Caged

Baal's Heart, Volume 1

By: Bey Deckard

Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo

Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sheltered and lonely, Jon's life changes drastically when a strange ship sails into the harbor of his small port town one day. Trapped between the possessive pirate captain and his murderous first mate, he must learn to adapt or he will lose himself completely. An epic tale of love, treachery and revelation, this first instalment of the Baal's Heart series brings you into the lives of three men so bound together by jealousy and lies that they must sail to the very ends of the earth to find forgiveness.

©2014 Bey Deckard (P)2016 Bey Deckard

Amazing Story and Performance!

Would you consider the audio edition of Caged to be better than the print version?

The Audio version is a wonderful enhancement, though as with most adaptations, I prefer to read the book first to get more details.

This is one of those stories that has a life of its own and you are lucky enough to be sucked into. It is a very descriptive world with some very complex characters (Tom being one of my all-time favorites). It is not fluffy or overly romantic, but still a love story. Three very different men come together, each with their own pasts, needs and secrets, who end up becoming integral pieces to their overall relationship puzzle. How they get there is a very exciting and suspenseful, and often difficult journey.

Have you listened to any of Michael Ferraiuolo’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don’t read a ton of audio books, but I have read enough to know a good narrator when I hear one. The narrator can make or break a story for me, can either dull a story down or bring more life to an already fabulous one. Mr. Ferraiuolo falls into the latter category. He did a fabulous job with these tricky characters. He easily distinguishes between the three, as well as others in the crew, and does an excellent job at portraying each one. Mr. Deckard has already given a vividly clear picture of these characters, so they are some pretty big shoes to fill, but Mr. Ferraiuolo has definitely succeeded in my opinion.

Any additional comments?

If you are looking for a story to get lost in, one that makes you feel as though you are right there watching it unfold, that allows you to escape reality for a bit, with characters you can’t help but love (and even some to dislike at times), this one definitely fits the bill, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Definitely heed the trigger warnings on this one though, because things can get pretty rough on the Baal’s Heart, so if you have any tendencies of “sea sickness,” you might be better off staying on dry land.

Great story. Great narration.

I am a fan of any author who can get me to feel empathy for the bad guys. The Captain is such a dark soul that I wanted to warn Jon to stay away. Half way through the book I was making a complete about face. And then there is Tom... The narrator did such a wonderful job of narrating Tom's voice.

i would like to edit out most of the 'however' used in the story. Aside from that quirk, I really enjoyed this book.

Bey Deckard has created a delightful and wicked psychological thriller stuffed inside a pirate story. There was just enough sailor jargon to keep me happy, but not so much that I had to text the pirates in my family to double checking meanings. (Yeah, I know you think I am kidding, but pirates have families too😏 )

If you are looking for a dark escape filled with blood, sex, violence, and excellent narration, I think you will appreciate this book.

Michael Ferraiuolo

OMG!!! All the books that I've listened to so far are absolutely the best especially with that voice,I'm in love with Mr.Ferraiuolo's voice as narrator,it's the best ever. I'm going to keep listening.

Stunning!!! 👏👏👏

Audiobook Re-Listen, July 2020: I had forgotten much of this book from when I first listened to it three years to the day--what a CRAZY coincidence!!! I had the pleasure of experiencing a lot of this book anew & adored it all over again!

Original Review, July 2017:
4.5 Stars--I loved and shuddered at the ugly, and simmered in the heat.

This 13+ hour audiobook was masterfully narrated by Michael Ferrailuolo. The life he gave each of these, at times loathsome, characters drew me into Deckard's fantasy world of pirates, death, lust, and love.

Torture? Yes. Kidnapping? Yes. Drug-fueled whenching in brothels? Yes. Treason, and death, and loss? Yes. HEA? A most definite, sexy yes.

But wait, there are two more books in the series. I can't wait to see what waits in store for this magnificent, unforgivable (and unforgettable) trio.

When a great book is in the right narrator's hands

I loved Caged when I first read it few years ago. These pirates are definitely on my top list. You end up holding favorite characters on a pedestal, as did I. So when it's narrated, you just want it to be perfect.

The narration was masterful. I was hesitant on the voice of Jon in the beginning but Ferraiuolo's Tom and Baltsaros were spot on. So much so, his Jon won me over too!

The text was long and Ferraiuolo was evenly paced. He had multiple voices, lent the perfect amount of emotions where needed. Every character including the minor ones were distinct. (How many voices live in the narrator? It was like a small country or something, all the different people on the speakers!)😊

I highly recommend this series, author and narrator!

It was a delightful experience, well worth the listen!

Polished, mature storytelling.

Would you listen to Caged again? Why?

Triple play: engrossing story with engaging characters and an extraordinary voice talent to bring it all to life. This one will be replayed many times.

What other book might you compare Caged to and why?

Caged stands alone as a unique storytelling and listening experience. It is epic in scope, yet intensely intimate. High fantasy, with high action and adventure, provides the kind of reading experience you look for if you like George R.R. Martin.

What does Michael Ferraiuolo bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pacing and a fine understanding of each of the characters, major and minor. This narrator elevates the story to the level of a stage performance, with all the gravitas and sensuousness required by the play.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, definitely... although the run time precluded doing that.

Any additional comments?

From my Amazon review of the book:
Fantasy and erotica on the high seas, with larger than life characters, and a gripping tale of lust and obsession, this one caught me by surprise - in a very good way. This is polished, mature storytelling. Don't expect to like all the characters, but do expect to be surprised, shocked, and absorbed by the unrelenting unfolding of dysfunction amidst high seas adventures. This one hooked me from the get go. I can't wait to jump into the next.

Stopped listening halfway thru...3 days in.

It's a matter of opinion I know, and not really anything monumental unless you are a particular type of reader like myself. The older, dark, strong, mysterious, captain pirate and a meek and fair and weaker boy....all my cup of tea....up until the captain takes a female at a brothel in front of the boy. I endured it and decided to continue and reluctantly accepted the outcome of that scene. But, I stopped listening completely when when the big, strong, captain, pirate man became the bottom to the young and meek, naive boy. Not what I was hoping for after listening for 3 days with such anticipation for their actual first time. Again, it's only a matter of opinion. for me, it was enough to not continue even if things changed after. it's all about the character and some things just ruin a character completely for me. in this case, the protective, older, wiser, and stronger man just didn't seem so much so after that scene.

Needed a editor but I still had a good time

This was a great book except for one subplot that goes on for one of the characters that felt kinda throwaway and out of place. I felt like I was lied to about the story I was getting but luckily the characters and romance saved it.

There is this weird plot happening between the lines with the captain to get us to not like him and to build tension if things arnt what they seem. Essentially their are suspicions built into the plot for nearly the entire book backed with action that was indicating a final reveal was coming that the captain was going to do something to create a seriously crazy relationship conflict. I felt like though by the end of the book that maybe the author really didn't know how to wrap up a storyline like that as it would really over complicate things or the author changed their mind on what direction the book was going to go. By the end of the book though my opinion is that the author changed their mind on trying to write that plot into the story and scraped it by feeding a bunch of poor excuses to explain it away and forget about it. It felt incredibly misleading. If it was going to be thrown away like that, why spend so much time building it up just to take it away at the end of the book? It really should have been edited out completly. Why put supporting dialog and coincidences to back up this subplot just to change so quickly by the end?

If you ignore that wasted subplot this book had a very fun high tension romance. I don't think that wasted opportunity for the subplot ruined the book completely as I was able to finish the book and still really satisfied by the end if not a tad bit mislead and disappointed that I didn't get a sociopath lover storyline that I wanted.

The Erotic scenes were super detailed, long enough and naughty but did not overwhelm the overall high tension pirate romance plot. I found it to be well paced to give just enough spice to keep you at attention.

The amazing narrator really breathed life into these characters. I found the writing was amazing to distinguish the characters but the added benefit of a great narration made it even more enjoyable to recognize who was who and I felt represented them very well. I absolutely loved his voice acting skills.

The overall pirate themed plot was fairly tame. The focus was definitely on the relationships of these characters and seeing how they develop and grow. There is a weird plot point that happens at the end of the book that felt sorta plugged in and out of nowhere. It didn't have any build up to it that makes sense so this massive battle scene happens that's hard to care about. It creates some tension for the characters and a situation to tackle but it did feel plugged in. Luckily it's not too lengthy and I did sorta glaze over it as it was mostly not important. I think again this book could have used a editor to focus the story or at least figure out how to create a better build up throughout the rest of the book to make that whole climactic feeling battle scene be more purposeful.

Overall the book isn't perfect but I really enjoyed the characters and relationship building was extremely well done. I fell in love with these characters by the end and loved how distinct and recognizable they were.

The book does end on a weird cliffhanger. Once again another issue with the editing, the cliffhanger felt plugged in with no build up. This book could have very well been a standalone if you ignore the epilogue. The cliffhanger ending though felt uninteresting due to the lack of build up so im not exactly in a rush to continue the series but I will at some point.

Be prepared for abuse

So much cringy abuse masquerading as BDSM dynamic. This book needs T/CW for manipulative, non consensual, sociopathic/psychopathic, abusive "relationship(s)". I'm like half way through, not sure how I got this far or if I'll be able to finish. It's a lot...