WARNING: This review may contain minor spoilers. There is one point (a few plot points) that is discussed because it frustrated me and affected my review. There is a warning in the review before the spoilers are discussed.
I picked this up basically for one reason: It was free to listen to the audible with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I like to listen to audiobooks in the car, but I don’t have a lot of money to spend on them. Enter Kindle Unlimited Read and Listen.
J.R. Rain does not disappoint in the Audible version. I started this book on the audiobook and it is worth it. Dina Pearlman is the narrator and she seems to capture the MC’s voice perfectly. She doesn’t over-act, but sill is able to convey emotions and intensity.
About half-way through the book, I switched to the kindle version because my kids are loud. I was missing more than I was taking in, so I shut off the Echo and moved to the print version.
There are a few really minor editing issues (run-on sentences and misspelled words– you PEEK through the door, not PEAK), but nothing that really detracts from the enjoyment of this book. Overall, the story is pretty good. It was a quick, enjoyable paranormal thriller mystery. I will be picking up book 2, in hopes of a continuation of the action and discoveries, but also in hopes that Rain decides to spend a little more time developing the emotions of his characters. There is little depth to their reactions to things through most the book and this affects the enjoyment of the reader.
WARNING: Mild Spoilers ahead!!
The biggest issue I had was the rush job with Sam’s emotions regarding her personal life. She’s angry (read: homicidal) at more than one point over the thought of losing her kids, and then she suddenly just accepts it. She’s all defeated and sad, but she either has some serious issues (potentially, as she says that she believes they’ll be better off without her), or she’s being written rather shallowly. NO mother who loves her kids like she does (she braves the freaking sun for them) would have given up like that…in the course of a single conversation. And to just give up over the visitation, too. I understand he’s being a royal prick and has her over a barrel, but she flips so quickly from angry to depressed to finding the bright side, I nearly got whiplash. I don’t know if this is foreshadowing her future as a vampire, or if it’s something that Rain just chose to hurry along, but it was disappointing. Also, the timing bugged me. Hopefully this IS foreshadowing because I can see it being indicative of something major, but Sam has been a vampire for 6 years. SIX YEARS…during that time, her marriage has been falling apart, but her husband is just NOW afraid she’s going to attack their kids? What did he think the first 6 years? What happened in recent months that he is suddenly AFRAID of his wife? She mentions that he made them get rid of the pets (also a recent development). Is he using this as an excuse? It doesn’t seem like it, but this feels really off. I almost didn’t pick up the second book because of it. The development of things between Sam and Fulcrum also lacked the finesse given to the action, and I was sad to see just a light breeze by of their relationship, even though she tends to go to him for advice.
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