Skinwalker

Jane Yellowrock, Book 1

By: Faith Hunter

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind - a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps.

©2009 Faith Hunter (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Nominee - Judges' Award for Best Paranormal Audiobook, 2011

"A new, strongly unique voice in the dark fantasy genre." (Kim Harrison)

"Hunter's very professionally executed, tasty blend of dark fantasy, mystery, and romance should please fans of all three genres." ( Booklist)

"Khristine Hvam portrays Jane with an adventurous-sounding voice edged with a twang.... Hvam’s voices for the Louisiana locals whom Jane learns to love and respect.... augment an intriguing story with hints of Native American mysticism." ( AudioFile)

Strong female lead with a sense of humor

Would you listen to Skinwalker again? Why?

Probably not as there is not a lot of depth to the story but will read more of the series.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jane Yellowrock. A strong female with a good sense of self despite a difficult childhood. Also liked her sense of humor.

Mystery is afoot!

I wasn’t sure if I would like this series or not. I had a feeling it would be a bit darker than I’m used to reading/listening to. But after listening to the first 2 chapters, I liked the main character & the mystery of who done it was very intriguing.
In the end, I really enjoyed the story a lot more than I thought. Yes, it’s a bit dark, but not as bad as I initially thought. The main character is entertaining & the over all storyline was gripping at times. I appreciate the inner thoughts of Jane Yellowrock and was wondering if that is how my cat thought as well. He is always hunting me down for kibble every chance he got. lol!
I also really enjoy mysteries stories & this one was quite a good mystery. There were a few times where I thought I knew who did it, only to discover I was wrong yet again throughout the story.
Overall, if the murder scenes (while descriptive) isn’t as bad as some other mystery books I’ve read/listened to. Some can be a bit too descriptive yet this one had just enough to set the scene but not enough to over do it. And I have a pretty active imagination too. I think I make some scenes worse than they really are, probably because I watched too many sci-fi scary movies. lol!
I think I will be continuing on with this series, as I would like to see where it goes & how Jane Yellowrock evolves. If anything, I like to know what happened to her when she was a young child. So I’m off to the next book!

Buffy's Big Sister

Jane Yellowrock is a Cherokee skinwalker (a shapeshifter). She makes her living by hunting and killing rogue vampires in New Orleans.

This series is similar to another urban fantasy series about a female shapeshifter called Mercy Thompson. The main difference is that Jane is an apex predator in her world. In a one-on-one fight, she has no problems taking on an alpha werewolf or an elder vampire.

Anyone that likes a strong, confident, independent female lead that wears leather and rides choppers should definitely give this series a try. The story is action packed and the narrator has different, distinct voices for each character.

Paranormal/mystery/vampire novel

I'm not a fan of most vampire books however the 2 "Jane Yellowrock" books I've listened to (and they are on sale the first week of October 2012) are more mystery than gory vamp books...and I like them.

There is a bit of romance but not lots..and I really like that I wasn't able to figure out the "Who Done It" myself, since I consider these books paranormal mysteries more than anything else.

If you enjoy this kind of mystery I'd really recommend buying these books right now-the sale price is a winner...Thanks Audible for introducing me to another author.

The narrator, Khristine Hvam does a really good job with the southern accents-but I like the way she 'does' The Beast best of all....and The Beast is too cool for words.

Ok story with terrible narration

I do enjoy a good urban fantasy, so I was looking forward to this audiobook series. Unfortunately, Khristine Hvam kills it for me. There are a variety of reasons. First, she has much too much of a nasal "head voice" for the protagonist, detracting from the toughness of the character. Secondly, her southern accent went in and out and varied in regional dialect from southeastern to western drawl. The thing that got me most irked was her lack of understanding in terms of speaking her lines. So many times she misreads the emphasis needed in a sentence, destroying the meaning or intention of the line.
I own the next two books on kindle as well as audible, so I'll probably end up just reading them if this same narrator is used.

Should Have Red It Long Time Ago!!!

Sadly I bought this book last year, but I wasn't in the mind set to read it at the time.. But now I'm kicking myself for not reading it at the time.. This is a really good book and a good series, just got the 2nd and 3rd, and will get the rest afterwards.

Jane is hired by vampires to kill a crazy vampire who is killing vampires and humans , no one knows who is it and she starts investigating. I kept on thinking that it will be a simple plot nothing wow about it and no twists, but I was wrong, too many interesting twists happen in this book and its ending is good. And during this book and I assume the rest of the series, Jane gets to know more and more about her past and who she is, its always to discover who is the main character when she doesn't know her past that well.

Pick it up, you will like it.

Kristin is Jane/Beast (LOVED IT)

Listened for Fun (Audible)
Tracking Books Read Review
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.75
Character Rating: 4.25

Audio Rating: 5.00 (not part of the overall rating)

First Thought when Finished: Skinwalker was not what I expected at all and I liked it! The split personality (for lack of a better description)of the lead character Jane made me not only like her but sort of understand her potential "love triangle" (though I am not a fan of them so I am hoping for quick resolution). I loved the mystery and side characters so very much (hoping we get more of the BF and daughter). This is a series I will stick with!

Audio Thoughts: Narrated By Khristine Hvam and she knocked it out the freaking park! I really felt she was Jane/Beast. She pretty much nailed the guys voices too. IMPRESSED! I already know this will be an audio series for me!

Loved It

Any additional comments?

Great narration. I like to list this first as it can make or break a story.

Loved this story. Easy listerning and very entertaining. Will be impatiently waiting for any new books in audio from this author.

I really enjoy it when readers with similar reading interests list their favourite authors and series. It really helps me find new authors too follow. Mine are Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost, Jennifer Estep, Faith Hunter, Molly Harper, Ilona Andrews, Kresley Cole, Deborah Harkness, Nalini Singh, Coreene Callahan and Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Happy Reading

A decent start to a UF world

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This was a worthwhile listen and a decent start to an urban fantasy series. The concept of her inner beast was interesting. Jane's tough chick persona was laid on a bit thick, but one would hope that the author will tone it down as the series unfolds.

Would you be willing to try another book from Faith Hunter? Why or why not?

While this book did not have quite the immediate appeal of some of my favorite UF series (Kate Daniels, Dresden Files, October Daye, etc), I am interested enough to keep going with the series.

What about Khristine Hvam’s performance did you like?

The southern accents were a bit overdone, but it wasn't a bad performance.

Could you see Skinwalker being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

The jury is still out on this. There wasn't really enough in this first book to make me want to watch a series (especially given that there are other series that I think would make a better TV show).

A Little Long But Pretty Good Story

Would you try another book from Faith Hunter and/or Khristine Hvam?

I will probably try the next book in the series, but it was a close call

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Good ending, nice wrap up finally...a little anti-climactic

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I might go see this if it was a movie but it would be hard to imagine her "beast:s" perspective on film...

Any additional comments?

This book had a good overall story but her very long winded descriptions of "Beasts" thoughts was tiresome to me. It was kinda long and wordy too. I was wishing she would get on with the action and story. I will probably try the next book in the series to see if it gets better. I bought this because it is in my favorite type of books and so many had recommended it; but the jury is still out for me on this series.....