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This is an urban fantasy infinitely improved by the audiobook narrator. Dan Bittner is just stellar in his narration. This would have been a 3 star book otherwise.
There were several elements about this story I really liked - the focus on the action, an appropriate amount of attention given to the romance, the spiritual elements interspersed within the story, the main character. But there were also things I found lacking: the overall storyline's incorporation of fantasy with realism, the combative relationship existing within a clearly missioned cooperative, the detail and generally storytelling within the confines of the main character relating what happened.
Here's the problem. I just had to suspend my disbelief too many times. Obviously you have to do some degree of this with urban fantasy. But here, too many things just didn't fly. We get the whole story from Gideon as he relates it to this person who's holding him hostage. But it doesn't sound like a 19-year old guy telling it; it sounds like an author writing it. If it had just been explained a different way to distinguish where he's talking and then when it lapses into the actual story, that would have helped. Maybe the author does this in the print version using italics and paragraphs, but on audio, it just didn't translate.
Other times: getting the military involved in an operation involving demons? OK, but really? They didn't seem to even blink an eye at this whole supernatural thing. That was a bit of a stretch. Gideon's reaction to a painful event near the end was kind of underwhelming. And why, when it was so clear that forming a team was critical, was Gideon so antagonistic toward Marcus? That just didn't make sense to me.
On the other hand, I loved Gideon and his general view of life. He's a little full of himself and the whole military thing which plays out really nicely. But he's really likable in spite of that. There are some great lines in the book. There's the hint of a romance but not really, which seemed appropriate. And I for one loved the way Rossi incorporated the spiritual elements into the story. It was just enough not to overwhelm and yet give both context and attention to the story.
Overall I don't think I'd have nearly the high opinion of this book were it not for Dan Bittner's narration. The guy just brought Gideon to life. It was really a pleasure to experience the story via his "becoming" Gideon.
In the end I don't know how I feel about reading a sequel; it will depend on the narrator. But if Bittner does it, I will likely keep going.
There were several elements about this story I really liked - the focus on the action, an appropriate amount of attention given to the romance, the spiritual elements interspersed within the story, the main character. But there were also things I found lacking: the overall storyline's incorporation of fantasy with realism, the combative relationship existing within a clearly missioned cooperative, the detail and generally storytelling within the confines of the main character relating what happened.
Here's the problem. I just had to suspend my disbelief too many times. Obviously you have to do some degree of this with urban fantasy. But here, too many things just didn't fly. We get the whole story from Gideon as he relates it to this person who's holding him hostage. But it doesn't sound like a 19-year old guy telling it; it sounds like an author writing it. If it had just been explained a different way to distinguish where he's talking and then when it lapses into the actual story, that would have helped. Maybe the author does this in the print version using italics and paragraphs, but on audio, it just didn't translate.
Other times: getting the military involved in an operation involving demons? OK, but really? They didn't seem to even blink an eye at this whole supernatural thing. That was a bit of a stretch. Gideon's reaction to a painful event near the end was kind of underwhelming. And why, when it was so clear that forming a team was critical, was Gideon so antagonistic toward Marcus? That just didn't make sense to me.
On the other hand, I loved Gideon and his general view of life. He's a little full of himself and the whole military thing which plays out really nicely. But he's really likable in spite of that. There are some great lines in the book. There's the hint of a romance but not really, which seemed appropriate. And I for one loved the way Rossi incorporated the spiritual elements into the story. It was just enough not to overwhelm and yet give both context and attention to the story.
Overall I don't think I'd have nearly the high opinion of this book were it not for Dan Bittner's narration. The guy just brought Gideon to life. It was really a pleasure to experience the story via his "becoming" Gideon.
In the end I don't know how I feel about reading a sequel; it will depend on the narrator. But if Bittner does it, I will likely keep going.