Finished Reading June 11, 2013

Boring & weird.
Oh, and don't expect any sex scenes.
All & all, disappointing.

Prch Amz June 11, 2013 ( )

Balance
The Divine Book One
By: M.R. Forbes
Narrated by: Jeff Hays
I really like this new series! A young man that is working at the museum gets killed by a demon, that's right, a demon that is stealing a chalice. He goes to an in-between place. Finds out he is has equal parts demon and angel. He gets a mission to go back, if he wants to continue living. This is one check of a ride! Not only angels, demons, but vampires, werewolves, trolls, and more! He makes friends and enemies along the way. Quite the adventure! Never a dull moment.
The narrator is super awesome and performs this flawlessly! ( )

Angels and demons walk the earth and most people are lucky enough to not know this. However, our main character, Landon Hamilton, becomes rudely aware of this when he learns his own heritage. Yeah, he’s no saint, having done a little prison time for his money theft via computer. He stole from little old ladies and kids’ future college funds. Now he’s out on probation and not allowed within 5 feet of a computer for several years. But he’s got bigger issues in his life, like both demons and angels wanting him dead. He learns of all this when he ‘dies’ and he meets another that was once like him. He’s given a choice and he chooses to return to Earth with his new powers.

This is an interesting new take on an age-old conflict: Good versus Evil. The only person who can save humanity is this mix of devil and angel, and throughout this tale he befriends members on both sides of the conflict. Landon collects an eclectic group of allies along the way. There’s Obi, an ex-military paranormal specialist who is also a computer hacker and weapons specialist. Then there’s Rebecca, a vampire with a few secrets that could be our hero’s undoing. Josette, an angel, starts off wanting Landon dead but is eventually swayed to give him an assist in his quest to find the Grail (yep, that one!) and maintain the balance. Also, she has a dirty little secret that surprised the hell (or heaven) out of me.

Once we have the set up, there are some parts of the story that are a bit predictable. However, with that said, I didn’t mind in the least because I quite enjoyed the characters. M. R. Forbes has wowed me with his other works (Starship Eternal and Dead Lucky among them), so I was expecting a lot from this story. While this story wasn’t quite as good as the other two series, I plan to continue on with it.

Landon has the most depth of character, being this guy who can see the benefits to being a bit selfish, a bit of a lawbreaker at times. Then he also has a code, lines that he won’t cross. Meanwhile, demons and angels alike want him dead because he’s seen as a threat or an impediment. The tale has plenty of fight scenes and not too much introspection. There’s also touches of humor here and there (points for the Star Wars references).

Towards the end, it’s Josette who steals the scene. Her choices at the end of this book really added weight to the tale. It will be very interesting to see what the ramifications are in the next book.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: Jeff Hays continues to wow me with his abilities. His female voices are simply uncanny. I know it’s him and him alone narrating this book but I still found myself double checking the credits. His voice for the angelic Josette was excellent. I also liked his rougher voice for the practical Obi. ( )

My original Balance audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

I really enjoyed this take on the old good versus evil. Heaven and Hell are not exactly as we think and angels and demons do actually walk among us! Landon is really out of his league and he realizes that while he is scanning his present predicament. Getting killed by a demon and waking up in purgatory can put a bit of stress on a person!

While the concept is great, the plot threw me a bit. It reminds me a lot of Bill the Vampire but without the full on snarkiness, which makes it good but I missed that. While Landon is not like Bill, they are similar, and both totally over their heads! Maybe it’s the fact that the world is full of vampires, werewolves, demons, and angels. It is a lot to take in for one book!

I was also thrown by Landon’s love interest. While I didn’t totally disagree with it, it felt odd… forced. There’s way too much going on in your life Landon! Keep your thoughts on your work! Also, dealing with so much in this world, Landon is forced to learn very quickly, and not really told anything by his “mentor” Dante. It just creates a bunch of mess! Then Dante comes back and is ticked at Landon for not knowing how to do something.

The constant fighting without feeling like there was real plot progression was a bit annoying but the characters were fun. And while the plot did not totally hit me, I did enjoy Landon’s main story. I think this could even be broken up to be two books to make it a little more seamless. What Landon does learn is incredible and does keep the plot moving, even if there are bumps in the road.

The side characters, like Obi, were amazing! Who names their poor kid Obi Wan?! He was as hilarious as his name and turned out to be a pretty good fighter too!

The audible was quite fun to listen to. There are little add ins like laughter or sound effects here and there. Someone will growl in the book and there will be a growl! I love that little bit extra! The narration was quite on point too, and maybe that is why I was reminded of Bill the Vampire. The narrators are quite similar in the way they produce their characters. I must add that Jeff Hays does such a fantastic job that it actually sounds like multiple people produced this!

The ending is a full cliff hanger. While I am curious, I am not dying to know what happens. Landon goes through a LOT in this one and I can only imagine what is in store next for him.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator. ( )

It's not poorly written. The characters are not just stereotypes. The premise is different enough from urban fantasies...

So, why was it so darn uninteresting?

There is no glaring annoyance that ruins this story, it just is too... "I don't really care what happens to any of them". There is no real sense of angst or pressure and, while it's good versus evil, we aren't really led to care one way or the other about which side prevails. It might just be that the main character rode a middle ground (sat on the fence) so we couldn't root for him to "win" - especially since "winning" required, really, that he not win at all (a.k.a. his goal was to keep the balance, not to win). And if you can't root for the protagonist to "win" against obstacles, why read it?

I won't be reading any more in the series - I need to root for someone in order to enjoy a story. ( )