Princess of Wands

By: John Ringo

Narrated by: Suzy Jackson

Audie Award Nominee, Fantasy, 2013

Special: distinguished by some unusual quality... Circumstances: a piece of evidence that indicates the probability or improbability of an event...

Barbara Everette, a homemaker living in a small town in Mississippi, had the perfect life. Perfect husband, perfect children, perfect house, perfect Christian Faith. She cooked and cleaned perfectly and managed all of the chores of the modern suburbanite, toting the kids, running the PTA, teaching kung-fu in the local dojo... perfectly. But perfection has a price, and the day came when Barbara snapped. She simply had to have "one weekend off". God had to grant her that much. It said no where that she was a slave. Waving goodbye to her hapless, entirely undomestic husband, she set out on the quest for a weekend of peace and maybe some authentic Cajun food.

Detective Sergeant Kelly Lockhart, New Orleans Homicide, had a perfect record on his latest case: not a single suspect. And there should be at least five or six, given the DNA traces on the many bodies. Furthermore, his sole really outstanding clue, a mysterious fish scale, had disappeared into the recesses of the FBI Crime Lab. But the old fortune-teller was sending him into the bayou, down in the land of authentic Cajun food, on the track of a mysterious pimp with the admonition to "watch for the Princess". Or die.

Barbara and Kelly were heading to a rendezvous that might be fate and might reveal the hand of God. There was more cooking in the swamps than jambalaya. Unknown to either, the mystery of the Bayou Ripper had Special Circumstances.

©2005 John Ringo (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Suzy Jackson performs with aplomb, making the vivid characters come to life.... Her variety of female voices makes it easy to differentiate the characters, and her deep, gruff voices for men are fully believable. Listeners will be drawn into Barbara's world and find themselves happily rooting for the good guys as Barbara works to save the day." (AudioFile)

Not my favorite Ringo, but good

John Ringo is always good and this was good, but I'm not a fan of short stories and this is basically several shorts put together.

Not a Novel but a collection of 3 short stories

This is not a novel but a collection of 3 short stories based around the book's heroine Barbara Everette, a very religious, gun toting, martial arts & weapons expert who sees her self as a christian homemaker but who who's antics when she goes into action is best described as a souped up Lara croft.

The description given by Audible is basically for the first story where Babara is "taking a break from the family". Her couch potato husband main concern about her going away for a few days, is who is going to wait on him and the look after the children.

The second story is based around a Convention and the last is a very short one based around her home home turf.

The first is probably the best paced.

The second drags a bit but the action kicks in at the end.

The last well I will leave that one to you it seems more a filler.

I am trying to understand who this book is aimed at

If you are religious you may like it, but there is a lot of violence, gore & demonology especially near the end of each story and whilst the heroine is very religious all bets are off once the action starts she does not believe in turning the other cheek.

If a book with a fair bit of religious overtones turns you off then you probably would not like this book.

You might be upset because the description given by audible / the publishers does not state this is a collection of 3 short stories & not a novel.

The Stories are linked by Barbara Everette and yes another world wide society which exists in secret to fight evil.

The narrator is excellent.

mixed

First book slow start. Stronger finish. 2nd book ok start with info dump and then long tedious middle with no point and final one good fight at the end. Needed more action driving plot & less dialogue.

Not your average supernatural tale.

This is not the normal supernatural story. I knew that when I first read the hardcover back when it came out. It has a very different approach to the supernatural than what one normally sees, and it makes for a very entertaining world.
The Bubba Likes It. Do Recommend!

Ringo taking a different storyline and nailing it

wasn't really sure what to expect, I am a big fan of John Ringo for the Paladin of Shadows series, but I got this I don't really know why. But I really enjoyed it, I've already bought the next one, and I wish there were more beyond that but I know you're not right now at the time of this review. Hopefully that changes.