Jacob

Nightwalkers Series, Book 1

By: Jacquelyn Frank

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Since time began, there have been Nightwalkers - the races of the night who live in the shadows of the moonlight. Love with humans is absolutely forbidden, and one man makes certain to uphold this ancient law: Jacob, the Enforcer.

For 700 years, he has resisted temptation. But not tonight... Jacob knows the excuses his people give when the madness overtakes them and they fall prey to their lust for humans. He's heard every one and still brought the trespassers to justice. Immune to forbidden desires, uncontrollable hungers, or the curse of the moon, his control is total... until the moment he sees Isabella on a shadowy New York City street. Saving her life wasn't in his plans. Nor were the overwhelming feelings she arouses in him. But the moment he holds her in his arms and feels the soft explosion of her body against his, everything changes. Their attraction is undeniable, volatile, and completely against the law. Suddenly everything Jacob has ever believed is inflamed by the heat of desire. Bring on the night.

©2006 Jacquelyn Frank (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"I loved this book!" (Christine Feehan)

Awesome!

I really, really enjoyed this story! I was surprised to learn that this was Jacquelyn Frank’s first novel. She did an excellent job of creating a world of Demons and other Nightwalkers.

This story revolved around Jacob the Enforcer of the Demons and his unnatural attraction to Isabella. Unnatural because Jacob is a demon and Isabella is a human librarian and the Demon laws forbid him from pursuing his interest in Isabella. Not only do the laws forbid the interaction between species, but he is the one that is supposed to enforce the law!

I love the compelling attraction that Jacob and Isabella have for each other. I love the romance that draws out between them. In this first book of the series, there is a lot of ground laying facts and information so you can fully grasp the demon world and laws. Ms. Frank also gives you information regarding the different type of demons and the powers that they have. Even though you are given this information, there is enough that wasn’t given to make you curious and want to read more.

I think the narrator Xe Sands did a great job narrating this story. Her voice was easy to listen to and the characters were easily distinguishable from each other. Xe Sands has one of those voices that has great inflections and she was able to draw me into the story right away. To be honest, I actually thought there was more than one narrator, but that’s a good thing.

I will definitely be going on to the next in the series!

Great!

This was an excellent way to re-visit this fantastic introduction to one of my favorites series, it was great to see these characters brought to life by the expert narration of Xe Sands. I love the way audio adds a different dimension to a book when is well performed. Great Paranormal Romance, hot, hot.

Can't get any better than this!!!!!

WOW!! I am so pleased that one of my favorite authors is now on Audible. Jacquelyn Frank has been a favorite of mine since I first READ this book back in 2006. The Nightwalker Series is one of the best out there and then when you mix it with the incredible voice talent of Xe Sands,well....it is just fantastic. Jacquelyn is such an awesome writer who brings life to her characters and Xe just gives them a voice. She has to be one of the most talented voices today. I just can't get over the perfect fit this is with Jacquelyn and Xe. I can't wait for the rest of the series!!!

Meh.

This is one of the very few times I have to write a bad review. The storyline is mediocre at best, the wording is waaaaaaay too flowery and laden with overly descriptive metaphors. The composition professors that I had would have ripped this apart. The heroine is not believable for the following reasons: She is supposed to be short and petite, which to me is around 5' 3" or shorter. She weighs 125 lbs, and she is supposedly soft and curvy, but thin and kittenish. Can we make up our minds here please? The heroine is also supposed to be some sort of enforcer, but see above. The heroine also puts her "tiny" fists on her hips a lot. She's sassy, sometimes, but not enough to carry the book. The hero is voiced by the narrator in a way that is like a really corny version of Count Dracula. And can we puhleeze bring up the fact that this book was published well after the Twilight Saga, and the main characters are Jacob and Bella????? Original much?

Not impressed. I may try one of her other books at some point to see if they get any better, but only if I can't find anything else. Those looking for butt-kicking paranormal, stick with Larry Correia, those who want the romance, stick with Christine Warren, and those who want a sassy, funny, and memorable heroine, stick with Molly Harper.

This book was just...meh.

Good story however....

I suppose this falls under "romance" more than contemporary fantasy. The narrator is excellent, the story interesting and good EXCEPT for all of the over-the-top love and sexual innuendos. I truly believe this would be a greater story if the action wasn't stopped by the constant physical, steamy romantic, narrative. If you like steamy more than action or storyline, this is your audio book. Personally I like action and story with the right dash of steamy.

sooooooo flowery

Any additional comments?

This was by far one of the hardest books for me to get through. The annoying part is that it started off pretty good and the story had a lot of potential. The author does not seem to realize less can be more when it comes to love scenes and I got so sick of the main characters being in awe of and in love with one another I just wanted them to both die so the book would be over. I know I could have just turned the book off but it wasn't so flowery until about half way through and by that time I had already invested 5hrs and felt I had to finish it; also like I said the book did have potential and I just keep hoping that it would follow through. Unfortunately I didn't feel any satisfaction with the ending and am lucky that my eyeballs didn't get stuck at the back of my head with all the eye rolling I did.

The Narration Far Surpasses the Story

While I enjoyed this story well enough it is the narration that makes this book pure gold to hear.

It's the voices given - the personalities imbued and the interactions among the cast that make this such a great listen, they're amazing.

The cadence of the narrative takes a little bit to get used to right at first, and has since been perfected in the rest of the series.

AMAZING.

Jacob is one of the best books I’ve listened to. It is definitely in my top 5 since 2010. I didn’t know if I would like it because of the whole DEMON angle. I don’t mint the vampire or shape –shifter thing but demon was a little out of my comfort zone. Once I got past that it was actually a really good book. The characters were amazing, the storyline was brilliant, and the narrator was wonderful. What more can you ask for?

Wonderful Narration

Any additional comments?

I will admit that I started listening to the book because I was looking for other works narrated by Xe Sands. I am happy to say that the book exceeded my expectations and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Wonderful!

I loved the book so much that I wrote the narrator and told her what an excellent job she did protraying the characters. I know there is more out there to read in this series, and am eagerly anticipating it.