Maelstrom

A Whyborne & Griffin Novel, Volume 7

By: Jordan L. Hawk

Narrated by: Julian G. Simmons

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Between his father's sudden - and rather suspicious - generosity, and his own rash promise to help Christine plan her wedding, Percival Endicott Whyborne has quite enough to worry about. But when the donation of a mysterious codex to the Ladysmith Museum draws the attention of a murderous cult, Whyborne finds himself in a race against time to unlock its secrets first. Griffin has a case of his own: the disappearance of an historic map, which quickly escalates to murder. Someone is sacrificing men in dark rituals - and all the clues lead back to the museum. With their friends Christine and Iskander, Whyborne and Griffin must discover the cult's true goal before it's too late. For dark forces are afoot at the very heart of the museum, and they want more than Whyborne's codex. They want his life.

©2015 Jordan L. Hawk (P)2016 Jordan L. Hawk

Widdershins knows its own

Would you consider the audio edition of Maelstrom to be better than the print version?

I only listen to the audio versions of this particular series.

What did you like best about this story?

This is book 7 and in each book a new revelation is made that completely ups the stakes for our heroes. I also like the point of view swaps for the last two books. I like to know what Griffin is thinking and how he reacts.

What does Julian G. Simmons bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Julian has completely ruined reading this series for me. I love how he gives life to the characters.

If you could rename Maelstrom, what would you call it?

I wouldn't rename it at all. However, this is the first time that the title did not have something to do with the location of the case Whyborne and Griffin are working on (besides the short stories)

Any additional comments?

I love Jordan and Julian and Whyborne and Griffin and I'm completely prepared to read about them until the bitter end.

Glad I took a chance on this series

I have a deep-seated dislike of books written in the first person. This meant that although I was intrigued by the premise of this series I was put off from reading them. I had just finished reading the wonderful Magpie Lord series by KJ Charles and was eager to get into a new series. I decided to take a chance on Widdershins, the first book, and 6 books later I am so glad I did. The characters, the plots, and the narration were fantastic. While Whybourbe and Griffin are the heart of the stories I have a soft spot for Christine or more correctly- Dr Putnam.
Jordan L Hawk has a masterful grasp of plot and tension, and each story upped the ante of peril, love and magic. I was also glad to get Griffin's POV in the last two books. I eagerly await the next installment and will now try out other volumes by this extremely talented author.

Character growth is important!

I keep thinking that Ms. Hawk has hit the ceiling on her writing, but she makes sure there is always more to enjoy. This time it involves preparations of the wedding of Christine and Kander, an arrival of a codex that Whybone must investigate and the theft of a map.

We exam what makes Whyborne tick more this book. He is suspicious of his father's generosity to his friend Christine and husband Griffen. He hates his husband's new fangled car, and is more paranoid then ever. This gives the reader some insight of how Whyborne's mental state works, and his insecurity when dealing with his father.

The audible reading of the book has improved greatly over the last seven books. The only time I find myself cringing is when accents are being used now. This is a huge improvement, one that makes it much easier to listen to.

The ending of the book is especially satisfying for me, by allowing Whyborne to keep growing as a person, as he comes to terms with some of his own foibles, and a realization that he needs to work on them.

my favorite so far

The narrator really makes this series come alive his performance is worth purchasing the audiobooks.

Better and better

Fabulous!! Everything about this series just gets better. The character development gets richer, the sex gets hotter, and the world gets deeper.

Fantastic development

I love this series! It is a very good collection! Please do not hesitate to give the series a read!!

Another fantastical adventure!

we're taken on another adventure fighting against those who practice the dark arts and it seems nothing is out of bounds. I personally love the new car and how much Whyborne loathes it. The best moment for me is the spiritual, philosophical, and metaphysical drama near the close of this meaty story! Second best involves Whyborne, Griffin a pair of handcuffs and some wands!

One of the better ones in the series

Maelstrom returns again to the town of Widdershince, and honestly, I usually always like those books a bit better than the "travel" entries.

The book provides the usual mix of occult mystery, male / male romance and good supporting characters.
It also adds in many interesting little tidbits again, which nicely round out the experience, mentioning things in passing which are as fr as I can jude well researched and add quite a bit to the atmosphere.
I should really state that I like those kinds of little things which allow the reader to also actually learn something interesting.

Still, if you have not listened to the previous books, just go to Widdershince and start there, while Maelstrom is a very nice entry, I still would say Widdershince is my all time favourite.

For returning readers, I think I can definitely say that Maelstrom is a very satisfying sequel.
I quite liked to see Griffin being more dominant again as well (I missed that and this time felt just right with the two of them), the occult mystery part felt interesting and very nicely creepy and the whole family drama of the Whybornes added nicely to it all without feeling too over the top.

It pretty much had all that I wanted and missed a bit in the previous books.

Perhaps the title giving Maelstrom itself could have been a bit more impressive and incomprehensible still, but any critcisim is extremely minor, I could literally not stop listening and the suspense was very good, even though I saw the culrpit before our heroes did (but I find their reasoning for it perfectly valid).

I already look forward to the next one.

Also, Mr Simmons was nice to listen to as ever, my only wish for him would be to do more audiobooks in general.

Another Winner

I don't think it's possible for me to give this series any less than five stars. The author always seems to be able to take me by surprise, and this time was no different. There were actually several surprises in this one. Mr Simmons continues to do a great job with the voices, changing them just enough to make each character unique. This is another book where the POV switches between Whyborne and Griffin, and at times, even though each chapter says who is 'speaking', I have to really concentrate on whose view it actually is. I'm getting used to it, though, and I've never been thrown out of the story because of it.

Overall, another winner.

Bring me more!

Maelstrom was awesome, magical, thrilling and so exciting! I think the grin on my face might be permanent by now ;)

It's finally time for Christine and Iskander to get married and due to the generosity of Whyborne's father the festivities are to be held at his childhood home. Between helping Christine plan her wedding, trying to figure out his father’s latest scheme and his work at the Museum Whyborne has his hands full. But when a mysterious codex is stolen by a murderous cult he and his friends scramble against time to stop their evil plans before it's too late.

Again I’m in awe Hawk’s ability to create this world and great characters. I can’t think of a single thing that don’t fit or have a purpose. Every one of their characters has depth, their own personality. They have all become your friends during this journey. And the world… the creatures and monsters and how it all fit together… I don’t have the words to describe the wonders of it.

While listening to these books you always go through an abundance of feelings; love and happiness, exasperation. Then there is the heart-pounding suspense, the fear and horror. And let’s not forget the funny moments. Like when Griffin is driving his brand new car and is so proud that he didn’t hit anything or anyone, and “only drove on the sidewalk for a short time” … times have changed ;) And the way Julian G. Simmons narrated that was brilliant. I could really see Griffin pat himself on his shoulder for his accomplishment.

Another thing that I’ve really enjoyed is how the narration of Simmons has changed over these books, and especially during the last few where there’s been a dual POV. The monotone narration is gone, replaced by so much passion and fire that truly takes the story to another level of greatness.

This series keep getting better and better! And more addictive. I can't seem to listen to them fast enough as I want to know what happens next in this amazing world. Luckily for me I have the next book loaded and ready to go, and curse anyone that dares to disturb me for the next few hours.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.