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.

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.

Good story, strange use of cliches

This felt like an excellent story written by an inexperienced writer. An example is using the expression “they performed their ablutions” - no one uses this anymore. Unsophisticated sexual jokes, incorrect use of words, and awkward character development made the listening painful. The narrator sounded too serious for such a light story.

In spite of all that, I listened all the way to the end because the story was good and I wanted to find out what happened. The ending was a lead in to the next book, but I won’t buy the sequel unless it gets a new edition.

A thorough edit and a more playful reading would make this actually good.

They did it again!!

Another great novel by John Conroe, and excellent narration by James Patrick Cronin. I highly recommend this book. Good story line, interesting characters, and an ending that leaves you antsy for the next book in the series.

sad to say, nothing really happened.

so i love Mr. Conroe. i will read anything he writes. but as im reading this book i kept thinking "ok when is something going to happen?". its a good and interesting story but its pretty much about bad ass warriors who don't really do anything cool the whole book.

Okay Seal Team 6 in Medieval Times

Well, technically it’s more a post-apocalyptic pseudo-primitive society, but still, that’s basically it. ‘Leet Operators working with anachronistic tech. It’s not a bad story, but it’s taken down a bit by the two-dimensionality of both Good and Bad characters, with everyone a little too talented and too good looks, or blindly Evil. The writing is equally shallow. Ever notice no one says goodbye on the telephone in movies? Just deliver the plot points and hang up the phone. You’ll feel that again as conversations don’t finish and in-between moments are elided — bare minimums across the board.

I Got Played

I dislike the fantasy genre's practice of only publishing series. I knew this book was the first of a series, but I felt like I got played when it ended so abruptly with so many loose ends left very intentionally untied. The author violated my trust in his storytelling with this, and I will not be listening to the rest of the books of someone I cannot trust with my reading time.

Very engaging!

This has to be one of my favorite books from John Conroe and I think I have all of them. I love the characters and story. I am excited to read and listen to book 2 that just came out. I have been waiting a while so the first I did was listen to book 1 again to refresh my memory. I am just starting book 2 "A flight of Ravens"! As usual James Patrick Cronin is one the best narrators ever! When I am going to listen to an audio book I always check out the narrator
because they make or break an audio. Cronin never disappoints me.

LOVED IT

I follow John Conroe and lobe the Demon Accords and evening though this a different path I was spellbound! Can’t wait for the series to continue!

Good series and intelligent

I love the Demon Accords too and look forward to more in the series. But why compare the two series? This series is unique and captivating. Why compare the two series? They are both unique and different. Go for it!

I liked it

Good story, well defines characters, action keeps going, good narration. Enjoyable fantasy. Would recommend it.