Kick at the Darkness

Kick at the Darkness, Book 1

By: Keira Andrews

Narrated by: Tristan James

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

To live through the zombie apocalypse, they have to survive each other first.

College freshman Parker Osborne is having the worst day ever. He humiliated himself trying to pick up a cute guy, he hasn't made any friends at school, and his stupidly hot jerk of a TA gave him a crappy grade on his paper. He's going to drop Adam Hawkins' film class and start fresh tomorrow after he's had a good sulk.

But Parker's about to find out what a bad day really looks like - if he can survive the night.

A virus is unleashed, transforming infected people into zombielike killers. After these quick and deadly creepers swarm campus, Parker only escapes thanks to Adam swooping him onto the back of his trusty motorcycle. Now they're on the run - and stuck with each other.

When they're not bickering, they're fighting off the infected in a bloody battle for survival. Their only hope is to head east to Parker's family, but orphaned Adam has a secret he's not sure Parker will accept: He's a werewolf. Can they trust each other enough to find some light in these dark days?

Contains mature themes.

©2015 Keira Andrews (P)2020 Tantor

keeps you listening

the story is good, I was kept mildly interested the whole time and most books cant even do that for me, however those feeling changed to excitement and anger at some of the stuff that happens later on, I have to say that was awesome because it went from slow pace to a great few new scenes. I wish most of the book had more of that bit I still enjoyed it very much. there are some areas where the volume of the narration drops but it's very minor. not sure if a sequel is happening but I would love to hear of some new adventures or even something telling what happened to Ramon.

Zombie apocalypse, werewolves, and Tristan James!

I mean could there be anything better!?
Zombie apocalypse plus werewolves plus a credible gay romance.... I mean this is my dream book, then you add in Tristan James who is one of my favorite narrators and it was an instant buy for me.
The characters were likable, the sex scenes were steamy, and the plot was not only believable but the character's reactions were realistic!
Keira Andrews is a new author for me, but you can guarantee I'll read/listen to everything she has.

great listen

I initially past over this book because of the missed genre, zombies and shifters? I'm glad I'm downloaded it! it was great to hear about their journey. The performer did a great job!

great story!

I love romance, and I love post-apoc books. putting them together is a winning combination. add a little surprise werewolf and this book knocked it out of the park for me!

Beautiful

Zombie apocalypse, werewolves and love; who could ask for more. A fun, sexy romp across the end of the world with excellent narration by Tristan and a surprisingly believable story line by Kiera Andrews. And another book in the series. Oh baby...

Wow

K I don’t wana seem cheap and easy.....oh heck why deny who I am?!? I LOVED THIS BOOK, and would totally do ANYTHING to keep the series going indefinitely!!!! And I do mean anything wink wink :-P lol Parker was a bit of a big b in the beginning but he came into his own later on and Adam ...well holy heck, I NEED me a gay werewolf boyfriend!!!!!

Surprisingly, the story sucked me in

I’m not a regular Keira Andrews fan, mostly because I dislike period romances. I did try her Pirate book but only got a third of the way through it before I lost interest. The big pull for me for this book was the werewolf bit. It seemed like an odd addition to a zombie/end of the world story and I was mostly curious to see how it worked. Plus...Tristan James is a spectacular narrator. Yes, his voices for the two MC’s seemed to get mixed up a bit (Parker sounded like Adam sometimes and vice versa), but overall he’s got a great voice. The story revolves around a college Freshman and one of the TA’s in his class that he has an altercation with in the beginning surviving a zombie-like pandemic together. This book was easy to get sucked into, even if you’re not a fan of The Walking Dead (which I’m not). It is eerily similar to today’s pandemic and that makes it slightly terrifying as well. The only time I was tempted to drop off and leave it was because of the Ramon situation at The Pines. I always lean towards less angst in a storyline and everything surrounding The Pines tipped the scales too far in the angst department for my liking. In fact, the only reason I didn’t stop listening was because I read the blurb for Book 2 and found out that they didn’t actually stay at the retreat. Irregardless, I listened to the entire book in less than 24 hours and would absolutely consider re-listening at a later point in time. I would rate it as a full five star experience if I felt I *had* to go on to listen to the second book in the series. Series that revolve around the same pairing are almost always a no-go for me and I’m perfectly content with leaving this series as it is and not continuing on. I will give further thought to trying some of Keira Andrews’ more contemporary books, however.

Great story, usual TJ mistakes...

Well, what can I say about Tristan James' narration. Usual standard [average], the exclamation 'ugh' was pronounced ugg, and there were mistakes in the character narrations too...Parker sounding like Adam and vice versa. I cannot believe that Tantor Audio gave this narration to someone who sounds at least 20 years older than the book characters are, but my main criticism?? I find it very strange indeed that this book was released by Keira in 2015...and it's taken until now 2020, when we are all in the middle of a real, live global pandemic, for it to be released onto audio?? Is that good timing on Tantor's part or what?? Are they honestly out to make the most of the dreadful worldwide situation we find ourselves in?? Maybe I'm wrong and am reading too much into this, but probably not. Whatever...3 stars only for the narration.

I will be READING the sequel Fight the Tide again, and Tantor can go take a long walk off a very short pier...

Great story

The concept is interesting and well written. The characters are likeable and the narration is good.

Enjoyed it more as it went on

I enjoyed this book. At first I thought it was just “ok” but as it went on and the plot got more interesting and their relationship developed, it hooked me more. I’ll be getting the next book in the series.

Zombie Apocalypse, Werewolves and a Motorcycle called Mariah

This is another book I read quit a few years ago and absolutely adored! I’ve waited so patiently for it to come to audio and downloaded and listened to it the day it was released.
Keira has taken a new approach to the old zombie apocalypse by including werewolves and giving the two main characters, Parker and Adam, great relationship dynamic from the beginning.
It ends in a HFN and I know there is a second book which I didn’t get to read so I’m very much looking forward to seeing it being released as an audiobook.
Tristan James did an awesome job with the narration bring to life the story and characters.