Marked

Servants of Fate, Book 1

By: Sarah Fine

Narrated by: Emily Foster

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a broken landscape carved by environmental collapse, Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry risks life and limb on the front lines of a fragile and dangerous city. What most don't know - including her sexy new partner, Eli Margolis - is that while Cacy works to save lives, she has another job ferrying the dead to the Afterlife. Once humans are "Marked" by Fate, the powerful Ferrys are called to escort the vulnerable souls to either eternal bliss or unending fire and pain.

Unaware of Cacy's other life, Eli finds himself as mesmerized by his fierce and beautiful partner as he is mistrustful of the influential Ferry clan led by the Charon - who happens to be Cacy's father. Cacy, in turn, can no longer deny her intense attraction to the mysterious ex-Ranger with a haunted past. But just as their relationship heats up, an apparent hit takes the Charon before his time. Shaken to the core, Cacy pursues the rogue element who has seized the reins of fate, only to discover that Eli has a devastating secret of his own. Not knowing whom to trust, what will Cacy have to sacrifice to protect Eli - and to make sure humanity's future is secure?

©2015 Sarah E. Fine (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Interesting world and characters, has some extreme moments

I really enjoyed the character development and the non-expositive way in which context and back story were crafted into the natural unfolding of the story. I really dig the way you put together pieces of details to arrive at certain understandings as a reader versus being narrated to by an external all knowing force.

The unique and wholly unexpected pairing of a totally plausible yet disturbingly dystopian near-future ravaged by who knows what and the plane shifting supernatural... (Preternatural..?) themes of eternal rest or eternal damnation and the care taking of souls in transit was delightful and enjoyable.

The unexpected infusion of VERY, very graphic moments of sexual intimacy made sense to some degree, each building on the growing sense of intimacy between the central characters but they seemed FAR more graphic than necessary. On the other hand I'm certain many readers would rather enjoy those portions, perhaps marking them as among their favorite :)

I can't recommend the book openly for young readers or those with a sensitivity to overt sexual themes. Which is very unfortunate as the book has a LOT to offer outside of those moments.

A lot of sexual content

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story would have been good if there wasn't so much sexual filler. I understand that the main characters where attracted to each other but it felt like there was more time spent detailing the sex scenes than dealing with what the story was actually about.

Marked was well crafted with characters I rooted f

Any additional comments?

I am going to be vague here, because Fine created twists I never saw coming. A human whose timeline will have a rippling effect on everyone involved and beyond is in danger. Sides are drawn, lines are crossed and figuring out where everyone falls is suspenseful, as we fear the outcome. From the beginning, Fine has us invested from both an emotional standpoint and a fate of the world aspect.

Holy hotness and bring out the feels. The chemistry between Eli and Cacy is electric. You can call it insta-love if you want but Fine had no trouble making me believe. Every time these two were together, I felt the sexually tense and intense connection. Swoon-worthy with all the feels, Fine gave us scenes that melted my ears and she did it without making me blush. The angst and tension was brilliantly drawn out without making me pull out my hair. Instead, it had me holding my breath and demanding she find them their happy.

Emily Foster is the narrator and we began a little rocky. She does a terrific job with the character but I found her narration to be too fast. I generally set my audible app between 1.25x and 1.75x. With Foster, I had to set it at 1x. Having said that within the first few chapters I was swept up in the story and found her voices and tones to be spot on. I definitely plan to continue on audio and hope she continues to narrate them.

Marked for the win! I am delighted and excited to continue the series, especially after the epilogue that left me drooling in anticipation. Sarah Fine lived up to the hype. Marked will delight fans of urban fantasy, dystopian worlds, science fiction and mythology based tales.

Great story

This story was interesting and I enjoyed the world and perspective of the characters. My only disappointment is in the performance of the voice actress. I felt as if there was barely a distinction between character voices and all the male voices were canted a little too high. It was also mostly delivered in a monotone that belied the situations the characters were in.

Interesting PNR story, mediocre narrator.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator doesn't seem to have a lot of range-most female characters sounded alike, as did the male characters. Foster's rhythm was off to my ears and the cadence felt choppy and stilted. If I hadn't been drawn to the story, I wouldn't have finished it.

Too wordy

I like the characters and the story line but it is long. I really didn't enjoy this book.

really like the premise of this storyline!

if you can get past the narrator’s mispronunciations (which granted, Are fewer than more) and that her characters aren’t very differentiated, then it’s time for the next book!

interesting book

this book kept me interested and wanting to continue listen. it was so good that I bought the next two books in the series! now I need to find out what is going on!

different and enjoyable

I absolutely loved it can't wait to read the next one. I haven't been able to read like I used to so this program is such a wonderful blessing.

Very Creative

I was shocked at how intricate this story was. It has alot of sexual content and gets kind of annoying. But overall the twists and turns in this made this story great. From the very beginning Sarah Fine has you sucked in which I have found with almost anything I have read from her. She has a beautiful way of writing! She gets you not only interested but keeps you wanting more, to know whats next and then throws a curve ball at you with something you never saw coming. If you read this and didn't like this, I can see how its not everyone's cup of tea, read another book by her. You don't be disappointed! She is amazing!
Emily Foster did a wonderful job narrating this. She was great with all the characters and emotions.

Very disappointed 😞

The narrator was so monotone and lack lustre that I didn't get past the 2nd chapter
Sarah Fine is an author I usually don't hesitate in buying but I regretted this one. Maybe a better narrator would have helped but I don't like the robotic sound of this one

loved it!

I'm fast becoming a serious Sarah Fine fan. I stumbled on the shadowlands series by accident and loved it, then I read the Reliquary series, again loved it and I've just started on servants on fate. Sarah writes, smart and engaging stories that are right up my street and have me hooked, desperate to to know what's going to happen and if things will work out, for what quickly become favourite characters. Can't wait to keep reading this series and am desperately hoping there will be more of the Reliquary series to come too!

brilliant just brilliant

Really interesting concept to story, very different, fab writing and enjoyed the narration style, highly recommend 5 star.