Master of Hounds

The Pickman Files, Book 1

By: C.Steven Manley

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Clint Mercer is about to get a crash course in magic.

After he barely survives an attack on the hospital where he works, Clint is quickly recruited by the brilliant but often unstable wizard Arlo Dandridge.

Working on behalf of the mysterious Pickman Institute, the two men soon find themselves in a race to recover an ancient relic of deadly power before a centuries-old warlock and his cult of militant followers can beat them to it.

With the lives of an entire city on the line, failure is not an option.

Master of Hounds is the first audiobook in the Pickman Files series, a dark urban fantasy filled with magic, monsters, secret societies, and dark conspiracies.

Get yours now and keep the hounds at bay!

©2018 Chuck Manley (P)2019 Chuck Manley

Met my expectations and then a little more too.

I am curious to find out more of this world and it's inhabitants, magic and monsters in an urban setting. I did request this book from the publisher and have voluntarily left this review.

A Good Start To A New Series

Clint Mercer, a former air force para-rescuer, has his whole life turned upside down when agents of the Pickman Institute bum rush the hospital emergency room where he works as a nurse. While trying to treat the wounded agents, the emergency room is attacked by an evil mage and his supernatural beasts.

Somehow, Clint survives the attack but he is not the same. Weird new abilities manifest that he doesn't understand. The agents of the Pickman Institute, however, do understand. This begins what I feel is a good start to what I can only assume will be a new urban fantasy series.

I was not familiar with the author, C. Steven Manley, but I am very familiar with the narrator, James Anderson Foster. He is the reason I gave "Master Of Hounds" a try. I think Mr. Foster is one of the best narrators in the audiobook industry and I tend to try out urban fantasy stories that he narrates no matter who the author is. While that may not be the smartest way to choose an audiobook, in this case, it worked out just fine. I am glad I chose "Master Of Hounds" and I will be picking up the next book in the series when it becomes available.

Finally, this free, review copy audiobook was given to me at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

I like the world this book takes place in

really in joyed the world this book was in, I like the idea of the the monsters you know of existing but in a different way you think about them.

Urban Fantasy

I really enjoyed this new urban fantasy world. I like how the magic works and how mages need some extra help with life. Makes it more believable. The characters were likable and the world was well thought out. The narrator did a good job.

If you are a fan of urban fantasy, you should check this out. Great all around fiction too.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Unique Urban Fantasy

So when I first started this book, I wasn’t sure what to think. It seemed so ordinary and based on the description, I was like well, wait, where’s the magic? Then it came into the story with a punch and the entire tone/feeling of the book changed a couple chapters in. What goes from a normal day for Clint working at the hospital turns into something he’ll never be able to forget.

This is an intense urban fantasy story that drew me in the deeper I went into the story. While, I admit at first it was hard for me to get into, I pushed past that, and I’m glad I did. The story is rich with character development and worldbuilding. I loved the idea of the Favored and the use of Hellhounds.

This is definitely a book to check out if you’re sick of the typical tropes of a lot of other fantasy/paranormal books.

Good Action-Packed Start to Series

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.

This is the first book in The Pickman Files series. It is a standalone story but does set up the next book in the series.

Here, Clint works as a nurse in an ER. One day, a patient is brought in by individuals who seem to be law enforcement and the patient suffering from severe life-threatening wounds. Clint is told to provide blood to the patient - does not matter the type, just blood. Shortly after Clint starts to treat the patient, the hospital is attacked. Clint has to move and safeguard his patient. As he tries to get the patient to safety, he is confronted by a supernatural being and suffers what should have been a death blow, but Clint survives. He is then recruited to join the Pickman Institute. Although Clint has seen magic and supernatural events, he is still skeptical.

This is a very good action-packed start to the series. I was hooked on the story immediately. The story was unique with very good character development. I really liked Clint's questioning what he sees and the magic world of which he has become a part. Arlo is a wonderful humorous "mentor" and colleague to Clint.

The narrator was a perfect compliment to this series.

Unique, Suspenseful Read

Definitely enjoyed the book, and the skillful narration made it particularly suspenseful. It roped me in immediately! The story was unique with decent character development. A sprinkling of magic with just enough fantasy elements. My only complaint is that the main character did seem to be over-questioning at times dragging the flow of the story a little bit. Overall a decent set-up for a series, lots of options to where the story can go!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Pretty Good Story

I like the storyline. It has something of a Dresden Files quality in that magic exists in the real world, but only a select few have the talent. The humor and snark are absent, but that is just a different writing style. Really, the only issue I have is that the protagonist seems a bit dense. I can accept that he has tremendous difficulty accepting that magic is real. The problems he has with accepting orders, when he is a former soldier, gets tedious.
This is the first time I have heard James Anderson Foster, and it was a pleasure! He did a fabulous job of storytelling and delivered the dialogue convincingly. He provided distinct character voices as well. I look forward to hearing more of his work.

Wow! That was an unexpected rush!

Let's get this out of the way first: I received this book for free in exchange for an unbiased review. Scan down and you'll see I'm not shy about giving such books medium to bad reviews. Not going to be an issue today! I listened to this right after listening to The Fellowship to the Rings, so it started off in a bad place following that classic, but it didn't matter at all.

My favorite UF series is the Dresden Files and I'm also a big fan of the Iron Druid series. This didn't remind them of me, but it did remind me of a better Monster Hunters International. I like the MFI series, but the main character is too perfect and overly strong compared to most of his fellow hunters. In this case, the protagonist is a former pararescue soldier who is now a RN. He survives a terrifying encounter with a supernatural baddie and gets recruited to join The Pickman (who are somewhat similar to MHI) as they try to stop said baddie. Does he develop some superhuman power? Yes. Is it overpowered? No. He is a believe character in an unbelievable world. Not that the story is unbelievable, just that his own world has magic in it and he's not sure he believes it. Also, the bad guys seemed very real too. Bent by evil magic and getting more bent as the book goes on? Yes, but still with real human emotions (except the one that was probably born a psychopath).

This kicks off a fascinating new series, and while it's obviously intended to be a series it contains a complete story. We still don't know much about this world by the end, but I'm looking forward to learning more about The Pickman, their mission and their enemies.

Finally, the narrator was outstanding. Several times during the book I was wondering who he was. I've never listened to anything by him before, but I see I own one more he's narrated so that one will more quickly up my que. I knew each character by the voice he gave them, male or female and he read every word with what felt like the correct nuance. He reminded me somewhat of Luke Daniels, another favorite of mine. A new favorite author and narrator in one book? Fantastic!

Again, I got this for free, but I have a library of over 600 books, most of them paid for, and this is among the best I've heard, as good as anything written by Jim Butcher. That's as a high a praise as I know how to give!

Keep your eye on this author.

This was just such a solid book. Characters were interesting and had depth to them. You felt they had histories even though you only get a small portion of them. Evil side was interesting as well. The story had such great details and narrative and made everything very believable. Cannot wait for book 2.