• Dying Bites

  • Bloodhound Files, Book 1
  • By: D. D. Barant
  • Narrated by: Johanna Parker
  • Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (398 ratings)

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Dying Bites  By  cover art

Dying Bites

By: D. D. Barant
Narrated by: Johanna Parker
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Publisher's summary

Her job description is the "tracking and apprehension of mentally-fractured killers". What this really means in FBI profiler Jace Valchek's brave new world - one in which only one percent of the population is human - is that a woman's work is never done. And real is getting stranger every day.

Jace has been ripped from her reality by David Cassius, the vampire head of the NSA. He knows that she's the best there is in the business, and David needs her help in solving a series of gruesome murders of vampires and werewolves. David's world - one that also includes lycanthropes and golems - is one with little knowledge of mental illness. An insane serial killer is a threat the NSA has no experience with. But Jace does.

Stranded in a reality where Bela Lugosi is a bigger box office draw than Bruce Willis and every full moon is Mardi Gras, Jace must now hunt down a fellow human before he brings the entire planet to the brink of madness. Or she may never see her own world again....

©2009 Johanna Parker (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Barant's well-developed world offers intriguing enhancements to mythology and history. Jace is remarkable, strong-willed and smart, and she sets an unstoppable pace. Look for the Bloodhound Files to go far." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Dying Bites

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    165
  • 4 Stars
    122
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    186
  • 4 Stars
    104
  • 3 Stars
    43
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    148
  • 4 Stars
    106
  • 3 Stars
    70
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    11

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • K
  • 09-17-12

Not a yawner!

A nice new twist to the old recipe. Not a romance book no sex scenes to speak off but a really good story. Had me giggling a few times which is always a plus in a book.

Johanna Parker does a fantastic narration. It was her narration that encouraged the purchase of this book.

Worth the credit, looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

3 stars is not a reflection at all. I tend to rate pretty tough since I read a lot of this genre. I realized that I would have to get tougher in my ratings so the really really good ones didn't miss out.

5 STARS = Really really fantastic, has me laughing and crying and I stalk the author waiting for the next book.

4 STARS = Leaves me feeling good about every aspect of the story, Authors website is in my favourites and I look for the next story they put out.

3 STARS = Good book, good story, not a waste of a credit at all. Enjoyed it.

2 STARS = Mediocre story or bad narration, not really going to look for the next book and will think twice before using a credit on it.

1 STAR = Sucks, won't waste my time on this again and may not have finished it.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great Series

Jace is a special FBI agent who is recruited by the authorities of a parallel universe to hunt and capture a sociopathic serial killer. In this new parallel world humans make up the minority of the population, with the majority consisting of vamps, weres and gollums. As mental illness is almost exclusively a human condition, this world finds itself ill equipped to deal with the problem of a human serial killer targeting the other races. Jace, a specialist in this field, has been recruited from earth and cannot return until the killer is caught.

This was a great read with equal amounts of action and fantasy and just a dash of romance. Jace is a witty 'bad ass' heroine who kept my interest in her story right through out. The narrator did a decent job and there were no annoying distractions or odd quirks which detracted from the story. All in all it was a good audio and, as the second book in the series has been published in book form for a while now, hopefully the series will continue in audio soon.







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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It was okay, but definetly needs some work!

Can't even decide if I liked the book or not.

The story takes place in an alternate universe where the main character gets pulled out of her world to solve a series of crimes. I just kept asking myself throughout the book why would a universe run by centuries old vampires and other magic creatures, find it necessary to pull a young human FBI agent into their world, at great cost, to solve a series of crimes in a world they were totally unfamiliar with? Too many questions that are intricate to the plot are left unanswered or brushed aside.

The "bad guy" was one of the more interesting/likable characters in the book, but the crimes he commits are absolutely atrocious, so I had to keep reminding myself not to like him. The main character tries really hard to come off as a total bitch by being obnoxious to everyone around her, yet she just goes along with the fact that she has been kidnapped like its no big deal. Did not like her at all.

Haven't decided if I will go any further with this series. I think the author could redeem the series with better character development, toning down the torture murders, and explaining the world and the choices that were made a little better.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An original twist

Would you listen to Dying Bites again? Why?

Yes. Johanna Parker does a great job and the story is original and fun.

What did you like best about this story?

It has a fresh take on the paranormal world and great characters,

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

I have read the books and Johanna Parker really captures the feel and the tone.she has a gift with fun and snarky banter.

Any additional comments?

The series only gets better!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

High Speed Narration Makes Weak Book Worse

What would have made Dying Bites better?

I'm a huge Johanna Parker fan, from the Sookie Stackhouse books, so I know the pace at which she reads. It was immediately obvious, even if I wasn't familiar with the narrator already, that the book was electronically sped up to much faster than anyone can actually speak. That totally destroyed any chance this book had. It sounded awkward and all the nuances were lost in the high speed narration, and it was almost too fast to keep up with.

Other than the awful electronically sped-up pace, the book was pretty weak. I know it's #1 in the series, but the author took a cheap and easy way to feed us all the background details: have another character tell the main character everything. It's also written in the present tense, which is just weird. Ex, "He pulls out a chair and sits down."

I stuck with it for 45 minutes, and I kept trying to decide how much of the problem was the narration speed vs. the book itself. I think that had the storyline been captivating, I could've lived with the narration. After 45 mins, I was not at all invested in the main character, and I felt like I'd just been listening to a long explanation about the alternate universe that the main character was dropped into. It was also just kind of too implausible for me.

I love urban fantasy series books with strong female lead characters and werewolves and vampires etc. For example, some series that I love: Jane Yellowrock, Mercy Thompson, Night Huntress (Cat & Bones, Sookie Stackhouse... So, this one sounded like it was right up my alley. Sadly, this was not worth the credit. I'm going to return it.

How could the performance have been better?

Why why why did they choose to speed her narration up?

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

almost 4 stars

i want to like this book, i think i like this book - the narrator was great but i'm on the fence. The bad guy is good, i like our main heroine but for some reason i can't do a full 4 stars. i'm going to see how book 2 is and go from there.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WHAT A WORLD!

I'm a big fan of this series and had a good time listening to Dying Bites.
I continue to be blown away by the world building. Nothing will work in a parallel world if it's not mapped out properly. It doesn't matter how crazy something sounds, DD Barant has done such a fine job that everything is believable and just works. Add in a great plot, amazing characters and it's an urban fantasy dream come true.
Performance got four stars only because some of the characters' voices seemed a little off and accents slipped on occasion. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. Overall, narration was well done.


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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

FUN!!!! AND!!!! FABULOUS!!!!

There just aren't enough exclamation points for me to express how much I loved this. It had everything that makes a good story for me

- MC with a good sense of humor- CHECK
- New/Unique concept of supernatural creatures- CHECK
- A Boy to love OR love to hate- CHECK
- Potential for more books- CHECK (I already have the next 2 queued and ready)
- A WANT to read the rest of the books, and NOT because of some stupid cliffhanger- CHECK

I know I know, that last one is a little snobby- but all of my favorites have this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

I am now hooked on another series (I need another series like a need a hole in the head)...I really enjoyed this one both the audio and the book. I like the parallel world, and how the histories are the same people (mostly) but different situations....I like the characters and Jace is pretty kick ass...this had everything I like, snark, humor, mystery, adventure...and Cassius....while he appears to be a "good guy" I'm still holding judgement on him...still need more background before I decide...and some of my favorite lines:

*********************************************************************************

Because, as we all know, nothing solves insomnia like a nice warm glass of regret, depression, and self-loathing.

“You can bring three things with you,” the man says. He has no accent, but somehow that just reinforces the idea that he’s a foreigner. In fact, I’m sure this is the first time he’s ever been to my country. “The three things you feel are most instrumental to you doing your job. Choose carefully.” I’m pretty straightforward. I grab my handgun, my laptop, and the carton of ammunition I keep under my bed.

Ah. If whisky is the water of life, coffee is the whisky of Nirvana. “Brain . . . activating,” I mutter. “Will to live . . . returning.”

“I look over at him. He stares straight ahead.
"So," I say. "Golem, huh?"
"I prefer the term 'Mineral-American.”

“Stubborn, too?” “Yes, ma’am,” he says with a smile. “Though I prefer the term ‘option recognition deficient.’

Plausible deniability ain’t just a river in Egypt.”

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Just a little too strange for my tastes

While the narrator was wonderful and the writer talented, I just couldn't get into the characters in this book. I felt that the differences/similarities between the dimensions were not different enough in some cases, but the things that were very different just seemed odd. I just found myself not really caring what happened to the main character and felt she made really bad choices.

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