Bad Moon Rising

Skinwalkers Trilogy, Book 1

By: Lorraine Kennedy

Narrated by: Jennifer Knighton

Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Taming the beast can be so dangerous, but such a delight!

Mya Reynolds lives a painfully ordinary life - that is until she makes the mistake of looking into the eyes of the Sinapu alpha, discovering an all-consuming love that threatens to destroy her and everyone near her.

David Bray has sworn to do everything he can to protect the people. But when his duty requires that he kill the one woman that has managed to capture his heart, he is torn between love and what he knows must be done.

The skinwalkers are an ancient race - practitioners of the dark arts and the living vessels of demons. They have the ability to take the shape of animals and humans alike, and never for good.

The Sinapu are the earthly incarnations of the wolf spirit. It is their duty to protect the heart of the people, but the skinwalkers want access to the heart and will stop at nothing to get it.

When Mya Reynolds agrees to take an internship with the tribal police, she unwittingly steps into the middle of an epic battle between good and evil. But too often the lines are blurred and she cannot be sure whom she can trust.

©2012 Lorriane Kennedy (P)2013 Lorriane Kennedy

Intriguing

What made the experience of listening to Bad Moon Rising the most enjoyable?

You’ll like this if you are into shapeshifters and Native Americans.

Who was your favorite character and why?

David. He's hot.

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

Good voice

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It is a little spooky and sad.

good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Poor narration

I felt like I was listening to a teenager's fanfiction. The overall idea wasn't bad, I liked that it incorporated aspects of Native American lore with the skinwalkers, but the writing needs improvement. Some of the things the characters said seemed stilted or odd, like you wouldn't say that in real life. The way we got the information was in info dumps, which made it hard to follow and I would have liked some more backstory about Mya's birth, but maybe that will come in the next books. It wasn't terrible overall, just maybe could have used an editor to go over it. The narrator also didn't help things, she sounded like she's never read an audiobook before and didn't do a great job with inflection and different voices. Maybe physically reading it would have been better.

Loved it!

This a really great audio book! Loved every minute of it! The narrator did a wonderful job bringing this to life

Had Potential, but Ultimately Disappointing

I'll start by saying that this book did have potential. Native American characters and shapeshifters and magic, could have been a very interesting and engaging combination. Unfortunately, this book is murdered by the execution of it all. Despite interesting subjects, it managed to be very dry, making it a real slog. The romance comes out of NOWHERE. Twilight's love story gets a bum rap, but Edward and Bella had far more chemistry and emotional development than Maya and David. There was far too much "and then Jen said, then Maya said, then Jen said". It comes across as being very novice, and that's before getting into the fact that the heroine was absolutely too stupid to live. The fact that she survived until the end of this book, is an insult to intelligent readers. Her reactions were so incredibly plastic as to be unbelievable. Then the story ends without actually having told you much of a story at all. It's all just a haphazard setup for future books. Furthermore, even if the story had been expertly written and engaging, the narrator would have made you equate it to watching paint dry. She used very strange inflection throughout, often emphasizing entirely the wrong part of a word or sentence. None of her male voices were convincing. Her mispronunciation of even basic words was enough to make you want to rip your hair out. Somehow, despite the multiple deaths and mysteries and emotional upheaval and "romance" involved in this story, she managed to be almost entirely monotone, except when she was doing a weird cranky baby doll voice for Jen when talking to Maya. Frankly, the adults in a Charlie Brown episode could have done just as well, and I hear they work cheap.

I received this audiobook free of charge, in exchange for an honest review.

Not horrendous, but not good either

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator needs acting lessons. Her delivery is stilted. Her voice is fine, but she doesn't make the characters sound real. You never feel like you're there.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger that such a poor performance was allowed. And disappointment that the author didn't write a very good story. She didn't make the unbelievable, believable. And the quotes and phrases her characters used were very ordinary and didn't always match the situation.

Any additional comments?

Divided on whether to try book 2 and hope for improved writings skills from the author. I think this author has many other older books under her belt and this was still bad, so I'm leaning toward not continuing the series. Having the same narrator is also a deciding factor.