Lord Mouse

De: Mason Thomas

Narrado por: Joel Leslie

Scoundrel by nature and master thief by trade, Mouse is the best there is. Sure, his methods may not make him many friends, but he works best alone anyway. And he has never failed a job.

But that could change.

When a stranger with a hefty bag of gold seduces him to take on a task, Mouse knows he'll regret it. The job? Free Lord Garron, the son of a powerful duke arrested on trumped up charges in a rival duchy. Mouse doesn't do rescue missions. He's no altruistic hero, and something about the job reeks. But he cannot turn his back on that much coin - enough to buy a king's pardon for the murder charge hanging over his head.

Getting Garron out of his tower prison is the easy part. Now, they must escape an army of guardsmen, a walled keep and a city on lockdown, and a ruthless mage using her power to track them. Making matters worse, Mouse is distracted by Garron's charm and unyielding integrity. Falling for a client can lead to mistakes. Falling for a nobleman can lead to disaster. But Mouse is unprepared for the dangers behind the plot to make Lord Garron disappear.

©2016 Mason Thomas (P)2023 Dreamspinner Press

Prison Break with gays and magic

This was a really fun book and felt very fresh and original.
Mouse, our hero, is a scoundrel with a heart of gold. He's a thief who only robs from the rich to help keep his father out of trouble. He takes on a high risk high paying job to rescue a foreign noble who's been unjustly imprisoned.
Mouse has a couple of no strings attached flings with other men as he's preparing for the job, which added to the gritty atmosphere and gave us a look at our hero as a mature, sexually liberated man, a refreshing change from the nearly virginal wholesome leads we too often see.
Mouse delightfully subverts tropes by being sexually dominant (aks top) despite being a smaller man. Far far too often we see all bottoms are small guys while all tops are big strapping manly men, so this change is refreshing and interesting. It's also refreshing to see a small wiry man as a bit of a sex symbol.
The noble that Mouse is set to rescue, Garron, proves to be a complex man in his own right, muscular and handsome, he's still gentle and sensitive, which complicates Mouse's job of getting them both out safely. Sparks fly quickly between them and their relationship develops briskly but it felt natural and didn't intrude on the action.
There's a really tense and gripping journey through the castle where Garron was imprisoned. At heart the book is a prison break, just set in a quasi-middle ages castle. Mouse is quick witted and ruthless, with many costume changes, subterfuge and no shortage of violence in his pursuit of their freedom.
After a tightly plotted beginning and middle the ending felt a bit rushed but it's a small complaint out of a delightful adventure. I look forward to more from the author and hope we haven't seen the last of Lord Mouse.
Joel Leslie, one of the best narrators out there, elevates the reading to a performance and breathes life into the characters.

Mouse for the win!

I think it's safe to say that I loved this book. A light fantasy heisty story with a snarky loveable lead in mouse.

excellent!

what a great adventure. by far the best gay fantasy novel I have read. hopefully there will be more

Worth the credit

I liked the mix of adventure and romance, but the story line was lacking in romance, it depicted a very stoic and tasteful love affair between two men. The story line did keep you guessing & was interesting but bores me in the end with a predictable happy ending.

Very good

I didn’t go in expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Definitely worth the buy in :)

Fantastical story with amazing narration!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I definitely would. The writing was unique and clever and the characters were brought to life so well by Joel Leslie, I couldn't ask for more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mouse! The man is sneaky, sly, conniving and intelligent. He has this arsenal of disguises and voices and who better to bring all this alter egos to life than Joel Leslie who too holds an arsenal of different voices and tones.

Which scene was your favorite?

The underlying mystery revealed.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole damn thing really. I was entertained and intrigued from start to finish.

Any additional comments?

This story was so much fun. It reminded me a bit of Prison Break but with gay characters instead up to no good. Definitely worth a listen if you like the Author and/or narrator. Me, I buy books just because Joel Leslie narrates them, and I highly recommend you do that with this one.

great romance with build up and tension...

Although limited fantasy world-building, this allowed for easy immersion and rapid pacing diving straight into depths of characters keeping them interesting.

Spies, princes, gays- all the world needs

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to. It's hard to find LGTBQIA fantasy that's well-written and takes itself seriously on both plot and character development. The narrator fit the tone of the book well, and it was easy to lose myself in listening. It had its flaws, sure, but all-in-all a good listen and well worth it!

Good ride

This this is an enjoyable book with great characters, the story has intrigue and drama with magic and sword fighting.. I believe the listener won't disappointed with the buy.

Clever

Half the fun of this book was waiting to see how Mouse would get out of one mess or another. I liked the characters, they grew and became more complex throughout the story. Overall a fun listen.