Modern Sorcery

The First Jonathan Shade Novel

De: Gary Jonas

Narrado por: Joe Hempel

Duración: 6 h y 13 m

Resumen del Editor

A husband armed with a sword hacks apart his wife in a Denver grocery store. There are dozens of witnesses, and the crime is captured on the security cameras. To the police, it's an open-and-shut case.

To Naomi, the daughter of the couple, it's evidence of dark magic. She hires her ex-lover, a private investigator named Jonathan Shade to prove her father is innocent.

Shade specializes in paranormal cases, but he isn't buying it. Still, he takes the case, hoping to rekindle their relationship. Instead, Shade finds himself mixed up in supernatural intrigue with wizards, magically engineered assassins, and an ancient sorcerer returned to life who's willing to kill anyone who stands in his way.

Too bad Shade doesn't have any magic.

©2014 Gary Jonas (P)2015 Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC

Awesome!

Dresden fans rejoice!!! There's a new paranormal- ish private investigator in town! Expertly voiced, from the homicidal Asian woman to the creepy ghosts, to the main male character! I almost didn't stop to review after book one! I bought this book on sale, as a whispersync, based on a Facebook ad. Well worth it, and thoroughly enjoyable! Loved it!

OK

It was different. You have a PI, Jonathan Shade, whose only claim is that he is immune to magic. So whenever someone is throwing magic around he is tries to engage them in a fist fight, and he has skills. He has the PI thing with entourage of talented individuals; a ghost who is tied to a type writer and his sensei, Kelly Chan. Kelly is indomitable with her sword skills, opinionated, and the best friend Jonathan could have.

This is the first of a series with the characters working together. Situations are set for them for them to a work as a trio. The ghost loose her tether and the sensei’s evaluation of people is proven right on the button so Jonathan will need her to stay grounded. I love Kelly. Her go to action is to kill someone. And Jonathan … well he knows what a fool love can make of someone.

Yes, there is action and magic. I did not get that all time connection with the plot, which is why I did not give 5 stars. I am interested in how they will make a one-person PI service to a working group.

really enjoyable

I start listen not expect much, but this book was great!! I love the twists and trurns, the character's. well worth the listen.

This Audio-book keeps you under it's spell!!

Modern Sorcery is the 1st in a series of books by Gary Jonas. I am very late to the party. My favorite narrator Joe Hempel does the narration on this great little book. The story is fun and engaging. You enter a world where all the things of magic are real. Jonathan Shade is a a Private Detective in this world trying to help is ex-girlfriend clear her fathers name after he murders her mother. The story has plenty of action and suspense. I highly recommend this book.

Mr Hempel has great talent as a narrator. He brings something special to each book he does. The characters becomes living breathing people for the time the book is running through my headphones. If you have not heard his work you are in for a treat.

This review copy audiobook was provided by the narrator free of charge via Audiobook Boom.

Eclectic characters and a great plot

Set in modern day Denver, this urban fantasy audiobook kept me entertained with its eclectic characters and interesting storyline. Jonathan Shade works as a PI who specializes in paranormal cases; he himself can perform no magic, but to his advantage, this also means he is immune to all magic. His side kicks are Esther, a ghost from the 1920's who is "attached" to an old typewriter and Kelly, an engineered Sekutar warrior, who is also Shade's Martial Arts teacher. When ex-fiancée and wizard, Naomi, (who dumped Shade because of his lack of magic) asks for his help in clearing her father of murder, Shade's friends think he has gone insane when he agrees to help her; drawing himself and his companions into the hunt for the resurrected ghost of a powerful wizard who is possessing and killing people. This fast paced, entertaining story has humour, action, magic and some surprising twists. At first I thought I had missed a book, as the major characters all have some back history, but this is the first book in this series and there is no prequel that I could find. I actually liked the depth that the back history gave the characters, it's a little mystery within the story; how did Shade die, how did he get brought back and what did Sharon, his "librarian" friend, have to do with it? Shade is an appealing character with a sarcastic humour and some great one-liners that the narrator manages to pull off very well. Kelly's tough, no nonsense persona and "let me kill them for fun" attitude is also exemplified by the narration, as was her accent. Esther is one of my favourites, she is a fun, somewhat quirky character that you can not help but love. The only character I though lacked substance (no pun intended) was the ghostly villain, though well narrated, I found he just didn't have the same depth as the other major characters. Joe Hempel does a great job of narrating the book, especially with the female voices. He gets the emotions right and gives each character a distinct personality. I enjoyed this book; it had a good plot and the author is creating an interesting world with some captivating characters. I look forward to the next in the series. I received this audiobook at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful Characters, Skakier Plot

This is a hard one to review. I don't usually start off with the bad, but this is a tricky book to review and I want to leave it on a positive note, so bad first. The plot was shaky. It starts off solid, a good "impossible" mystery to solve which leads directly towards the Big Bad, but at the end, it sort of fell apart. I did read another review somewhere where the reviewer stated that it was Johnathan Shade's friends who did all the work... and I'd have to agree. On top of that, the writing needed editing. It could have been really tight, but the writing style began to grate on me after an hour or two of listening. I'm not quite sold on the protagonist. He's got a great voice (heh, more on the narration later), and was quite snarky, but the whole attachment to Naomi seemed... over the top, especially since he'd been planning to marry her five years ago yet she had never said she loved him until this book. Wha...? Ok.... And I didn't enjoy Naomi at all. I rather sided with Kelly in the "Kill her" camp.

On to the good! The side characters were wonderful, especially Kelly, Esther, and Sharon, but I enjoyed all of them (with the exception of Naomi). I see the author has made a spin-off series with Kelly Chan and I am DEFINITELY going to download that one to read (or listen if it's on Audible) as I loved her so. Freaking. Much. I adored Esther. The world itself is interesting, with a few new twists on the urban fantasy genre that I enjoyed. With some editing, the writing could be outstanding and it gives me hope and encouragement to go onto the next book to look for improvements. A first book by an author, and a first book in a series, is a really hard thing to do... and mistakes get made, but people get better. I liked this book enough that I want to see where it goes. Making a comparison to another urban fantasy series starring a wizard (which shall remain nameless here, although Johnathan's a non-wizard which in itself was interesting, but by no means is he normal), that series didn't start off on a great book either, but evolved into something amazing. I see the potential for that evolution here.

I listened to this as an audio book rather than reading a paperback or ebook, so I need to mention the narration. It was outstanding! I've listened to several of Mr. Hempel's books now and I've been impressed every time. He breathes life into Johnathan (who otherwise may have fallen flat for me) and into the other characters as well, giving them unique voices (for the most part--a couple of the C-List characters sounded the same, but they were thugs. I didn't expect much). He helped to make the story exciting, and the audio itself was crisp and clear. I probably would have rated this book lower were it not for the top-notch professional narration. Overall 4 stars. :)

Modern Sorcery

This was a really well written book 1 of a series.Jonathan Shade was dead,now he's not.This makes him the perfect PI because he can travel in living,dead and magical circles to get answers.In this one the father of an old flame kills his wife in a crowded grocery store,but did he DO it?The answer may surprise you.This is narrated nicely by Joe Hempel.I was gifted a copy for free for an honest review.

Interesting Supernatural Story

I liked that there were so many different type of supernatural beings in this book. It made for an interesting story. The characters dos seem a little flat to me though. They had these magical abilities, but they seemed one-dimensional & I didn't get too invested in any of them. The only character I really did feel invested in was Esther, the ghost. So when something happened to her, I was shocked, but with everyone else, they were just part of an interesting story. That being said - it was an interesting story and I do think I would like to to check out the second book in the series to see where the series and the characters are going to go.

Joe Hempel is a great narrator. The main character is the kind of guy who makes jokes all the time. Joe Hempel did a great job capturing the personality in the narration.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom.

Not.your everyday Urban Fantasy.

With Johnathan Shade, Gary Jonas has created a character that isnt the usual powerful wizard or powerfully strong magical creature. Instead, he is a guy who was shot dead, and was given a chance to come back and do some good. His only powers are being able to see ghosts, and being immune to direct magic. The rest is on his own strengths as a good PI, and his friends, including a 20s era ghost tied to a typewriter and a magical assassin named Kelly, who is a great character on her own. There is a grand conspiracy that ties the threads of the book together, and an epic showdown that has a good little twist. All in all, an excellent addition to the urban fantasy genre. As far as narration, Joe Hempel is golden with this one. I really liked the work he did on the female characters, especially Dolores the ghost and Kelly, really giving them individual life. This is the kind of work that has Joe in my top 10 narrator list.

I was given a copy of this book free of charge by the narrator in exchange for an honest review through Audiobook Boom.

the narration brought the characters to life

Any additional comments?

I have received this book in audio format from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

A husband kills his wife with a sword in a grocery store. The case is apparently clear for the police, but Naomi, the couple's daughter, goes in search of Jonathan Shade, a private investigator, because she is convinced of her father's innocence. One of the problems is that Naomi is Jonathan's ex-fiance, who rejected him five years ago because Jonathan is incapable of doing magic.

This is one of those urban fantasy books that feels fresh amid all the traditional epic fantasy. The characters and their relationships are solidly built, and Jonas has given them a past, making them complex and believable. The story is steadily paced and the dialogs are quite dynamic and sound very natural.

Here we also have to thank Joe Hempel, which gave different personalities to the characters, even though in a couple of occasions there were five characters in the same place. This scene was a bit confusing, but this is a very difficult task for just one narrator. The narration was done in a way that one wanted to know more about the story. Hempel was fully committed to it, and it added to the story and the characters, helping to bring them to life and make a good book into a very good one.

Jonas' fantasy world is quite interesting, and I will definitely want to know more about it, especially if it is narrated by Joe Hempel.