Eye of Truth

Agents of the Crown, Book 1

By: Lindsay Buroker

Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

After 10 years at war, Jev Dharrow looks forward to hanging up his sword, relaxing with a cool mug of ale, and forgetting that the love of his life married another man while he was gone. But when his ship sails into port, a beautiful woman wearing the garb of an inquisitor from one of the religious orders waits to arrest him. 

His crime? He’s accused of stealing an ancient artifact with the power to start another war. Jev would gladly hand over the artifact to stop more suffering, but he has no idea where it is or even what it looks like. The inquisitor woman definitely has the wrong person. 

Inquisitor Zenia Cham grew up with nothing, but she has distinguished herself as one of the most capable law enforcers in the city, and she’s next in line to become archmage of the temple. All she has to do is find the Eye of Truth, and her superiors are certain Jev has it. 

He tries to charm her with his twinkling eyes and easy smile, but she’s not letting any man get between her and her dreams. Especially not a thief. 

If Jev can’t convince Zenia they’re on the same side, find the artifact, and clear his name, his homecoming will turn into a jail sentence. Or worse.

©2018 Lindsay Buroker (P)2018 Lindsay Buroker

Definitely an Author I'll be adding to my library

This had been a truly great book to listen to. The story had been compelling and the characters had been likeable and felt flawless within the world. I will have to be sure to add more books by this author and look for others with the same Narrator. The narrator had been phenomenal.

A great start to a new series

I received the audiobook for free as a Patreon supporter, but I would have purchased it if it wasn't a reward and my reviews are always honest. I also read the first 10 chapters on Lindsay's blog, but I think the audiobook brings the characters to life and I'd highly recommend "reading" it that way.

The book started slowly for me and that's the reason for 4 stars rather than more. At first, I did not like the female lead, Zenia. Once Lindsay hit her stride though, I fell in love with the two main characters and the story. I'm very excited for the next book which will be out soon.

love this beginning to series

this is the 3rd series I'm reading from this author. it started slow, but then I got hooked around chapter 3. I didn't want to stop listening..

Okay book and barely okay narration..

I have no idea if I liked this book or not. It was interesting, about a relic that was stolen and all that happened to find it.

I liked Jev and Zenia but not as a couple. I didn’t feel any kind of chemistry at all between them. So, if the author was trying to write a romance she failed. I’m not sure I’d want to go forward with this series.

There was nothing even resembling romance! AND no swearing to speak of, what was supposed to be swearing was just silly, “By the Founders,” “Four Founders, it was dark in these mangroves,” By the pointed teeth of the Founders,” maybe not silly as much as stupid.

As to the narration: Vivienne Leheny was just okay for me. Her voices were fine but sometimes she was sooo dramatic and other times she read like a robot. She wasn’t consistent.

GOOD START.

Most enjoyable. Good start to a new series. I like Jev Zinder Darrow's personality. Very steady and very sensible. Zinnia is excellent too. Both main characters are very likeable. Action wise not bad but I hope there will be more "zest" to it. The narration/performance is good. Vivienne Leheny brings the characters go life with the different voices. Lindsay Buroker is a very talented writer and I love her books.

I love Lindsay

Great story fantastic characters. I love the banter and can’t wait till book 2 is available

loved it

Lindsay Buroker writes the most likable characters. This book reminded me of the Dragon Age video game series in the best way, with elements of steampunk. I like how lighthearted it was but hope the next one includes some grit. Overall really amazing.

💘 loved it!!!!

loved it !!!!!! a little shorter lived than some of her others but just as moving and left me guessing till the end!

Wonderful start to a Brilliant Series!

The Eye of Truth is an adventure Fantasy, with a lot of mystery, intrigue, humour, some great fights and magic, but most of all, it is just a really great read. The story follows two main characters, Inquisitor Zenia Cham and Zyndar Jevlain Dharrow.
Zyndar Jevlain ‘Jev’ Dharrow is returning after 10yrs of being at war with the Elves, having been the Captain of the Gryphon Guard. He is one of the ‘Zyndar’ which in Korvan, makes him one of the Nobles or Upper Class.
Inquisitor Zenia Cham is part of the Water Order and is known for being an excellent Inquisitor, having solved many crimes. She has a monk partner who goes with her for protection, Rhi Lin.
At the start of the story, Zenia has been tasked by one of her Senior Leaders to go and arrest Jev as he is accused of stealing a prized magical artifact from them before he went to war, either hiding it, or taking it with him.
Jev arrives in the company of not just his crew that he has fought and died with, but two unlikely companions given the current state of affairs one being a Dwarf, known as ‘Cutter’ and the other an Elf, known as ‘Lornysh’.
Jev has been accused of stealing an item called ‘The Eye of Truth’ (Kind of a coincidence that – given the name of the book!), a magical item that allegedly belonged to the Water Temple, the Temple that Zenia and her Master Archmage belong to.
When she attempts to arrest him though with Rhi, Lornysh has other ideas, and so begins the adventure.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers – but the story follows two separate paths, one following Jev and the other Zenia.
Both are looking to try and find the Eye of Truth, Jev as he wants to try and clear his name, Zenia as she wants to get the item and prove the arrogant Zyndar guilty as well as get a promotion to Archmage in her Temple.
At the start of this book, it is kind of hard not to dislike Zenia as she is arrogant, short-sighted, and narrow-minded, letting her prejudice against the Zyndar cloud her judgement and automatically assuming that Jev is guilty just because the Archmage told her that he had taken the item, even though she has no evidence at all.
She is supposedly a very good Inquisitor having solved multiple cases, but during this time, she has become very arrogant. Unfortunately, she has had multiple negative run-ins with other Zyndar, and has become prejudice against them, assuming that all Zyndar are of a certain way, and as a result, has become that way herself.
Jev however, has been at war for over 10yrs, having had to survive with others in the woods, fighting on a daily basis, living with the ‘common’ men, having been captured and tortured by the Elves, and during his time, has even befriended an Elf and a Dwarf – something that is unheard of, especially now when so many Humans hate Elves.
The Character work in this story is wonderful, so in-depth and detailed, and not just with the main characters, but every character. It makes the story totally captivating, and brilliant to read.
Just as outstanding is the world building, which is so meticulous, from the races, to the different types of transport, the magic, the locations, everything is so wonderfully crafted and detailed, creating this beautiful world you can get totally lost in as you read this story.
This is a wonderful story of two very different characters, coming together to try and solve a mystery, and as they do, they not only discover a range of different things, but also each other.
As with all of Buroker’s stories, this is a truly exceptional tale, with magical characters, and some brilliant world building.
It is absolutely worth reading and shouldn’t be missed!!
Vivienne Leheny is a wonderful Narrator with a clear and concise voice that is easy to understand and very easy to listen to. She has a wonderful range of voices, both Male and Female, and she does a very clear set of character voices so you can easily tell who is talking. On top of that, Leheny does a brilliant job of capturing the emotional state of her characters so you really understand what they are going through, whether that be sad, happy, angry, frustrated, etc.
Overall, Leheny does a really brilliant job with the Narration, making this well worth listening to!!

Less than 10-Hour Rule

Since there are so many books available on Audible, I've put a 10-hour rule on all my purchases. Except for this author. I've enjoyed so many of her stories and have purchased two or three books with just one credit that I cannot hold her to this rule. Again, she has sucked me in with a good story and I always enjoy Vivenne Leheny's narrations. Since I've used my two credits for this month on the first two books, I'll probably end up buying three more credits to complete the series before the end of the month. Yeah, I'm a fanboy. I'm good with that. Enjoy!

Tiresome

I really struggled to get through this book. I’d just finished listening to this author’s Death Before Dragons series which was excellent, and got this book hoping I could capture some of the same feeling with another one of her books. However, the main characters were either lacklustre or utterly annoying (in the case of the heroine), and the plot was just daft. Absolutely zero chemistry in the developing relationship either. What a disappointment.

A Little Slow

This is a (future?) love story between Jev Dharrow, a soldier back from the war with both physical/emotional scars and Zenia, a paranoid Inquisitor who arrives to arrest him straight off the boat on his return accusing him of stealing an artifact. Jev is an easy going, witty and handsome man, of course, (they all are) who takes everything in his stride.

Not quite sure how this will go. It seems a little slow, but I will try Book 2 to see if it picks up.

Underwhelmed

underwhelmed by the book, unlike LBs Fallen Empire, all of her other lead male characters seem timid, even veteran soldier who fought in the war for 10 years. I really like the narrator, she did a fantastic job, too bad the characters didn't live up to her level. The male lead is not very smart for someone who was the Captain of an intelligence company.

Another great series from Lindsay Buroker

I loved this series, This is the 3rd Buroker series for me to listen to. Her style is great to listen to, and the reading was very good too.

Great

This is an amazing audiobook with a great narrator and breath taking characters. I'll be reading the whole series!