The Darkest Whisper

Lords of the Underworld, Book 4

By: Gena Showalter

Narrated by: Max Bellmore

Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern...until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she'd fall for a kind human who wouldn't rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora's box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love.

Don't miss the other books in the Lords of the Underworld series.

©2009 Gena Showalter (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Very good addition to the series :D

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked Gwendolyn and Sabin...even though they both had personality traits in the beginning that I wasn't exactly thrilled with. The story was pretty good and did well at keeping me engaged.

Gwendolyn "the Timid" is a harpy that's not at all comfortable with her darker half. To be honest, it seems like she's mostly come to the conclusion that she's weak based on the fact that her mother is convinced her father was an Angel and this will obviously make Gwen a weak harpy. Gwen has 2 older sisters that love her dearly but they tend to protect her to the point of smothering.

Sabin is one of the immortals that were responsible for the opening of Pandora's box and releasing the most evil demons upon the world. The Greek gods decided that the demons should be bonded with the men responsible as a way to imprison the demons and punish the men. Sabin is host to the demon of doubt.

Sabin is probably the most fervent fighter against the hunters that have been trying to kill/imprison the LotU most of their existence. He'll do anything to fight them and in the past, his unrelenting need to fight the hunters caused a schism between the LotU and the 2 groups just recently started working together again. In a search for an artifact that the hunters are also after, Sabin and company come across a temple that the hunters turned into a prison for immortal/paranormal women. They soon realize that the hunters were using the women as breeding stock in order to raise halfling hunters to fight the LotU. Gwen is one of the women imprisoned (although luckily she couldn't be drugged and the hunters found her too dangerous to touch) and Sabin is the one to rescue her. Once she's free, Gwen's harpy comes out in response to a hunter and Sabin suddenly sees Gwen as a possible weapon.

The LotU let all the other women go but Sabin insists on taking Gwen home with them. Gwen could escape but doesn't when she has the chance and she's not sure why. She's strongly attracted to Sabin but she's not exactly happy at the idea of being his weapon that he just wants to point and shoot. Sabin is attracted to Gwen but his demon is desperate to cause doubts and since Gwen is so timid already, Sabin is sure she'd never be able to handle his demon. He tries to keep things distant between them because of this, but that doesn't last very long. Things get more interesting when Gwen's sisters come to see how Gwen is doing and of course the hunters make themselves annoying multiple times. Sabin and Gwen's relationship isn't easy...especially since he made clear to her in the beginning that he'd do anything (including cheat on a girlfriend) to win the war against the hunters. Thankfully, Sabin pulls his head out of his butt and he and Gwen are able to work things out, ending the story with a HEA together.

This was a very good story. I liked Gwen. In the beginning, I didn't like her being weak/timid but it wasn't done in an overly annoying way and she soon evolved and grew which made me like her even more. Sabin started out so callous and it made me have some trouble liking him at first but he soon turned things around. The story was very good and kept me interested throughout so I'd recommend it and the series (so far). :)

Great adventure, each book gets better as you move forward

Saben's story is sad but full of adventure and action. Definitely a great fun read.

Can't Get Enough

I can't get enough of the Lords of the Underworld. I have to say that Sabin's story has been the best so far. The narrator could use a little bit more work. Some of the voices for the male characters sound the same.

Ahhh!

Really enjoyed the storyline and the twists, but Gwen makes me so mad. You see Sabin's character change a bit, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know these men do Anything for their women, but still...curious to read the next story and see what how the Lords feel.

No doubt this is a great addition to the series.

If you like the previous books, this is a great addition. Don't start with this book defiently needs to be read in order. I like that the story is evolving and becoming more complicated with each book. I was so engrossed the story went by very quickly.

Others have complained that the editing was bad and that they heard Max Bellmonre request a retake, but that must have been fixed so I recommend to those folks to re-download it to have the better version in their library.

Next time someone calls you a Harpy, say thanks!

Before I delve into my review of the story I want to quickly note that the narration in this book is excellent and very much on par with the previous stories. I loved this book. I love these books. My favorite aspect to the LOTU novels is that although there is definitely a primary character each novel is focused on Ms. Showalter brings relevant story lines in and out of the primary plot flawlessly. This is really effective in making me look forward to the next story since there isn't an abrupt ending of one story and passing of the baton to the next lord. The transition from story to story is much more organic than that, also the author does not resort to cliffhangers and abrupt unfinished endings in order to get readers to buy into the next novel. She also brings formerly featured lords and their mates back so they stay relevant and we get to hear about how they are progressing. Many series try to do this but no one does as good of a job.

The two main character Sabin and Gwen are a wonderful set of protagonists. Sabin, who is possessed of the demon doubt, is a complex character. While he has the usual alpha characteristics that seem to be so popular in contemporary hero novels it serves as a really nice foil to the concept of self-doubt. Gwen is an amazing character. Her progression to submissive captive to self-assured can hang with the lords tough girl is inspiring and engaging. I don't think I tuned out or drifted away from this story the entire time I was listening. I really like the first story in this series and each subsequent installment I have enjoyed more and more. There is no doubt that this novel is worth the credit I spent on it. I can't wait to hear.

This whole series is great.

This recording doesn't finish the book its broken. Around chapter 20/21 it goes back to Chapter 1.

enjoying

I have enjoyed reading these books. thanks to a friend who recommended them to me.

thank you so much Gena you are amazing

I don't know what my life would be like without these books. thank you Gena

I love, love, love this series!

this is not the first time I have read/listened to this series! I love everything about this group of warriors!! Amazing!