House of the Rising Sun

Crescent City, Book 1

By: Kristen Painter

Narrated by: Elijah Alexander

Length: 14 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Every vampire has heard rumor of the mythical place where their kind can daywalk. But what no vampire knows is that this City of Eternal Night actually exists.

And its name is New Orleans.

For centuries, the fae have protected the city from vampire infestation. But when the bloodsuckers return, the fragile peace in New Orleans begins to crumble.

Carefree playboy Augustine, and Harlow, a woman searching for answers about her absent father, are dragged into the war. The fate of the city rests on them - and their fae blood that can no longer be denied.

Book one in the brand-new, action-packed urban fantasy Crescent City series, from award-winning, House of Comarre author Kristen Painter!

©2014 Kristen Painter (P)2014 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Gripping, gritty, and imaginative. If you love dangerous males, kick-ass females, and unexpected twists, this is the series for you! Kristen Painter's engaging voice, smart writing, and bold, explosive plot blew me away. Prepare to lose some sleep!" - Larissa Ione, New York Times bestselling author on Blood Rights"A world full of rich potential. Excellent!" - P.C. Cast, New York Times bestselling author on Blood Rights
"Kristen Painter brings a sultry new voice to the vampire genre, one that beckons with quiet passion and intrigue." - L.A. Banks, New York Times bestselling author of The Vampire Huntress Legends series on Blood Rights"I tore through Painter's new series. Best new urban fantasy out there!" - Kresley Cole, New York Times bestselling author on the Crescent City series"Prophecy, curses, and devilish machination combine for a spellbinding debut of dark romance and pulse-pounding adventure." - Library Journal (Starred Review) on Blood Rights"Painter scores with this one. Passion and murder, vampires and courtesans -- original and un-put-downable. Do yourself a favor and read this one." - Patricia Briggs, New York Times bestselling author on Blood Rights
"With the Crescent City series, Painter proves herself a master of Urban Fantasy, creating a darkly gorgeous new world, richly drawn characters, and nonstop action." - Kristen Callihan"Kristen Painter's Blood Rights is dark and rich with layer after delicious layer. This spellbinding series will have you begging for more!" - Gena Showalter, New York Times bestselling author

Vampires and Fae

Years ago I read this book before I knew anything about posting ireviews. Now that I’ve listened to the audiobook, I’m writing the review for both. This is one of my favorite books. Well, Kristen is one of my favorite authors. Harlow is in trouble and needs her mom’s help. She would also like to know the identity of her father. This is what keeps her away from her mother Olivia. Harlow can read things when she touches them. She wears gloves all the time. Her mom Olivia is a very famous movie star from the past. When vampires murder her, Harlow’s priorities change. Now she is on the hunt for the killer. There’s so much I want to say but I don’t want to ruin any of it.

The narrator is so amazing that words just can’t describe. He hits all the different accents of New Orleans. Can’t wait to hear him again.

Not For Me

Harlowe is incredibly annoying, selfish and unsympathetic. Augustine is bland and predictable. The plot is flat and unoriginal.
This book is simply not for me.

Good good good

I'm an "urban fantasy"/ "paranormal Romance" addict! I don't like "smut" but I like steam a little or a lot I also love a good STORY. This was it! Want MORE!!!

House of the rising sun

Great new spin on the paranormal. Narration by a male for so many female voices was sometimes distracting but other than that I thought it has all the makings of a great new series by a great author we all love. 😉I hope you enjoy it!!!!

Not as good as I thought

This book is very overrated and I'm not sure I believe all the people praising this book. The characters are shallow and very contradicting in their personalities which I suppose is human nature but it was so aggravating listening to grown characters fit so many stereotypes that make you you want to slap them. The narrator's southern accent was really aggravating especially when he used any word starting with a 'w', i kept wanting to correct him. The story itself is rather predictable and boring, I kept waiting for it get interesting but it never happened.

Second Listen Through

A while ago I listened to the book, and only got part way through. I thought the MC Harlow was incredibly selfish and hard to like, and none of the other characters made up for it. I wondered as I often do, if I'd given it a fair shake these months later, and buoyed by my enjoyment of one of the authors other books, I decided to give it another go.

The alternate universe of NOLA was hard to grasp, so much information quickly. Took several hours to feel like I mostly understood the world.

Harlow: I suppose I'll have to admit I still find her a difficult to like character. Harlow has never tried to overcome her weaknesses, just locked herself away from them. I like strong characters that muscle through, so in a way my dissatisfaction is completely my own fault. But I find her self-absorbed and selfish. I do have a feeling that I am here at the six hour mark where she might be about to change.

I did find I really like Lolly and Olivia, Dulcinea, and even Augie. No idea if I am spelling these names correctly. I'm pretty sure I've now reached the point where I gave up previously about 6 hours in. I am looking forward to listening on.

Yes, it turns out the second half of the book was more enjoyable for me. I'd give the whole thing 4 stars. A good listen, and I'm moving on to book 2. Hope I will like it the first time through.

Don’t waste your credit!

I love Kristen Painter books, usually, but not this time. I couldn’t stay focused on it whatsoever! I couldn’t even get through the first few chapters! I seriously tried to keep going, but it was just not making me happy at all because I wasn’t enjoying it. It was pretty scattered and just not interesting. I am pretty disappointed. But at thankfully Audible is really good about refunding your credit when something like this happens, or I’d be really upset too!

I was on the fence

but I was pleasantly surprised to find this novel was really interesting and action packed I'd have liked to see Harlow and augie get to gather but dragging it on makes it that much more delightful I've read a lot and I mean more than 2000+romance ebooks and 300 audio and this is a goodie hurry with audio number 2 please kp ,melissa.

Narrator needed to research pronunciation

This is a great story. I love Kristen Painter. However, the narrator butchered pronunciations of so many New Orleans words and products. Abita for one is pronounced Ah-beet-ah not his ABBA it ya. Street names botched too. Accents are really awful too. People in NOLA don’t speak like Haitians, Jamaicans, Georgians or Mississippians. Please, do the writer and location justice and research. But- where are editors on this performance? No checks? Further, men doing women’s voices all sound like Mrs. Doubtfire. Loved the story. Hate the narrator.

Great story! Excellent narration

What made the experience of listening to House of the Rising Sun the most enjoyable?

great characters, dark magic and mysterious environment .. perfect mix!

What about Elijah Alexander’s performance did you like?

The narrator brought the book to life for me … excellent mix of straight narration and regional accents … i can't image this read without invoking the local accents .. it just wouldn't be the same. Well done!

Entertaining & enjoyable urban fantasy...

Don't be fooled by the terrible book cover pictures, all the book covers suggest the books are awful and are very unrepresentative of the actual books in the series. I almost didn't try it because of the pictures. I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files and like this type of light, pacey, pulpy read. Not quite as witty & roller coastery as Dresden but very enjoyable, liked the characters and I read all 3 books back to back. Nicely narrated.. So a general thumbs up.. if you're hesitating definitely give it a go.

Great premise but weak characters

I really liked the premise of the story but really struggled with the characters. They were very difficult to like. The main female character was entitled and cold whilst the main male character was very much the typical cool guy with a saviour complex and mommy issues. There were very few redeemable qualities about either of them. I would have much rather followed the best friend of the male main character, she was sassy, strong and smart; by far the most interesting one. The audiobook speaker was fine, they were no Max Bellmore but did an ok job.

Gripping

Somewhat confusing at the start but once I got into it this book pulled me along so completely that the ending was a shock

Amazing

Enjoyed this audio book very much
Hopefully they will be more books
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