Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle
The Count at Play & Slaughter Series, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Andy Stevenson
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By:
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C.L. Holmes
About this listen
Abducted by an ancient, evil entity to his castle and into his service, what is one to do? Amalina is about to find out. The darkest, most dangerous time in her life begins...
With dark humor, suspense, and new takes on genre tropes, this dark fantasy series quickly grows to surprising, epic proportions, but it starts here in the first novel: Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle.
Bad Hound Press
©2019 C.L. Holmes (P)2022 Inkland AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella - until an accident of fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! Determined not to remain with her stepfamily, Elena set out to get a new job - and ended up becoming the Fairy Godmother for the land. But "Breaking with Tradition" was no easy matter. True, she didn't have to sleep in the chimney, but she had to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who kept trying to rise above their place in the tale.
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An excellent start to a new series
- By Captain Skurvy on 01-16-13
By: Mercedes Lackey
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Bloodleaf
- By: Crystal Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.
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Not Understanding All the Praise
- By GPChlorine on 08-23-19
By: Crystal Smith
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The Deathless
- The Deathless Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter Newman
- Narrated by: Emma Newman
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In the endless forests of the Wild, humanity scratches a living by the side of the great Godroads, paths of crystal that provide safe passage and hold back the infernal tide. Creatures lurk within the trees, watching, and plucking those who stray too far from safety. In crystal castles held aloft on magical currents, seven timeless royal families reign, protecting humanity from the spread of the Wild and its demons. Born and reborn into flawless bodies, the Deathless are as immortal as the precious stones from which they take their names. For generations a fragile balance has held.
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Not my thing but not bad for what it is
- By Nora on 10-26-20
By: Peter Newman
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I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire
- Ravenloft: Strahd, Book 1
- By: P. N. Elrod
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Some of the parchment pages were the color of cream, thick and substantial, made to last many, many lifetimes. Other pages were thin and desiccated, positively yellow from age, and crackled alarmingly as Van Richten turned them over. There were no ornate illuminations, no fussy borders, only lines of plain text in hard black ink. The flowing handwriting was a bit difficult to follow at first; the writer's style of calligraphy had not been in common use for 300 years. No table of contents, but from the dates it looked to be some kind of history.
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Love it...just one complaint....
- By Ryan Conrad on 03-15-14
By: P. N. Elrod
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Detective Gretel
- By: P.J. Brackston
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the sleepy Bavarian town of Gesternstadt, gossip was viewed by many as a local sport, a popular hobby, a harmless pastime that showed only the depth and enduring nature of the interest of one neighbour for another. In Gretel’s opinion, however, tittle-tattle sowed the seeds of malice among the fertile soil of jealousy, often watered by the tears of its victims. So it was that upon hearing from brother Hans of the whispers concerning a young woman, a married man and a thwarted lover, Gretel is compelled to rise from her beloved day bed to set things to rights.
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Great! Looking forward to more
- By Monica P. on 12-07-20
By: P.J. Brackston
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The Pale Blue Eye
- By: Louis Bayard
- Narrated by: Charles Leggett
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When the body of a suicide victim disappears at West Point Military Academy in 1831, only to be discovered hours later missing its heart, the Academy calls on retired detective Gus Landor to investigate. Landor is something of a legend among his peers, noted for an uncanny, Holmesian ability to read people. When Edgar Allan Poe, a new cadet, comes forth with his own cryptic conclusion—that the man Landor is looking for is a poet—Landor is intrigued and enlists Poe as his assistant.
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Could not get through it
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-15
By: Louis Bayard
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The Book of Magic
- By: Gardner Dozois - editor, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear, and others
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker, Sile Bermingham, Maxwell Caulfield, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Hot on the heels of Gardner Dozois's acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf... and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda... and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore... and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped - or misshaped - by the potent magic they seek to wield.
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some stinkers mostly good
- By M.T. on 12-11-18
By: Gardner Dozois - editor, and others
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The Collectors' Society
- The Collectors' Society, Book 1
- By: Heather Lyons
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence. Soon, she's whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors' Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth.
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A true adventure full of the classics!
- By evelyn torres on 06-17-17
By: Heather Lyons
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The List
- By: Patricia Forde
- Narrated by: Imogen Wilde
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In the post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval city of Ark, speech is constrained to 500 sanctioned words. If somewhere were to speak outside that approved lexicon, they'd face banishment. The only exceptions to this rule are the Wordsmith and his apprentice, Letta. Together, they are the keepers and archivists of all language. But when Letta's master dies, she is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith and finds the situation more complicated than she knew.
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Love is Language
- By Jennie Smith on 02-19-21
By: Patricia Forde
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The Scar
- By: Sergey Dyachenko, Marina Dyachenko, Elinor Huntington - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Sergey and Marina Dyachenko mix dramatic scenes with romance, action and wit, in a style both direct and lyrical. Written with a sure artistic hand, The Scar is the story of a man driven by his own feverish demons to find redemption and the woman who just might save him. Egert is a brash, confident member of the elite guards and an egotistical philanderer. But after he kills an innocent student in a duel, a mysterious man known as “The Wanderer” challenges Egert and slashes his face with his sword, leaving Egert with a scar that comes to symbolize his cowardice.
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Highly, highly, Highly Recommended
- By Robert on 08-13-12
By: Sergey Dyachenko, and others
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Spindle Fire
- By: Lexa Hillyer
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close. And then everything changes with a single drop of Aurora's blood, a Faerie Queen who is preparing for war, a strange and enchanting dream realm - and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken.
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Lovers of fairy tale romance rejoice!
- By Elley Murray on 11-23-17
By: Lexa Hillyer
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Grim
- By: Ellen Hopkins, Julie Kagawa, Amanda Hocking, and others
- Narrated by: Christine Johnson
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, Jon Skrovron.
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amazing
- By Anonymous User on 10-04-17
By: Ellen Hopkins, and others
What listeners say about Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jennifer C.
- 07-31-22
I surprised myself by loving it!
Amalina ends up in service of Count Takeshi (unsure of spelling), who turns out to be much more than a man. Indeed, he may very well end up being an ancient evil. Though Amalina does not know how she does know that she must escape or, failing that possibility, kill him - which seems more of an impossibility than escaping.
This book is billed as a horror, but the violence is so limited and handled in such a manner that I think it fits Dark Fantasy, or perhaps Gothic Fantasy, though there is a little too much comedy for either of those categories to truly fit. Indeed, though the material, the setting, the characters, the storyline - indeed, most of the aspects of the book - are dark, the author uses comedy and comedic timing in such a way as to prevent the tension from getting too high.
I was thankful for that, because I do not typically enjoy really dark fantasy, and I typically eschew all things horror. I enjoy my sleep too much to allow it to be disturbed by nightmare-inducing horror stories. LOL.
I liked how the mystery of who the Count is was revealed a little bit at a time through his interactions with Amalina, and then his interactions with other people when the visitors arrive. Through it all, though, Ginatti (again, unsure of spelling) has a theory as to who his master is, I don't know whether I believe that theory, but he surely believes it.
Even knowing this book was the first in the series, I was still frustrated by the ending. For Amalina to be so close, and yet so far, and then to find out what Ginatti really meant... disappointing and frustrating.
For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Andy Stevenson. Stevenson gave a wonderful performance, using different voices that made it easy to tell who was speaking, and injecting wonderful use of tone for the build-up and dispelling tension, as well as great comedic timing. I will definitely be listening to the audiobook for future books in the series if I get the chance.
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- Brian
- 05-13-22
An Epic Tale
Clocking in right around 13 hours – this one was a longer book by my standards but one that didn’t really feel like it was that long. Usually, right after 11 hours (in my opinion), there are scenes that could be cut or things that just are overexplained – but Holmes does a good job staying away from that while avoiding different issues with the tropes that were included in Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle.
I checked out another review because I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who was hesitant to jump into another vampire story – but there were other reviewers that felt the same way. That being said, this wasn’t one of “those” books. It was well thought out and done in a way that felt honest and true to the older vampire stories that we’re familiar with. (I say that knowing that I love the vampire series from C.T. Phipps because it was the opposite of that – funny and almost blasphemous to the genre).
I think the thing that surprised me the most from this one was that it was much more of an epic tale than a horror story that most vampire stories are. Holmes did a great job of building this world and the characters in it to epic proportions and really made the whole thing as much about the lore and the history as it was about the horror and the “bad” things associated with them.
Overall, I thought that this was an interesting and unique story. One that I definitely enjoyed.
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- Georgia McNabb
- 11-16-24
Fair Story, but I Will Not continue Series
This story was good enough to listen to, but to me anything but Riveting. Storyline was alright, a little slow at times, I just could not get into the characters or Story. Narrator does a Fair job with this Audible book.
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- Stacey M
- 05-23-22
Pretty good story
I was given this book for free from audiobook boom and asked to leave an unbiased review for the author and narrator. Pretty good story, a Dracula offshoot. It started out strong and did slow down quite a bit, the repetitive statements were annoying. All in all though I did like the story. I enjoy Andy Stevenson’s voice. He doesn’t just read the book, he does his best to bring it to life. He changes his voice for the various characters and hits the inflections to make the story entertaining. I would listen to anything Andy narrates.
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- Snoopy
- 10-31-24
Captivating Voices, Engaging Slow-Build Plot
This was an enjoyable story and a good listen overall! The narrator did a fantastic job bringing all the characters to life with distinct voices and personalities. Though the story took its time to build up, it offered plenty of interesting moments and detail along the way. It might not have been my absolute favorite, but it kept me engaged, and I appreciated the rich development. For anyone who loves a story with a slow-burn approach, this one’s worth a listen!
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- MJ
- 11-19-24
Amalina
Book starts off strong, then slows down a bit, but builds back up quickly. Amalina is a young girl who is quickly thrust into the horrors of life after witnessing the death of a girl in her town. She is abducted and forced to work for the Count cataloging his library and learning different languages for an unknown reason. More is revealed when two actors enter the castle at the Count's invite, and Amalina thinks she has finally found a way to escape. Throughout the book, Amalina never loses her curiosity and resolve to find a way home. She is no simpering little girl who is afraid to do anything to better her cause. She is strong and resourceful.
Andy Stevenson did a masterful job in his narration.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
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