Relics

By: Tim Lebbon

Narrated by: Esther Wane

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The launch of a gripping new supernatural terror trilogy by the acclaimed author of Coldbrook, The Silence, and the Alien-Predator Rage War trilogy

There's an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tiger bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures. 

When her fiance Vince goes missing, Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers he was a part of this secretive trade. It's a big-money business-shadowy, brutal, and sometimes fatal. As the trail leads her deeper into London's dark side, she crosses paths with a crime lord whose life is dedicated to collecting such relics. 

Then Angela discovers that some of these objects aren't as ancient as they seem. Some of them are fresh.

©2017 Tim Lebbon (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Two dimensional characters

I read The Silence by the same author and was blown away. I found this one and hoped for an equally great experience but I was disappointed! I kept on reading anyway while hoping it would get more interesting but it never did. The characters are two dimensional, the plot is soapish and without depth. I gave up half way through.

Really great story.....but the performance....

I'll be brief. I LOVED the story and the characters, But the narration almost ruined it for me. The narrator is fine when just reading, very good in fact. But the character voices in dialogue are awful. The female fantasy characters speak with a childish high-pitched voice, and the males with a strange gruffness. Awful. I sadly won't continue with the remaining books in the series because they have the same narrator. Sorry!

disappointed

I didn't care for this book but I decided to finish it. I kept wait for it to get "better"...it didn't.

Meh

Interesting premise but fairly average delivery. While it's written well the book doesn't lend itself to a second read through.

Unconvincing

Shallow characters, meandering plot, just mediocre. Narration worthy of a children’s book.
Good, if you are after a soporific.

Great idea, bad writing in need of strong edit

I only finished this one because I liked the idea so much. Don't bother reading.

Great idea for a story but..

The narration is awful. Another reviewer already covered it, it's acceptable until the characters speak, at that point Esther Wane chews up more scenery than a combine thresher in a wheat field.

could not tollerate the voices.

the voices were terrible. could not get through the 2nd chapter even. having a hard time finding enough words for a review.

OMG..!!.. This Book is Freaking FABULOUS.!

What an absolutely mind blowing fabulously inventive story.!!
It’s a trilogy that is FREE from Audible..
Thank you Audible,.. for a book that left me breathless, with heart pounding while I download book 2..!!

I really enjoyed it

I really liked the entire premise if the book. The narrator was AWESOME and the whole kin aspect was pretty great too. Great listen!

Enjoyable Read

I was surprised at the sudden twist in the storyline, it was all beginning to feel a little bit slow and dry but then whoosh, the real story began.

I finished this pretty quickly because I found out this was the first part of a trilogy.

Straigh onto the next installment shortly after a quick coffee break.

Thank you Tim Lebbon for your hard work and top notch writings.

Weirdly focused on sex

Did not finish, got halfway. Uninteresting and just weirdly centered on and around sex - the main characters keeps referring to and reflecting on the last time they had sex as a sort of checkpoint, the main characters' neighbours continual banging is mentioned a few times [too many], the mythical creatures are of course also those connected to sexual/ erotic characteristics. I don't consider myself a prude, in this book the recurring references steals the focus from the storyline and becomes tiresome.

I wasn’t sure, but then I was hooked

Fantastical content and engaging story. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The prologue left me with questions at the end, but I can forgive that. There are also some perspective jumps that left me momentarily confused too. But overall I really enjoyed it.

Amazing

Wow I can't believe this was free I need more and there is 2 more brilliant

really enjoyed this one

this was a great book. narration was a bit dodgy but didn't detract from the story overall.

Dull and tedious

The plot is boring and the subject matter was unbelievable and tedious. Not worth the time spent listening.

Original Urban Fantasy

This is the first non Star Wars Lebbon novel I've read and it was thoroughly enjoyable. There are 2 main story arcs running through the novel, One is a standard missing person story when Angela's boyfriend Vince goes missing leaving cryptic notes saying not to look for him but takes nothing from their shared home. She realises that things are not all they seem to be when she goes to his office to find him to discover he has another life. As she digs deeper she gets exposed to whole other world in which Vince is a searcher out of 'Relics' (parts of mythical creatures -called the KIN) who she soon discovers are alive and well and living in London. The further she gets into this new world the more sides she finds, not all the KIN wish to remain hidden some want to live in the open, some humans are only after Relics some want to capture and torture living specimens, including a Angel that the KIN want to rescue.
In a desperate attempt to find Vince one side captures Lucy (Angela's best friend). Can Angela and her allies manage to save both the Angel and Lucy without getting caught?
The book grabbed me early on and moves along at a good pace, and the author develops a good range of characters that the reader can feel invested in. The action scenes are well written and there is an excellent amount of tension throughout the story.
Esther delivers good clear narration that certainly enhances the listening experience.

Would happily use a credit for this book.

Took me about half an hour to tune into the narrators voice. Once I was tuned in I really enjoyed the book, would happily pay a credit, it is a lot better than some other titles that are included.

It’s all true

Thoroughly enjoyable tale of the unseen world that exists in parallel to our somewhat mundane excuse for life?

Thoroughly enjoyed

A great story, with great characters, and read by a fabulous narrator. I highly recommend this book.