Incarnate

The Incarnate Accounts, Book 1

By: Justin Schuelke

Narrated by: Tyler Schuelke

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Murder me once, shame on you. Murder me twice....

Emery Luple hunts monsters, solves crimes, confronts myths, and does it all in style. So it’s downright embarrassing when he’s killed in the unforgiving desert while hunting a monster that never should have been there.

The good news? He reincarnates into a new life—and not for the first time.

The bad news? Someone knows who he is and how to kill him. Within minutes of reincarnating, he's nearly killed again. And Emery doesn’t know anything about his murderer. All he has are his instincts and a voice in a sandstorm.

But a string of grisly murders in New York draws him back into the world of investigation, mythical creatures, and mystery. Unexpected feelings, a rival monster hunter, and supernatural beheadings soon have Emery questioning if his death isn’t a part of something bigger. Can he solve the current crimes before his murderer finds him again?

©2020 Justin Schuelke (P)2022 Justin Schuelke

Thoroughly enjoyed!

This was a great story! I loved the writing style and the way in which the protagonist engaged with the reader/listener. I look forward to seeing where the next installment leads…

What an enjoyable ride

I don't remember how I spotted this audiobook and bought it, but I'm glad I did. It was a fun ride.

The author created an incredibly likable protagonist and sidekick as well as an adorable love interest who can hold their own. They also created a fantastically unchanging antagonist who uses humans like tools. While definitely written for the young adult market, it's still an enjoyable read for an adult. This urban fantasy centers around the concept of incarnates, immortal representations of stories that are so fixed in the human psyche that they become alive. If humans forget them, they will die permanently rather than the 1001 days they are dead between each reincarnation.

So each 'creature' we meet in the stories is some sort of incarnate - monster hunter incarnate, genie incarnate, NYC sewer alligator incarnate, headless horseman incarnate... each of the stories blends well into this one and the author did a fantastic job of throwing in several red herrings. I'm laughing now that I've typed that because while I didn't intend it as a pun, anyone who listens to or reads this book will see it as one.

Another thing the author does exceptionally well (And most authors who attempt it bomb at this) is they broke down the fourth wall. If you don't know what the fourth wall is - it's the metaphorical space that separates entertainment from audience. It was called such on the stage when actors would talk directly to the audience instead of not noticing they were there. At first, the breaking out of the story was jarring, but after awhile, I got why they did it and listened intently whenever our protagonist Emery popped out of his tale to talk directly to us the reader. All sorts of wonderful nuggets of information were learned in those pre-chapter 'classes'.

The narrator did a fantastic job. Hopefully their voice range will expand with each recording, but they did give Emery a specific voice as well as Caden and Morrigan. Many of the other voices were the same, but that didn't bother me too much. He had such an engaging voice and the way he told the story it felt like Emery was indeed telling us his immortal story.

I didn't give 5 stars mainly due to the fact the story did drag at times. I switched from audiobook to ebook during those times because I can read faster than listen. But I highly suggest this novel. I'm hoping the next two books hit audible soon.

Amazing Story

This story is fantastic! Also Tyler does an excellent job of bringing my favorite characters to life! I've read the book before but listening to it blew me away. Being able to hear the story gave me a front row seat to the action.

Good

Good. Really liked this take on the reincarnated myths/fairy tales idea, esp compared to Once Upon a Time. The twists and reveals were satisfying, the characters were solid. Interested to see what Shuelke does with this in the future.

The performance is also very good. His sweet tone is fitting for Emory and Kaiden especially.

Perhaps a cup of tea for someone else.

I have been listening to as much gay themed fantasy fiction as I can. As someone who has been starving in a desert without it for so long I am soo happy to see there is more and more on the market. Incarnate by Justin Schuelke has some great new perspectives on the supernatural and the paranormal world. For me personally I felt a little dragged along through most of the book. With the idea of the premise I felt like there were some really cool opertunities to explore some Incarnates and thier abilities that never really paid off. the love story was cute but sort of came out of no where feeling more like it was already bloomed with out ever developing. it is hard to say I didn't like this book, so rather I feel like I wanted to like it more. The reader did an excellent job and I would definitely listen to more books read by Tyler Schuelke.

Love the book!

I love how in this book; even reality can’t bend around a copyrighted Wookiee! Lol!