A Murder of Shadows

Shadows of Montshire, Book 1

By: John Conroe

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

As the old saying goes: The first is the heir, the second is the spare, and of the third - beware!

Savid DelaCrotia is the third born son of one of the Kingdom of Montshire’s oldest and most respected High families. Cast aside by his father at an early age, it’s up to him to make his own way and create his own honor. With just his horse, his weapons, the clothes on his back and in his pack, and the education that his family provided, he’ll have to go it alone. Luckily, he already has a pretty good idea of what he’s good at - fighting, and woodcraft - not to mention finding hidden and lost items.  

It’s also handy that he already knows exactly how to honor his Kingdom - by serving his best friend, who just happens to be the kingdom’s scary smart princess. But what does a princess who already has everything need? How about her own Shadow? 

From the author of the Zone War trilogy and the Demon Accords series comes a slightly twisted take the genre of high fantasy. Swords and spies meet monsters and magic (sort of) in the world of Nengled and the Kingdom of Montshire. If you’re looking for The Wheel of Time meets Game of Thrones, this isn’t it. Mr. Tolkien, please shield your eyes.   

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 John Conroe (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Surprisingly mediocre

John writes THE BEST sarcastic characters, action, guns, and romance. It sets his books apart. Unfortunately very little of this is in the book.

The setup, lore, and mystery is engaging so do give it a shot.

That didn’t give me enough to stay interested in the last half of the book though. I think he skips over the stories where you get to understand the chemistry between characters leaving me not caring that much about them. I certainly didn’t appreciate the kick in the balls ending.

To evil

Sometimes an Arthur goes to far and creates a character too evil. That’s the case here. I don’t need that in my life even in a fictional fantasy book. I probably will not read anymore of this series. As the saying goes, “ just because you can doesn’t mean you should. “

I prefer the Demon Accords

Murder of Shadows is ok, but it feels rushed to me. It feels like a book 3 or 4, where I'm supposed to know all the characters and what is going on already. I didn't, and I didn't like it. John Conroe has built up a lot of positive regard with me, so I will definitely pickup book 2, but I will be much more interested in the next Demon Accords coming out. I hope this series doesn't mean he's lost interest in the other?

Too perfect

I love the Demon Accords so I had high hopes for this series. This was fun, but it doesn't measure up. Characters are too idealized, the world feels synthetic instead of engaging, and the end result is just bland. It's still good, better than most books you might randomly pick up, but it's not an exceptional experience. I'll probably try the next book to see if it evolves.

Conroe +Cronin = Awesome

I own all but one of John Conroe's books. I love them all. I've listened to this book 2 times now. It takes a little extra effort to get used to Declan O'Carrolls voice coming from a different character. 😃
The story line is excellent. Usually a first book in a series is a little slow, working on world and character building. John Conroe doesn't have that problem. it hints at a far post apocalyptic, midevil time frame, feudalistic political system.
James Patrick Cronin is an excellent narrator. I've picked up other books he has narrated just because he was the narrator. I'm pretty sure he could read the dictionary and make it sound good.

Blah

Conroe's books are entertaining because he has an interesting story to tell; it's not because he creates interesting characters or good dialog. This series doesn't cater to his strengths, because sword & sorcery books are a dime-a-dozen and there's nothing really Conroe-ish here. I won't buy the next book.

In the end I really didn’t like It.

A post apocalyptic paranormal James Bond type story. I so like the previous series that this author has put out but I’m highly disappointed in this one. I cannot quite put my finger on what about this story that I didn’t really like except for the ending. About 3/4 of the way through this story I found I had to force myself to finish it.

A good Beginnings to new story.

I feel this is very good first book to induce the characters and the world to us.Still lots of questions at the end but all good stuff can't wait for the next one

Another great series by MR.Conroe.

A top notch book. A mister of epic fantasy and historical fiction that is well worth the money.
The charters are very relatable and drew you in wanting the hear the next sentence,The next paragraph.To the point that you are surprised wheb you realize the book its coming to an end. J.P.C did a great job as always with is naration. If you enjoyed any of MR. Conroe's other books and are a fan of the fantasy genre you will enjoy thus book.

Better than the other reviews suggest

This book was better than the other reviews lead me to believe. However, it is written in a way some people seem to dislike so I want to provide a disclaimer. Many books begin with a retelling of the MC's life story in the prologue or some other form of significant backstory at the beginning of the novel but this one does not. When the story begins you know very little about any of the characters and you only get bits and pieces of their backstory through out the entire novel. So if that is something you feel is mandatory for you to enjoy a book, because your impatient or require it to become invested in the characters/story, you might want to skip this book.
I thought the book was great, I really enjoy the pacing John Conroe uses in his books so I am likely biased because of it. I also enjoy how he writes his characters, they are always competent and intelligent and never leave me frustrated. You can expect those staples in this book as well.

Derivative, anachronistic, entertaining

This book has a lot of flaws. It's a bit of a random collection of ideas from other stories. There's a bit of James Bond spycraft (including a Q-like character), there's a lot of politics reminiscent of Dune, Deathstalker or Farseer and a bunch of psychic powers also very much like those three with a touch of steampunk thrown in for good measure. The author doesn't quite seem sure whether to use modern or pseudo-medieval vernacular. All that said, I enjoyed it a lot since it's wraps up a compelling story with a cast of characters you can get behind.

Brilliant Storyline amazingly created by JC

Amazingly narrated by the ledgend - James Patrick Cronin. A totally different genre by John Conroe brilliant storyline cannot wait to listen to the next book in the series :)

Great start

I listen to audiobooks all the time, specialy now with quarantine so I felt the book was short but I love every minute of it. this book gave hint of the depth of characters yet to form in the following books, I can't wait.

Another Sparhawk

I agree with a previous poster, it's not epic fantasy and you can certainly see the "joins" but it was enjoyable for all that. The closest I can come is Eddings' Sparhawk, as Savid strongly reminds me of that character and the Shadows are reminiscent of the church knights. However it's obviously a post apocalyptic scenario [I'm guessing Montshire is somewhere between Vermont and New Hampshire], so I'm actually not certain that fantasy is the correct genre, but it has monsters and powers and magic/bio-engineering, with churches banning advanced technology, and I find it intriguing enough that I want to see where it is going and read the next book. That brings me to the ending, which I thought was poor, an abrupt and badly thought out introduction to the next book.
So Pros : It flowed well as a story, the characters were engaging and the backround intriguing enough to make you want to know more.
Cons : The writing was a bit amateurish, the start and finish of the book really let it down and frankly the narration was a bit clunky. The reader has a very laconic style and I found it grating to listen to and lacking in emotion, plus there were audible breath sounds in places, especially towards the end of the book.

No demon accords

Takes some getting into. But stick with it. I hope we find out eventually what happened in the past.

I got so into it I was surprised it ended.

I did not expect the end like you do not expect the last step going down some stairs.
The story got me so good I forgot I was listening.
It was all so natural it just happened. Really great experience.
And this is my main point, the book has a natural stile that makes you forget about the strange world it pulls you into.
The story itself is very interesting. I do not want to spoil anything but as a huge scify fan and someone who likes a more darker kind of fantasy I was very happy with this.
And it also has something of the Witcher to it. Not the main character that all revolves around but the feel of the world.

Great book.

Meh.

Main hero is way too OP to be even remotely interesting. With every virtue and zero character flaws, one keeps hoping for a stray arrow to senselessly hit him in the face. Also, that sign should probably be aluminum.

Great new series

Great new series from a favourite author. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.