A Bump in the Night

Jake Stark Mysteries Collection, Books 1-4

By: D. A. Provencher

Narrated by: Bryan Anderson, Sonia Anderson

Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a collection of the first four titles from the Jake Stark Mysteries series with a short bonus story.

The Gorham Vampire

Jake Stark. Private investigator. Monster hunter.

Jake Stark is a Sentinel, tasked by the church to protect humans from the things that go bump in the night. His latest case has him chasing an ancient creature, similar to a vampire, that is attacking the townsfolk.

Can he catch it before it chomps its way through the local residents?

The Burning Town

Jake Stark is back, and his latest case may be too hot to handle.

Mysterious deaths are sweeping the town, with victims being burned to death. Jake must figure out what the monster is before it claims another victim.

After a brutal confrontation, Jake learns exactly what a Sentinel can do. Will this newfound ability prove useful in the fight against evil?

Whispers of the Lost

Jake is going on a trip...to the other side.

When Jake is called in to investigate a haunted house, he finds it is full of lost souls. With the help of Sheriff Tom Petty, Jake must travel to the other side to free them.

Will he make it back? Or will he too become lost?

Heart of Ice

If you go down to the woods today...

Jake Stark is called in to investigate when a logging company complains of machinery tampering. An ancient evil stalks the woods, and Jake is going to need all the help he can get to defeat it.

Even with his training as a Sentinel, it may not be enough to contend with a creature with a heart of ice.

A Jake Stark Christmas - bonus story

Christmas: a time for hope, peace, love, and werewolves.

Jake must protect a special package from a pack of hungry werewolves on Christmas Eve.

Will he accomplish his mission, or will the werewolves eat him for the holidays?

©2018 D. A. Provencher (P)2018 D. A. Provencher

A Bump in the Night

These books were ok. They had their moments, but they were pretty preachy and they kind of followed the same plot line. I had to speed up the narration after a while. The performances had their moments as well, but mostly sounded flat to me and I was unable to feel affected by the characters and their adventures overall.

This book was given to me for free at my request for my voluntary and unbiased review.

very interesting collection

very good and interesting books lovely writing and very good development everything was very nice and well thought the narrator did a nice job as well a very good listen overall
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Enjoyed The Series, Not So Much The Narration

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

I must say that it took me a while to get over the strange cadence of the male narrator's interpretation of the book. The fact that he put so much emphasis on the word "I" was distracting at best and annoying in general. As the narration progressed and I got used to this quirk, I was able to get more absorbed by the stories themselves and found them really entertaining. The female narrator however did a great job. Each story differs from the others enough to keep your interest alive. Jake Starke is a well defined character with enough sense of humor to make him likable and not full of himself. The writing is smooth and to the point and the storylines inventive. My favorite character was the adorable, naive, but resourceful Legolas. Truly enjoyed that story...

The supernatural and paranormal are well represented in this collection, an easy family listening as there are no truly horrifying moments in it. I would definitely like to hear more from this author.

Interesting idea

I liked the concept, the scenario's that Jake dealt with were creative and interesting.

The writing is good but I didn't enjoy the first person perspective. At times it felt like I was reading a lie of "I" statements, I went, I though, I saw etc. Jake's equipment was also listed as part of each book, even the stuff that wasn't used during the story and this got tiresome, although I can see why this is necessary if you're reading the books as standalone stories.

For me, a good book shows me what is happening, this book told me about what was happening.

The narrators did a good job with the character voices and the delivery had a good flow to it.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

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Needs More Demonic Kittens

First - Musical Introductions in my audiobooks? No, just no!

Other than that, I really enjoyed these stories about Jake Stark. This book is a little Constantine, a little Van Helsing and a lot Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The stories take place in a small town that is a hot spot for demonic activity and poor Jake is the Sentinel assigned by the Church to protect it. He uses his faith, his pistols and a range of gadgets supplied by Q (maybe) to fight these evil forces. I could have done without the description of his clothing and equipment in every story but I was willing to overlook that since it seemed like these were written as a serial that was released a little at a time and this was the author’s way of reminding the reader to the kind of things Jake carries around with him.

While on the surface, this appears to be a collection of horror stories, it felt more action adventure to me. This is more like Aliens and less like Alien, if you know what I mean. I wasn’t really scared at any point but I was certainly enjoying the action. We get glimpses into the secret world Stark lives in which is often fascinating and always dangerous.

My favorite story was the one about the ice giant. I love Legolas and the little people.

As far as the narration, I found Bryan Anderson’s delivery to be off-putting. His style of storytelling is odd, his voice far too monotone and his phrasing unnatural. It was like listening to Eeyore narrating a book. He draws out conjunctions and pronouns in an unnatural way. I finally got used to it but only because I was enjoying the story enough to stick with it. Also, I was having a hard time visualizing Jake because the voice seems to belong to a man who is far older than I expect Jake to be. There are hints that he’s not the gnarled veteran that Anderson’s voice would suggest, his relationship with Katie for instance and the fact that John is always mentoring him on things that a veteran would know. Additionally, I was impressed with Anderson’s female voices. They actually seemed far more natural than the voices he was using for Jake and Sheriff Tom. And then I realized that all the women (the few that pop up now and then) were voiced by Sonia Anderson. Well done, Sonia.

If you like exciting tales about the hidden struggles against demonic forces (with or without Demonic Kittens), you will enjoy this book. Given the chance, I would listen to more tales of Jake Stark.

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

Unnatural beasties with a mundane attitude

When most creators of fiction stories create their world, they almost always have their characters seemed awed or impressed, or even terrified of the fictional additives, be it monsters or magics. Our hero, Jake Stark, isn't one of those people. He's tired and just wants to sleep, not fight off yet another skinwalker or werewolf from feasting on his town.

Fans of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and CW's Supernatural might enjoy this read.

**I was provided with a promotional copy, at my request, and have voluntarily left a fair and honest review**

JAKE STARK FIGHTING EVIL FORCES

This is a collection of the first four stories in the Jake Stark Mysteries series, and this is a genre/subject that is totally up my alley, and I really liked it. Anyone who fights demonic forces is ok in my book, and I enjoyed reading about/listening to Jake Stark and think he's a great character. His cases are all over the place, and this will take you on a wild but enjoyable ride. I really liked it, and thought the narration was good too :)
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

An Enjoyable Listen

I enjoyed listening to this collection of stories, although the narration from Bryan Anderson took a bit to get adjusted to. Sonia Anderson did an excellent job on the female voices! Each one was nicely different. I think the collection is well worth your time. The only way to make this better is to trim some of the "fat" off the story but it's still worth listening to.

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

A Bump in the Night

I liked the book more then I expected and the narrators I thought did a great job.

Good short stories

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."
D.A. Provencher put together a good collection of short stories for his hero Jake Stark. I would have liked more background on Jake and developed his character with more depth. Overall I enjoyed the book. The narrators Bryan & Sonia Anderson do a very good job in telling the story.