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)

I liked everything except for Jane's beast.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I might have enjoyed the parts where the beast took over if the story was still told form Jane's pov (even if the animal was in control.) I ended up skipping over the beast's bits of the story.

Do you think Skinwalker needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

That depends on how often the beast's pov appears in the series.

Any additional comments?

I liked the world building and the characters. I would be tempted to buy more from this series if it weren't for the beast's pov.

Love this book.

Would you listen to Skinwalker again? Why?

I would listen to this book again and again. The characters are very entertaining.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Beast was my favorite character.

Have you listened to any of Khristine Hvam’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to most of the rest of the series. All the dream yellowrock books I have listened to so far are very good as well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Enthralling Details

What did you love best about Skinwalker?

The minuitia of interest grabbing detail. Especially regarding panthers and all of our non-primary human senses.

Good story

Just finished the first in the series, ready to see where this goes! Well written and read.

Good Book

I really liked this book. the story was good. the reader was good. I really liked big cat.

Beastly

Jane is a skinwalker, someone who can transform into another creature given the right properties and tools, who hunts rogue vampires. She is summoned to New Orleans to track and remove a rogue who is killing vampires, humans, and cops. But nothing is as it seems as she and her beast look to the past to divine the future, dum dum duuum!

I guess I found another great series that will take me a couple years to finish because I need to listen to other great series I found earlier this year. This book was unique in the way it handled a character named Beast—a panther who lives inside of Jane’s body and is the one in control of Jane’s panther form. Beast’s narration is a little choppy, and I appreciate that this is in reference to how an animal must think if it thought in English. I also liked that this seemed to be a reverse harem, or at the very least, the book supplied readers with some mental eye candy. Although I don’t like one of Jane’s prospects that I’m pretty sure she will seriously consider as endgame. Hopefully “the Joe” will grow on me later in the series. We’ll see.

So, it’s safe to say I liked this novel and I will continue reading the series. But I’d like to quickly list the details as to why Jane only got 4 our of 5 stars from me.


1. I am okay with the main character of a detective/mystery serious not being able to put together the pieces of the puzzle until the end of a novel as long as they get that final “aha” moment, I’m good. Unfortunately, we do not get this “aha” moment at the close of “Skinwalker” and that ultimately takes the lives of some very interesting characters that could have added more intrigue to the rest of the series.
2. Speaking of these two lost characters, I feel like their presence wasn’t really needed here. They could have been utilized, like I said before, throughout the series because of their special abilities and, for one of them, pleasant personality.
3. I felt a tad uneasy with Jane’s uneasiness around Katie’s ladies. Perhaps this is a chance for character growth?

Well, I’m looking forward to what this series brings. My favorite character so far is the Leader of the New Orleans vampires (sorry, forgot his name because it’s been a few days.) So, if he’s my favorite, I’m certain he’ll die or something else terrible will happen to him? We’ll see…

Most original sci-fi I've read in ages.

Faith Hunter is one of my favorite authors.
Her series about Jane Yellow Rock is mesmerizing.
Narration isn't bad. I certainly wasn't expecting Leo to sound like that. lol
What I don't care for is the cost. Being a member we thought we would get a better discount.

How refreshing

This book makes an exceptionally nice change from others in this genre, mainly because the protagonist is a strong, independent woman who actually likes herself, and is comfortable with her lot in life. It's very nice to read a story in which the heroine isn't complaining endlessly about her life, or gnashing her teeth over how to make some preternatural being fall in love with her.

There are a few weak points concerning the writing; another reviewer mentioned that the writer points out her own jokes fairly often, and this really IS kind of annoying. The dialogue is kind of stilted in places, and a significant portion of the book is written from the POV of her cat-spirit, which takes a bit of getting used to.

For those who are tired of the violent and/or explicit sex that's so prevalent in urban fantasy, you'll find this book a nice change.

All in all, I consider this a good, solid debut novel in the Jane Yellowrock series, and I look forward to reading more.

Nice Twist on the Traditional

OK this is a great twist on the traditional interpretation of vampires, witches and skinwalkers, especially the part about mass having to go somewhere. After I got used to the beast's narration and how she thinks acts and speaks as the beast I was go to go. I admit it was a shock at first but the narrator handled it well and the author put a great twist on the ordinary. I loved it, and I am hooked.

Excellent.....

Love this story, the charaters in this story are very interesting which add to the storyline, K.Hvam is a wonderful narrator and makes the story. Jane Yellowrock a skinwalker doesn't know all her powers, as the series travels, you see JY grow, makes friends, finds love, loses love and finds herself.