable with the narration and Gabriel’s portrayal. Mr Wallen’s performance was admirable, with distinct voices and many accents/dialects and there was never a question of which character was speaking at any given time. This was my first audiobook with Mr Wallen as narrator, but I am sure it won’t be my last.

I have been spoiled by Tom Wood’s “Victor the Assassin” series and, I have to admit, I was not anticipating Gabriel to be as good as it was. Gabriel compares very favorably to Victor (still my favorite). If you are looking for a novel of assassins without all of the angst (popularized by Ludlum) and you are waiting impatiently for the next Victor novel, give Gabriel a try: it will definitely serve to fill that assassin escapism in your listening.
Story (plot) :4
Performance. :4
Production Quality :3
Attention Holding. :4

I received Gabriel: Only One Gets Out Alive for free in return for a fair and unbiased review.

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