Carnivores

By: Richard Poche

Narrated by: S W Salzman

Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A fire-breathing preacher and a pair of police officers all have something grisly in common; they're the latest victims in a series of bizarre ritualistic murders.

The police think that the killings are the work of the local street gang, The Lobos, who pattern their organization as if they are a real wolf pack.

But a down-on-his-luck teacher suspects that the killings may be the work of the Reuzenwolf, a species of werewolves that his grandfather used to talk about in the old country.

©2015 Richard Poche (P)2015 Richard Poche

Meh!

This story could have been better without all the annoying side effects, the sirens, the music etc. always playing in the background. S.W. Salzman was okay with what he had to work with.

Would have been better with out all the effects

If you have been following my reviews, you will know that I love werewolves. I think that I hold some pretty high standards when it comes to this sub-genre. I don’t think I ever fully got into the audiobook, I wish I could have as I think there was promise.

Carnivores by Richard Poche was a pretty straight forward werewolf story. Containing all of the cliche item you would expect. I couldn’t find anything genre bending or particularly original. I really like the concept of a street gang as a pack of werewolves.

This was my first time listening to a performance by S.W. Salzman. And I must say that he has a very nice and pleasant voice. He was able to create several different voices, including very successful tonal changes, for various characters. Changing up the pacing as the story dictated. I wish I could have heard more of him voice as much of it was being covered up. All that being said I will definitely check out more from him.

But I do have an issue with the production of this audiobook. Throughout the entire story there was constant background noises and music that really took all of my attention away for what was happening in the story. Sometimes it even overpowered Salzman’s narration. One chapter had this infernal buzzing or static or something that made my hair stand on end. If it was just title and chapter breaks that had the sound effects and modulated voice, I would have been fine with that. I am not sure who’s idea it was to add all of the superfluous and distracting sounds, I do know that it was not a good idea.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Great Production of a Werewolf Story

I really enjoyed the telling of the story. The story itself was good, but didn't compare in my mind to the narration. I know a lot of people don't like full productions that include background noises and music, although I really do and think it enhances the story and prefer them over just standard narration. Reminds me of old time radio stories where they paint a picture in your mind. The story reminded me a bit of Van Helsing, but with werewolves versus vampires. A mysterious stranger asks a local knife, descendent of werewolf hunters, maker to make silver knives. To me that just seemed liked a retelling of your typical monster story. I still thought it was an enjoyable story and will look for other stories by Poche. S.W. Salzman did a great job with the narration. I liked his character voices and really liked all the sound effects. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Carnivores

This was an interesting story overall. It was rather short. The production was decent, SW Salzman read it well enough, maybe not my favorite narration from him. It was a different and a bit strange werewolf story. I think that the audio version saved the book for me. There were points in the book that jumped around and it seemed like more would have been better in this case.

Werewolf Gangs of California

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would, it was an exciting story-line given a dramatic performance with sound effects to heighten the experience.

What other book might you compare Carnivores to and why?

Probably Bad Wolf, the only other werewolf story I've read recently, and it also shares the police overlap and investigations into some rather interesting characters on the fringe of society.

Have you listened to any of S W Salzman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not

Any additional comments?

I received the code for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It was fast and tense and entertaining. Recommended.

Carnivores

This book reminded me of the old scary movies I watched when I was a kid. I really enjoyed this story. It had plenty of action and interesting characters.

S W Salzman did a nice job narrating.

Carnivore is a story set in the urban area of Oakland, CA. It is a pretty standard werewolf story. Nothing really struck me as new or inventive. The story itself was enjoyable as a quick story in a genre I enjoy. It contains the usual props; silver knives, howling, and a lot of blood. The story did have an abrupt ending. I am assuming this will be the first book in a series if the author feels it has an audience.

S W Salzman did a nice job narrating. He kept his narration in sync with the pacing of the story. He does well with the different accents required by the characters. But there were times when I was ready to quit the book.

The background sound effects and music were horrible. They were distracting and often overwhelmed the narrator’s voice. The use of a guttural or demonic voice announcing each chapter was nails on a chalkboard. The beginning of Chapter Four, I can barely hear the narrator over the music. Dear Producer, please make it stop. Let the narrator carry the story. He is more than capable and the added noises were killing the audiobook.

I will try another audiobook narrated by S W Salzman if it is not produced by the same group. I may also try a book by Richard Poche. But I will definitely listen to as much of the sample as I can to make sure it does not contain all the sound effects and background music.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator in exchange for a fair review.

Story (Plot) 3
Performance 4
Production Quality 1
Attention Holding 2

It was hard to keep up with

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Maybe the speed of the book, it went at a crazy fast pace that bounced around a lot. It didn't help that the narration went at a very fast pace as well. The story was interesting and the narrator was good, but not executed to my particular liking.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

Carnivores

I can't get past the noise in this audiobook.With constant sirens in the background and loud music overpowering the voices,it's impossible to judge anything for me.I was given this book free for an honest review.