Primacy of Darkness

Brooklyn Shadows, Book 3

By: Brock Deskins

Narrated by: Brock E. Deskins

Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jack the Ripper, sadistic madman of old London, once thought long dead, has returned to New York in an effort to quench his thirst for blood and mayhem. When the city's vampire enclave finds itself insufficient to deal with a madman of Jack's caliber, Vincent, the enclave head, enlists Leo Malone to put the maniac down before he reveals the existence of vampires as Jack throws the city into the throes of chaos and terror. Leo soon finds that Jack is not the only monster with which he must contend. A ghost from his past has also seemingly crawled from its grave and seeks to put an end to him and the rest of his kind.

©2015 Brock E. Deskins (P)2019 Brock E. Deskins

Prime piece of Darkness

Oh my goodness, Leo has found himself back in the middle of trouble again. As in the past, he does so with style. Glad to see some closure on some of his past and looking forward to see what the future brings for Leo and his friends. Mr Deakins can't release his audios quick enough for me. They are always off the charts Awesome!
This audio was given to me free, and I voluntarily gave this review.

Leo meets the past

This book brings Leo's past back to try to kill him. It also brings back horrors from other people's past to plague New York. Leo must try to stop a serial killer as he battles demons and people from his own past at the same time. This book is a story line that will grab you and not let go. It uncovers secrets that are best left hidden and brings forth the side of characters not seen before in this series. A truly riveting story.

Most authors do less than outstanding job narrating their own books. Brock has done an outstanding job as he launches into this effort. He has been able to develop distinct voices for the many characters so they are recognizable and understandable. The narration is fully understandable and entertaining.

This book was offered free of charge and this review was freely and voluntarily given.

Plenty of Action

As someone who hasn’t read the first two books, I was a little confused in the beginning of the book, but the author’s smooth style ensured that didn’t last long. Pretty soon I was caught up in Leo’s world as he fights to battle a haunting past. Not only that. There’s a serial killer who’s haunting New York also demanding his attention.

Plenty of action and suspense. I loved that most of the characters were full and rounded. Leo especially. I also found the author’s take on vampires to be particularly interesting.

Narration was an experience. I always love to hear an author narrate their own story to see what kind of personality they offer the characters, and this author’s telling didn’t disappoint.

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

Great 3rd book in the series

I really enjoyed this 3rd audiobook in the Brooklyn Shadows series. Leo is the kind of anti-hero that you can’t help but love. He is sarcastic, violent, funny and a vampire that tries to only kills bad guys (though his past is not like that). In this book his dark past comes back to haunt him, dredging up memories he would rather forget and bringing consequences to his doorstep. On top of this, Leo has to contend with Jack the Ripper (who is a psychotic vampire) returning to kill again but this time in Brooklyn, New York instead of England. I like the world the author has created and his take on how the vampires are existing within regular society. The dialog is often funny (especially the interactions between Marvin and Leo) and the scenarios have a real feel to them. The author also did a good job of the narration, his accents have improved greatly, his pace was good and he gave individual voices to the characters. This story has lots of fast action, fights, snappy dialog, humour, honor and a sense of redemption. It is a well written story with great characters, I will look forward to more in the series.

Narration is growing on me

This is the third book I’ve read/listened to by this author and I would listen to another. I hope there are more in this series. I think this was the best book out of the three. We got to see a little more into Leo’s personal life, and how his experiences now drive him. I like his sarcastic banter and no bullshit friends. These are great books to take your mind away and revel in pure entertainment.
Leo is tasked by the head of the Vampire enclave to deal with Jack the ripper, a vampire who has returned to this side of the ocean. Meanwhile, he is being hunted by someone from his past and it takes him a while to figure out the connection. Castillo ( the police officer who is on to him ) just knows there is not something not right with Leo, and she is getting closer to figuring it out. Leo has his friends MoMoney (the hacker) and Katharine (werewolf) to back him up. As usual, not everything is as predictable or easy as it seems.

This is the second book I’ve listened to by this narrator ( Brock E Deskins ) and I found this book better than the last (book 2 of this series). He narrates with a bit more engaged flair. He makes use of accents, but they are often awkward. His Carol voice, in combination with the accent and valley girl style, took me a while to get into. Some of his other female voices are ok and some have the Carol style. I’ve become more accustomed to his seemingly bored narration style when it’s Leo talking or recounting events. It has kind of growing on me however, and he does do the arrogant attitude well.

There are no explicit sex scenes. There is violence, but not excessively gory. There is swearing.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.

Story 4/5
Narration 3.5/5

Leo is back!!

Leo is still an asshole but not as big of one as Jack. Very interesting turns for Leo and his future. The woman who wants him dead may not?, Leo is still causing hell for his Vampire superiors, but this time because they want him to. THe characters are just as interesting as ever and I hope Mr Deskins continues these as I really enjoy his characters and stories. Leo has the beginnings of a strange they all might kill him someday family. Which is probably what Leo would want if his monster ever gets out of control again.

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

Book 3 in the Brooklyn Shadow Series

Well yet another ‘bloody’ ‘fangtastic’ novel.

Leo Malone continues to kick ass with his supernatural vampiric abilities. His quick witted, wise talk is a delight especially with regards to his relationship with Marvin his assistant / friend and Castillo the suspicious, tenacious cop that would like nothing more than to lock Malone up for eternity and throw away the key.

In this action packed instalment Malones past comes back to haunt him or should I say to hunt him as well as the rest of his kind.
Will he be able to convince his hunters that he has changed his ways in order to spare him?
Will he manage to stay alive long enough to assist the police and his local vampire enclave to catch or dispatch ‘Jack’ the serial killer from Old London Town who has begun yet another killing spree but this time on Malones patch of Brooklyn.

Malone attempts to come to terms with what he has done in the past and one could even say that he feels a tad of guilt. But can he maintain control of his primeval urges or will he need to unleash the powers they provide then along with the help of others defeat the fiend from across the water.

Brock Deskins has not only excellently written this novel but he also narrates this it perfectly. He truly knows his characters and supplies the listener with a plethora of voices bringing each one to life.

This book is action pack and a delight to listen too.

Roll on the next chapter........

This audio book was provided to myself free of charge by the author
The review I have given is voluntary and solely my opinion of this audiobook, which is completely independent and unbiased.

“It’s a one seater; I’d planned to drag you behind it”

Wow! From start to finish it’s such a good listen.
Filled to the brim with action and overflowing with smart-Ass backchat, what’s not to like!?
Brock not only writes a great book that had me laughing out loud at times, he also does a pretty great job at narrating too!
Some of the foreign accents might be a little sketchy, but all the characters are clearly distinct and he does a great job giving each character a ‘character!’ :)
Really really hope there’s more to come in this series, I can’t get enough of Leo’s antics!
This is my honest opinion of a free review copy.

A dangerous new (or old) enemy

Things do not get any easier for Leo in the 3rd instalment of this series, a person from a dark episode in his past is trying to kill him and at the same time, he has to deal with the return of Jack the Ripper who turns out to be a vampire that the enclave isn't equipped to deal with properly.

This book has a good balance when it comes to the characters, you have new ones being added beyond just Jack, but there is also significant progression and growth when it comes to previously introduced supporting characters too that continue to help to bring this book's world to life.

This instalment of the book is again narrated by the author himself and his familiarity with his characters works well and his tone for them is suitably distinctive to help draw in the listener.

Overall, this is a strong and enjoyable book in this series and I'll be eagerly awaiting the next one, I'd recommend that anyone considering this book gets the first two before this one though as all three are well worth a listen.

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