How to Shield an Assassin

Unholy Trifecta, Book 1

By: AJ Sherwood

Narrated by: Iggy Toma, Antonio Amato

It’s not stealing if you’re stealing it back…

Ari had a game plan for life: shoot people. Get money. Hang out with fellow criminal friends. He saw absolutely no reason to change that plan until one dark night in Memphis, when a little girl reached out to him with pocket change and a desperate plea for him to help her.

Adopting an abused little girl off the streets was, needless to say, not part of the plan. Ari had no idea what he was doing with an eight year old. He especially didn’t know how to juggle taking contracts and raising a little girl.

Things get more complicated when the mercenary, Carter Harrison, approaches him with a job. He needs Ari’s expertise to get into the very high-security museum, Knowles, and steal back Monet’s Water Lily Pond. The job isn’t an easy one. He’d need more than the two of them to make it happen. It’s further complicated because Ari’s not sure what to do with his new daughter while working this job.

And for that matter, how’s he supposed to handle the sexy mercenary?

©2022 AJ Sherwood (P)2022 Podium Audio

Great story but who assigned narrator roles?

I loved the book when I read it and thought I’d like the audio, too. Nope.

I’d swear that whoever assigned the roles to the narrators hadn’t read the book. The older sounding Amato was performing Ari, the younger MC, and the younger sounding Toma voiced the older MC, Carter. It was a total disconnect & disappointment for me. Unfortunately, book 2 is the same. I may give the audio of 3 a try because the voices finally seem to fit the characters.

Loved it!

Ari is just a guy, assassin, who’s doing a job and gets a last minute hire he can’t refuse. This decision changes his life for the better. His 2 friends , hacker and thief, are there to help with his daughter, she’s in training and it’s awesome. There’s lots of laughs and heart. Very enjoyable, looking forward to the next one.

3.5 stars

I’m a little torn with this one. I usually stay away from books with children that have large speaking parts or a lot of the book focused on them. I didn’t realize so much of the story was focused on the child or I probably wouldn’t have listened to it. I don’t have anything against kids, there’s just usually language, conversation, and actions unrealistic to the age of the child, and this book is no exception. It really bothered me for over half the book and I considered not finishing. I eventually got over it, and accepted that this is fiction, and just to go with it. I liked the relationship between the 2 MCs, and found the side characters likable and entertaining.

Great relationships! Could have more steaming, less scheming

I really liked this book. It’s a heist story with a sweet romance, some angst, and lovely found family relationships. Once or twice I wished for a bit less heist planning and a bit more hot times, but that’s my only complaint. The voice actors are excellent, too.

Humorous

The characters are fantastic! I loved the humor and interactions between them. low angst and sweet.