The Watchers

By: Jon Steele

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 21 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Beneath Lausanne Cathedral, in Switzerland, there is a secret buried before time began, something unknown to angels and men, until now....

Marc Rochat watches over the city at night from the belfry of the cathedral. He lives in a world of shadows and "beforetimes" and imaginary beings.

Katherine Taylor, call girl and daydreamer, is about to discover that her real-life fairy tale is too good to be true.

Jay Harper, private detective, wakes up in a crummy hotel room with no memory. When the telephone rings and he's offered a job, he knows he has no choice but to accept.

Three lives, one purpose: save what's left of paradise before all hell breaks loose.

©2012 Jon Steele (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A seductive cosmic thriller stoked by historic fact, an ancient Jewish religious text, and a literary classic... Steele’s lavishly atmospheric, witty, bloody, and swashbuckling tale of age-old struggles for dominion between angels and demons is the propitious first book in an ambitious series.” (Booklist, starred)

“An imaginative metaphysical thriller… Steele keeps his tale tantalizingly ambiguous, casting it with fey characters and skillfully concealing until the climax whether apparent weird events haven’t been manipulated to make them seem so. This solidly plotted tale, the first in a trilogy, will appeal to readers who like a hint of uncanny in their fiction.” (Publishers Weekly)

“A first novel (and first in a series) from Steele, for years a master cameraman for Independent Television News and author of War Junkie, an underground classic; really smart work for serious thriller readers.” (Library Journal)

Best of my best

Would you listen to The Watchers again? Why?

It's required to truly understand the story!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Can't choose.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

No idea. I haven't read it. Narration is terrific.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Could not!

Meh

It's not that that this is a bad book, it's just not that interesting. I'm a big fan of the Book of Enoch (which Jonathan Davis pronounced "Eneck" the whole time, grrr!) and angel- lore but I felt that this wasn't a good "angels are amoung us and people too!" story.
The first good third of the book could have probably been summed up in a couple of paragraphs to give us a feel for the three main characters. In fact, most of the book could have been dealt with in a couple of chapters as backstory, thereby doing away with then need to make this a trilogy.
If you have a credit you really don't know what to do with, listen to the sample. The whole thing. Really

A wonderful collision of genres filled w surprises

Pretty Woman meets a Jason Statham blockbuster and adds a sprinkle of the Da Vinci Code and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. And bam! There you have The Watchers. I wanna say I got this title as a Daily Deal or maybe a sale item and boy am I glad I did. What a gem. I don't even know that I saw what genre this actually fell under until now (Literature & Fiction/Horror). Based on the synopsis I felt like I was walking into something rather straightforward, however it became anything but.

There were a few reviews bemoaning the length and slow progression of the book. I'm a sucker for long books so I decided to look past those. While indeed on the longer side and somewhat slower paced for the first half, it was marvelously developed. The bounce back between characters kept the pace interesting enough to keep going. The character development was really successful in my opinion. While I've never been to Switzerland, I've got a really good idea what the city was like. There's a bit of technical jargon with regard to the cathedral but it was woven in so as not to be boring or irrelevant.

3 unlikely characters lead very different lives and yet they meet for some of the most important reasons in the world. Rochat, a mentally and physically challenged young man is the bell keeper at the Lausanne Cathedral. He appears to have some OCD tendencies and rather eccentric habits but he's kindly and very special. Katherine is a self-indulgent young escort living her best life out of the limelight and scrutiny of tax collectors and law enforcement. She spends her days indulging in anything and everything her consorts provide for her. Jay Harper, a private detective/washed up alcoholic, is called to this old city in Switzerland on the guise of solving a missing persons mystery. There are some crossing of paths but little do any of them know, how intertwined they will all be at some point.

For a good portion of the story, things feel like any whodoneit type mystery. Good cop/bad cop, down on his luck detective, trying to solve the mystery only to find that he's fallen down some kind of crazy rabbit hole and is likely the scapegoat and not the detective he thought he was.

Marc Rochat, what a charming character. You can't help but feel protective of him and hope that the citizens do good by him. He talks to bells and shadows and statues and skeletons and sees angels. He's special in so many ways.

Katherine, naive is an understatement but she thinks she's got the world all figured out when in fact she does not.

Jonathan Davis is just brilliant bringing to life the characters and adding accents and latin and french flawlessly.

The plot is handsomely crafted. Smooth sailing for a while then BAM you're turned on your head and riding the wave in a totally different direction. And you're going "whattttttt? I would never have seen that coming!"

It definitely got me invested. I've ordered up the next 2 books in the trilogy and can't wait to see where the story picks back up.

Give it a go. Let yourself get immersed in the storyline.

Excellent

Fantastic character development and blending of the Book of Enoch with a Thriller!

Very impressed and recommend to anyone seeking a religious fiction thriller.

Could not finish…

The language differences and excessive descriptive language made it impossible for me to engage. I wish I had been able to swap this title with something more appealing to me.

Awesome!

Although this isn't normally my type of book,t it I couldn't;t put it down,If there is one negative I had to say about it I don't know what it would be. The narration is UNBELIEVABLE. to the cat made me laughed out loud. The way Davis changed voice is unbelievable. I loved the storyline. the second part of the book came completely unexpected compared to the the first half. Don't miss it !!

Interesting Plot and Great Narrator

If you could sum up The Watchers in three words, what would they be?

The Watchers weaves biblical and Swiss history through a maze of interesting characters and mysterious mysteries. The unique characters and plot twists are sure to keep you interested while you absorb a very interesting history lesson on the book of Enoch. A very intruiging story mixed with loveable and interesting characters make this a must read.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Watchers?

One of my favorite parts of the book was the interaction between Ms. Taylor and Rochat. The hardened madam and the innocent and hearthwarming young man make for a great story line. I loved character Steele built in Rochat. His innocence and outside-the-box perspective on life really made for an interesting change. It is a nice twist to all the hard and unforgiving characters we read about in other mystery/historical fiction novels.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Davis – was your favorite?

Rochat was the best character. It is a hard character to portray in a convincing manner. But I think Mr. Davis pulled it off splendidly.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You never know who is watching.

Much potential, but could be adbridged and edited

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not likely. Aside from the fact most of my friends don't read (or listen to) books, when I DO recommend one, it has to be something fairly standout, and this, sadly, was not.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would have cut out much of the side-babble nonsense. There's so much content and story in this book that can easily be removed and not affect the overall story or character development in the least. In fact, it would seem in the interest of "character development" the author crams the same ideas, facts and idiosyncrasies down your throat repeatedly until you cringe each time you hear it.

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

He read this tale very well, especially the accents. I didn't care much for his female voices as they came across as whiny teenager more than anything, but overall, well-played sir. Well-played.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

If it were a movie they'd have to condense the heck out of it, so that's a start. However, the story alone wasn't really one I'd want to "relive".

Any additional comments?

Aside from the above, the author employed a number of... err... techniques that just got to be annoying. For example, much of the story takes place in the cathedral. I know this not only from the context of the conversation and plot, but because the author has to constantly type out echoes for characters when talking... when talking... when talking. Annoying, no? He also does it with the bells. I don't know how many times I heard GONNNNNG! GOOOONNNNG! GOOOOOOONNNNG! before I wanted to cringe, but it didn't take much -- and that was just the beginning of the ride.

The author also likes to dabble in a technique seen most often in movies like Oceans 11 and other bank-heist-type flicks. We leave a scene, cut ahead to some point in the future, and just when you're about to check your iPod to see if it skipped a chapter or two because you seem to be missing something, the author uses some heavy-handed technique (just then, Mark remembered what had happened 10 minutes before....) to take you back to what transpired in the missing moments so that you're all caught up. I guess he was going for suspense and an "A-HA!"... All I could muster was an internal eye-roll.

To cap it all off, the author seems to have tried to make his own universe of rules and laws of angels, demons and men, and never fully explores it, while also managing to shove so much lore into your face via clues and conversation that you begin to expect some big payoff. There never really is. I won't spoil it, but don't expect much from the characters or story after all of the build up.

Not the worst book I've listened to, but lacking enough (especially since it had potential) to annoy me into disliking it more than the story alone deserves.

Excellent book, slow to get started

This is long book. Its starts off pretty slow and you get to learn a lot of details about the characters lives long before any action begins. He does a great job of slowly interweaving their lives that you almost wonder if their ever going to meet. He keeps the story line a mystery till about the end. Once you get whats going on your left wanting to know more about the back story the "before times" times. The book is a bit moody and somewhat sad. If your looking for a book that lighthearted and fun (my typical types of books) this wont be that type of read.

Long book - would have been better at 7 hours long

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you have 21+hours to invest in a so-so story, then yes.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I was glad that the story eventually progressed and reached an ending. I had my doubts, but was somewhat surprised by the ending.

What aspect of Jonathan Davis’s performance would you have changed?

Shorten the book by at least 7 hours

Do you think The Watchers needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No, unless it is cut down to a manageable size story.

Any additional comments?

Good idea and good story, just too much background and too much detail on side stories.