Rise of the Shadow Rogue

By: Mike Truk

Narrated by: Ryan West

Betrayal cuts deepest when someone you love wields the knife.

For Kellik, a once-rising star of Port Gloom's guild of thieves, it also leaves him floating in the bay, bleeding out and without hope or allies. Saved by an urchin and healed by a disgraced saint, Kellick is consumed by a single desire: to find out why his guild master ordered him cut down moments after passing his initiation trial.

Burning with injustice, Kellik recruits a number of gorgeous rogues to his side: fallen assassins, dark elf witches, and unnervingly polite necromancers. Together they journey through the shadowy underbelly of Port Gloom in pursuit of bloody revenge, daring to face impossible odds and uncover the grim truth: not only the reason for the guild's unnatural monopoly on crime, but why his guild master might have been justified in ordering his death after all.

Warning and minor spoilers: Rise of the Shadow Rogue is an 18+ audiobook intended for mature listeners. It contains graphic sex, medieval violence, and nudity. People swear, betray their loved ones, set each other on fire, seduce each other, and are scared witless by abysmal horrors. Most importantly, you'll meet gorgeous, powerful women, some capable of twisting the very fabric of fate, others of tearing a man in half with their bare hands. All are willing to enter unconventional, polyamorous harem relationships if it means helping Kellik achieve justice, and with this many powerful women on his side, he just might stand a chance.

©2019 Mike Truk (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Masterful use of the language, but

Okay, I think Mike Truk has the strongest grasp of more-than-two-syllable words of any author I've "read" and read, without going all hoity-toity on the reader. I really liked the book. HOWEVER, magic and thieves and swords and sorcery in a great story is why I bought the book - the sex was over the top. Don't get me wrong, I'm a guy and like that stuff, but not sure if this was the place for it.

Anyway, Book 2: I'm in!

All Around Fun

The story is interesting, the characters are creative, and the plot continues to thicken. The most enjoyable factor for me personally was that the narrative was unapologetic in violent and romantic encounters alike. The narrator being excellent was an added bonus. I highly recommend this series to any fantasy fans who enjoy the dark side of literature or simply tire of heavily abridged content.

Slow start to an intense and twisting story.

As the title states, it was a bit slow in the beginning as characters are introduced and the world is detailed. Once most of the cast makes an appearance it starts really picking up and by the end becomes pretty non-stop.

The story is why you stay.

This book reminds me of a few games I've played in where there's a fantastic world you're dropped into and forced to learn the concepts from the authors suggestions instead of having them spoodfed to you. It's worth the buy.

Awesome book, definitely recommend!!

It is excellent in the author’s ability to create an enticing story and have things based in reality in a sense that you can envision that is really how it would happen rather than everything being just fairy-tailed and easy for the main character.

After listening to the first hour I bought the next two books just because I knew I was going to love not just the story but the mature content. It is overwhelmingly just X-Rated stuff, it has a good story with the right amount of adult themed material.

Great book, highly recommend!!!