Dire Straits

Bo Blackman, Book 1

By: Helen Harper

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Bo Blackman is a rookie private investigator working for the London based firm of Dire Straits. She doesn't often get triber-based assignments, which is just as well. Vampires and daemons don't interest her as much as humans do. However, when she has to serve a summons on a dodgy daemon called Devlin O'Shea and she ends up saving his life instead of being framed for his murder, her life takes a shocking turn for the worse. And when the vampire Families start involving themselves too, Bo no longer knows where to turn.

©2014 Helen Harper (P)2014 Tantor

First time

This is the first book through Audible. Helen's book has me hooked. Her storyline line was gripping. The tension between Bo and Michael was a tease. The ending however was a surprise. I enjoyed the narration. It was very entertaining.

Really just perfect urban fantasy.

I don't think Helen Harper could write a book I wouldn't like. She has a pure urban fantasy formula that never fails. Her stories have the greatest character growth without taking things too seriously. The pace is fast but never frantic. Just about perfect. The narration was excellent too.

3 1\2 Stars

Decent urban fantasy, needs a bit of polishing for the next installment but, the main character was quite likeable and the story good enough to make me curious to see what happens in book 2.

Uneven story

Parts were skimmed over that should have been elaborated, making the story feel uneven. A lack of secondary characters development, they feel quite flat. As a whole I didn't like the story as well as the others other series but I think I'll get the second one a chance in the hope that things will improve. I really didn't like the ending of this one it was quite upsetting as it continues to make the heroine a victim.

Dire Straits review

Dire Straits certainly wasn't boring but it was surprising, didn't go how I expected it to. Saskia Maarleveld is an excellent narrator, very pleasant to listen to.

1st person present tense

I enjoyed the story very much, though the way it was written was 1st person and everything was in present tense. I'm not really a fan of present tense, but Helen pulled it off. There were some interesting situations, but there were also a couple predictable moments.

Overall, I enjoyed it though my husband did not.

I'd say this is for an adult read. There are some moments of gore and other moments of the sexual nature, though the story does not heavily rely on these for its form of entertainment.

good

The narrator is perfect for this book. The mixture of Vampire and detective was a new and intresting. Though there were a couple of mistakes made by the Mc that made you want to wince.

Vampires

This book was ok, i found it dragged a bit. I liked it but didnt love it.
I found the antagonist to be obvious and could not believe the story went on and on without anyone even considering it. it was frustrating.
This book was worth the read if you like vamp books which I do. i will probably give the 2nd book a try and then decide if I want to finish the series.
The were other details the author never gave which I found frustrating also, what is Bo's grandfather, what was Peter's sin/crime, how did Beth and Bo's grandfather end up working together?? what happened to O'Shay?? lots of unanswered questions/details!

Good book

I enjoyed listening to this book, kept me reading to the end. Worth your time to read.

Middle of the road Ok

Vampires, demons and private detectives traipsing around London. Not a bad way to spend a day.