Draven's Afterlife

King of Kings, Book 1

By: Stephanie Hudson

Narrated by: Russell Bentley

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Afterlife, just a place for an unhappy king to call home or soon to become a beacon of hope when a new waitress falls at his feet?

The Gothic nightclub is about to welcome a new guest, and this time it is one he can’t control. As for Dominic Draven, the king of all supernatural life, handling just one little mortal named Keira should be no problem for him…right?

Wrong!

As she is his chosen one, she is not meant to be ruled by a domineering, overbearing, arrogant boss who is determined to keep her at arm’s length. But instead, she is meant to achieve the impossible and crack the hard shell of an immortal king that is only now learning what it truly means to fall in love.

This is the story of Afterlife, only from the eyes of its king. As you will finally follow Keira’s journey all over again, only through Dominic Draven’s point of view, giving it a whole new and exciting twist on the start of this epic saga.

©2019 Stephanie Hudson (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

For the record, Russell Bentley; Great Job 👍👍

I don't often write reviews. Although I should as many titles as I've listened to. Over 600. But I seem to usually be in a hurry to get to my next book planning to write a review later, and then never seeming to get around to it. Therefore when I do write one as soon as I finish the book it's usually for a good reason. The main reason for this review? The narrator. Id like to start off saying that after listening to almost all the other Afterlife books including what titles are out as of today of the spinoff series books I almost passed on this one because of the ratings. Most of the reviews said the same thing: they hated the narration. Not many seemed to like Russell Bentley as Dominic Draven. I DONOT agree I felt his portrayal was a very good one. Russell doesn't have a deep intimidating voice that I was afraid a narrator would doing this character. This made it so much easier to buy Doms actions against his "Electus" more tolerable. I know after hearing Keiras story why Dom did the unbearable & abhorrent things he did in order to "keep her safe". Which after a while just started to piss me off & start wishing she would just get with Lucious after a while. I felt the narrator brought out a more likable Draven, more realistic for a human girl to fall for.
His portrayal of other characters was so good also & sum were just funny while still sounding true to life. His portrayal of the sleezy car salesman was so good I wanted to wipe off my mouth after Keira kissed his cheek. That one he really nailed, but humorously at the same time. And Frank , u can't help but love the 'awe shucks' country twang in one instance then almost swoon over his fierce love and protectivness for his sister-in-law & love of his wife the next.
So for the record to anyone not sure of getting this one - even if u don't learn much of anything new that u didn't know from Keiras story its definitely worth the credit because if Russell Bentley. I felt Draven needed some humanity & Russell gave that to him in my mind.
You don't have to agree with me but thanks for taking my opinion into consideration by reading my review.

Bring back Rebbeca Rainsford for narration

Love this book so far, but having a very hard time with the narrator. It took me quite a while to enjoy the story because he does not change inflection much and his accents and depiction of the characters are all over the place.

At times it seems Draven sounds slow and a bit stupid. His character needs a strong voice.

I love Stephanie Hudson and would absolutely suggest keeping Rebecca as her audio book performer.

I loved hearing Draven's POV

Well I love Stephanie Hudson and everything to do with the Afterlife Sage, so hearing Draven's side of the story was a no brainer... the problem with this is the narration. His bass in his voice is appealing, but he reads the story in a dreary tone with little inflection. Maybe he is newer to the industry and still need time to work on his craft.

Luckily for me I've learned to adapt my perception when listening to different narrators, so I got past the reader and enjoyed the story.

great story, not great narration

As always I love Stephanie Hudson's stories. However after having Draven built up in the Afterlife Saga, hearing the voice portrayed in this work was a complete let down. Russell Bentley might be fine narrating other stories however he does not have the deep brody authoritative sexy voice that I had built up in my mind. It's a little weird now to picture Draven's character with his voice. I have not at this point finished the story, however I know I will since I have to complete all her books, but it is difficult so far and I'm only on chapter 5. Also the Vincent character sounds like a whiny teenager versus the sultry character he is also supposed to portray. I wish they would audition people for these types of stories, and at least let the author has a say. I doubt this is the person she would have picked to read for Drazen.

Great start

Steph, this book was a good piece of work,but thier was know pay off. too much sexual tension without pay off. we learn nothing off the main antagonist. maybe it will come together in book two.

krop circle LLC.

Draven's point of view

I love hearing Draven's view of meeting and faling in love with his Keria

Not all voices done well.

I like the story and Dominic Draven's viewpoint. Russell Bentley does his voice pretty good. Kiera's voice isn't too bad most times. His other takes on characters, can be abysmal. Vincent , the calm guy, sounds like a bon vivant. Aurora and Celina are not southern. And the southern accent from Frank , whose family is in New England, is just distracting. Please don't use him again. The novels deserve better. And the evil ones are just smarmy.

Not near as good as the original story

First the narrator was flat, Then they tended to skip some good parts. This was to be about the Kings view but did not get deep enough. Love the Afterlife books, this one was disappointing.

Would have been great but the narration is awful.

The narrator's voice sounds too much like Wallace Shawn - Vizzini from Princess Bride. The lisp ruins everything. Not to sound too mean, but his voice makes me cringe during the "adult" bits.

Love Stephanie Hudson's books BUT HORRIBLE NARR!

Draven is supposed to be a stunningly sexy,Alpha Male, in early 30s, & this narrator sounds like an older male pervert! He sounds exactly like the actor Wallace Shawn (look up on Google Images)! I adore Stephanie's series and REALLY TRIED to get past this voice, but I had such a visceral reaction that I ordered a Kindle just so I could read the rest of her books (these 2 from Draven's perspective, the one about Vincent, & the rest of the Transfusion series that aren't on Audible yet). Stephanie, the narrator in the 1st several Afterlife books was wonderful but the other 5 (this guy and the 2 who performed Transfusion & the one who did Vincent's book) did such a disservice to your amazing efforts. Please do what you can to have these reread. Your writing style, sense of humor, and creativity have blown me away--please don't let your narrators limit your potential. Good luck to you!