Ash

By: Luke Romyn

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A former mercenary turned blind priest, Ash is running from his amoral past - a victim of a power-hungry corporation, Titanus, which used him for mysterious experiments, discarding him when he lost his sight.

Through its experimentation, Titanus unwittingly created a dark mirror world called Shade, a place where no human can survive - except for Ash. By opening a rift, Ash can escape into Shade, where his vision is restored, his wounds heal more quickly, and, if necessary, he can drag his attackers in with him, turning them to dust.

While attempting to implement a global teleportation system, Titanus makes a grave error and opens several dangerous rifts, which threaten to tear the planet apart. Believing Ash to be the only one able to close them, Titanus exploits those Ash cares about most to coerce him into cooperating.

But the creatures they have inadvertently released from Shade will be the least of their worries.

©2019 Luke Romyn (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Great characters and awesome story line

Story one is the base for the Ash series and really draws you in. With characters you will adore and want to hear about, the book really does compel you to keep going, long after you said you’d put it down to get busy doing something else.

A good listen

This is a good listen and will keep you interested but its a slow developing story. Once it gets going ... You will find yourself fully involved with the story. Ash is a butt kickin fella!

Simply Brilliant

Ash is the latest supernatural thriller from Australian author Luke Romyn. Aside from the typical heart pounding action that Romyn adds to all his work he brings a plethora of well developed, new characters that are sure to become favorites for years to come. Luke not only gives an action packed story but also teases the intellect with the very nature of the Universe itself.

ASH is incredible

This character is a step above your normal hero. The depth of morality developed in Ash is extraordinary. The narrator’s voice drew me in and kept me completely immersed in the story from beginning to end. Highly recommend.

Awesome Audio Book.

Best audio book that I listened to this year. I highly recommend this audio book.

Awesome story

Jay Snyder tells the story. He does not just read it. I found this book by searching for him. The story is great and believable. I hope there is an ASH 2!

Great Intense Science Fiction

This is such a great story! The narrator is fantastic and it is jam packed full of intense scenes. It has great characters and a great plot!

The editor phoned it in

in That moment...
or
at that moment....
is used HUNDREDS of times. It's unnecessary to begin with. If you delete every instance of those two phrases, the story is the same.
further, even though the narrator was good, he kept transposing one of the main characters names from Harold to Howard.
which should have wound up on The Cutting Room floor, but didn't.... which is sad because the story in my opinion was pretty good.

An action packed nail biter from beginning to end!

I enjoyed this book very much. Very well written and kept my attention and interest. I would love to see a sequel to this book or even better a prequel! So mush of Ash is still a mystery.

Good story tho ladies underutilized

This story sucked me in right away. I do love my urban fantasy but this story had a unique twist that caught my attention right away. Ash is (mostly) blind in our world but can see in this alternate world he calls Shade. He does have a kind of quick flash radar in our world that lets him kind of see non-living objects like buildings and vehicles and weapons. Toss on the global conspiracy baddie, Titanus, and you have an action-packed tale.

Ash is interesting because of his past, which we learn in small bits. He wasn’t always a good guy and his need to do the right thing is a relatively new thing in his life. And now a deadly part of that past has driven him out of hiding. I loved the whole mystery of it – Ash’s past, his special abilities, Titanus, and later, the other beings that see m to be from this alternate world.

I did do a sad little sigh though when the plot decided to fridge one of the very few female characters. Ugh! Honestly, it killed the mood. Ash would have been just as interesting, just as determined had the plot not fridged this one particular coin, essentially turning her into emotional coin. There were few enough ladies in this story to begin with, mostly of romantic interest. So, yep, the ladies were under utilized across the board. Yvette had a small role but she was catching on quickly, especially once her daughter Cass was threatened. Samantha was just a lot of fun to hate.

For most of the book, I enjoyed the pacing. Plenty of action! But I found myself starting to get a little battle fatigue as the tale drew out. I had plenty of questions about Ash and his past, and also Titanus. I would have liked a bit more reflection and I think that would make the action stand out more. Oh, and I just have to point out that the story tells us plenty of times that Ash doesn’t like people to grab his arm or hand to lead him around like a small child, and yet he will allow it this time… and this time… and this time. So it appears that Ash doesn’t mind it all that much since he lets it happen without complaint so many times.

OK, back to the good points. I really did enjoy the bad guys, mostly working for Titanus. They don’t have all the answers either but don’t seem to mind flying by the seat of their pants as long as murder and mayhem are part of it. Harold and his dog Jasper were fun and I like the way Ash handles Harold’s casual racism and sexism and homophobia. Ash did it in such a way as to make Harold feel valued even as Ash makes it clear he doesn’t condone Harold’s racism, etc. I also want to know more about Scruff (a creature that shows up later in the story). In short, I’m interested in continuing the series, especially if the ladies get better roles. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Jay Snyder has a great voice for Ash – deep, commanding. Snyder also did a variety of regional and international accents. All the character voices were unique and the ladies sounded feminine. The pacing was perfect and there were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Luke Romyn. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.