Engel

A Novelette of Terror

By: Grant Palmquist

Narrated by: David Winograd

Length: 1 hr and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

THE ULTIMATE HORROR HAS BEEN UNLEASHED UPON THE UNSUSPECTING CITY OF POE, TEXAS.

An advertisement comes on TV one night encouraging Charlie to murder his boss, and he begins to wonder whether he’s losing his grip on reality…

Across town an archangel visits Adam that same night and reveals an unfathomable evil skulking beneath the surface of society, a hidden wickedness that will alter Adam’s life in ways he never could have imagined…

The torturous paths of Adam and Charlie will collide in the novelette Engel.

©2013 Grant Palmquist (P)2014 Grant Palmquist

Classic battle between good and evil

Any additional comments?

A good short novella from Grant Palmquist. This one was quick and well written. The audio moved a bit slow for me, but as I got used to it, the story flowed more. A classic battle between good and evil.

be careful what you wish for

I listened to Libertines first. The are not technically (as far as I could tell) a part of a series but could be. You do not have to read either to understand the short story of the other but the entire horns idea makes a statement in both.

David Winograd comes back for this one and I just love (again) his take on this story. The inflections are so perfect! When a person should absolutely not be all excited and happy, they are. That’s the first sign to maybe something is not right. But it really is so much more than that. The inflections match the story and Charlie’s persona. I mean, who fantasizes about strangling their boss? Well… probably quite a few people! Which again is why this is so scary. It hits the truth behind humanity’s facades.

What would you really wish for? I think this once again goes into that entire “be careful what you wish for” thing. And even in such a short story, some serious themes come out. Mainly the fact that again, humanity just is not nice.

I actually really like Charlie. He’s a bit strange of course. And a bit of a hermit. I think that allows these thoughts to go even further and for him to progress into this archangel’s ideas.

Really fun read! Again, dark but I’m learning that Grant Palmquist is great at the darker stories.

Audio was so good that I cannot wait to listen to, or read, more of Grant’s stuff. I did enjoy the plot more of Libertines but it seems a bit more progressed.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

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Engel

What did you love best about Engel?

David Winograds reading of it

What was one of the most memorable moments of Engel?

The tv commercials

What does David Winograd bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He makes every story sound believable.

If you could take any character from Engel out to dinner, who would it be and why?

No one.It was a pretty violent book.

Any additional comments?

I liked this book to a point.The storyline was fine,We all want to get rid of someone in our lives,except for the bloodshed.David Winograd was a perfect choice for this books character voices.He just has a way of making every one believe him.

Enjoyable horror novelette, for the most part.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed Engel quite a lot in the first couple of chapters. Charlie seemed like an average guy with average struggles and I could actually relate to him. He wished his life was different but since he did not like conflict he never did anything about it.
Then we meet Adam, who in a way has a lot in common with Charlie but, unlike feeling tempted by evil, he has a very strong sense of faith.
And that is around the time I stopped enjoying the story as much. Charlie was no longer someone I had interest in see developing because there was no character development. His descent was way too sudden, as well as Adam's ascent, and the ending felt extremely rushed.

David Winograd's narration was overall pleasant, though I found some voice inflections a tad annoying at times, particularly in the first few chapters, when actions were enumerated. Others were spot on, especially when making evil thoughts seem so nonchalant. Who hasn't wished the bad people in their life would go away?
I have to say I did not particularly like the narrator's take on each voice, though. It was difficult to tell who was speaking at times - a character would sound like another, particularly when their emotion changed -, but what I disliked the most was that most characters sounded stupid, almost moronic. I get making 'Seth' sound like that but I don't understand the others. Eddie was particularly bad.
So even though I enjoyed the narrative bits for the most part and felt engaged in the story, I did feel that the tone conveyed to it was almost one of mockery, and I wished it would have been more 'sober', at lack of better word.

Overall I had a good time listening to Engel; even if rushed, there were still some enjoyable concepts in the book, so I will leave the rating at 3 stars.


Disclaimer: I won this audiobook in a Rofflecopter giveaway.

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