First of all, “I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review” – but it in no way affects the opinions I am offering here.

I love the comfort of reading the next book by one of my favorite writers as read by one of my favorite narrators… so starting a new book by an author I’d never heard of, read by someone I’d never listened to before was a bit daunting. However, from the start, the story hooked me and managed to keep me engaged, interested and entertained during a long grueling drive alone in my car for hours.

I liked the premise of the small town of Lost Falls, the overlap of the supernatural world to the regular, the re-working and interpretations of classic creatures from myths and folklore. I also liked the way little bits of the characters’ individual stories are slowly revealed as necessary along with the plot. The action scenes are well written despite their complexity between the physical and the magical aspects. The bad guys aren’t always that bad, the good ones are flawed, the plot twists and turns… and the Dealer is a pretty freakin’ interesting character. I appreciated how the book wrapped up with this tale but set the stage for the continuation of the series without the usual obvious clichés.

The narrator did a really good job without a lot of over-the-top voice ‘acting’ that this genre can be open to.

All in all, the hours and miles sped by and I was sort of sad when the book ended. Looking forward to the next book in the series. I hope Mr. Underwood writes fast…