Aztec Odyssey

Historical Action Adventure

De: Jay C. LaBarge

Narrado por: Samuel E. Hoke

A treasure lost to time, a string of stolen artifacts, and one archaeologist determined to expose the truth.

The year is 1521, and Tenochtitlán burns. Wracked by plague and war, the majestic Aztec empire begins to crumble. As their beloved capital city falls to the ruthless Spaniards and hordes of vengeful tribes, the Aztecs make a last-ditch attempt to secretly save their heritage before it’s lost to the sands of time forever.

Meanwhile, in the modern day, a string of high-profile robberies lays waste to archaeological sites and museums across Mesoamerica, overshadowed by a brewing nationalistic fervor which threatens to topple already fragile countries. Rumors say the artifacts hold the secret to a legendary Aztec myth - The Seven Cities of Cibola - which has concealed countless treasures for centuries.

Faced with unravelling the mysteries of both the present and the past, aspiring archaeologist Nick LaBounty embarks on a dangerous mission to solve a long-held family mystery and discover the truth behind the stolen artifacts.

He soon finds his fate irreversibly entangled with a civilization from over 500 years ago. But time is running out, and the future of both a fabulous treasure - and all Central America - teeters precariously in the balance.

©2020 Jay C. LaBarge (P)2021 Jay C. LaBarge

Historical Fiction & Modern Mystery

Told from the Aztec point of view from 1500+, and the modern day search for the ancient truth of it, with subplots aplenty, this book is the best of its genres. The historical fiction is very fact-based and compelling. The modern day drama has drug cartels, family history, a bit of romance, and no small amount of action/adventure. You'll enjoy all 14+ hours and still want more...I got my copy from Audiobooks Unleashed.

A Completely Worthy Listen

Excellent historical fiction covering a rarely examined age. Characters are well-rounded, the story moves along at a good pace within the context of historical and present day Meso-America. Aptly blends what is known of the culture and language into a fascinating generational quest, a la National Treasure. Bonus: the author provides a background soundtrack in the form of just enough classic blues and rock lyrics to trigger the tunes for the listener. The narration was well done - I particularly appreciated that high-tension moments were dramatically conveyed without blowing out my eardrums.

Really good story

This was a really good story with a lot of background and good characters. No heroes just regular people with problems, the narration was a regular reading with some differences in the characters, but there were times that I did not know who was talking. The story itself kept me going, usually I don't engage very well with a story if the narrator isn't giving a real performance just a reading unless the story is really good. The only issue I had was one characters death I thought it was unnecessary at the end.
I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Reminiscent of the historical fiction of Dan Brown

Aztec Odyssey: Historical Action-Adventure (Nick LaBounty Series Book 1), my first read from author Jay C. LaBarge Outstanding fiction, well-written with characters & a plot you can buy into with unexpected twists & turns. I look forward to the next book he writes. I HAVE FOUND A NEW OUTSTANDING AUTHOR and it looks like a new series as well! Reminiscent of the historical fiction of Dan Brown or Blair Howard or Kate Mosse. Samuel E. Hoke's narration adds to the enjoyment of the book. “I received a free Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! excellent overall

Enjoyed the story!

Even for a non-historical reader as myself, the book was entertaining and enjoyable. Once you're done reading this one, don't forget to pick up the other two of Nick's series. Thoroughly enjoyed those as well.

What a ride

I absolutely loved this! Such amazing amazing adventure. So much history and research. Everything about this was spectacular. I can’t wait for the next adventure!
Narration by Samuel Hoke was perfect. There couldn’t have been anyone who would have done a better job.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Don’t Buy

I thought I was buying an audiobook related to Aztec history and archeology; instead, this love story is about a guy falling in love for the first time and a history lesson on rock and roll songs. I couldn’t even finish it!
Another issue I have is the narrator. I buy approximately 150 audiobooks per year and I’ve yet to hear a voice so bad. I’m still not sure the narration isn’t performed by a robot instead of a human. Honestly, he sounds like an actual electronic recording. Very disappointed and a waste of credit.

Could use a little less talk and a lot more action

Nick, a presumed archeologist in Mesoamerican migrations (an apparent excuse to info dump historical tid-bits for the reader but little else) with his new indigenous girlfriend investigates the death of his treasure hunter dad. A big bad drug runner dreams of restoring the Aztec empire beyond its historical boundaries. A legendary Aztec treasure, long hidden from Conquistadors … this story has all of the elements for a fun and interesting diversion ...

I did NOT expect the drama (I was hoping for something more like a Cussler action story). The historical POV was mostly as expected, with a little moral preaching that was a blatant appeal to emotion, but over all pretty decent if you don’t mind revisionist history. The current day POV (the bulk of the story) was a frat party drama that was totally unexpected and didn’t really appeal to me much. Not only was there way too much trivial detail and pointless dialogue … which made the story drag significantly (hard to skim over these as an audiobook, but you can tune out a bit). Seriously … we don’t need all of that background for each character dumped on us all at once (and we def don’t need you to repeat it later). I suppose that could be somewhat expected in what amounts to an origin story for the main protagonist, but there are enough tropes throw in that the story comes across as a mechanical paint-by-the-numbers piece that was interesting, but lacked any plot tension to really pull the reader/listener into it.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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