Roaring Blood

Demon-Hearted, Book 2

By: Ambrose Ibsen

Narrated by: James Foster

Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

I'm Lucian Colt, and this story is mainly about me punching zombies in the face. Loads of 'em.

You'd think that life would be easy-breezy for a handsome, demonic badass like me, but you'd be wrong. The demon doesn't help me with rent, doesn't help me pick up chicks or anything fun like that. Instead, he's all about violence. Lots of it. So, when this super-powered necromancer shows up in town and starts emptying the city's graveyards, my buddy Gadreel thinks it's go time. Before the Veiled Order knows it, a war is about to break out between the living and the dead. Pretty scary, eh?

Oh, and get this! Turns out that this Demon-Heart gig isn't all it's cracked up to be. The guys who stuck this infernal organ in me left out the fact that, someday, when I die, I'll be heading straight to Hell. Ain't that a bitch?

Join me as I kick some major ass, have an existential crisis, get shot down by cute girls, generally mess everything up for my friends and, just maybe, come out of the deal having learned how valuable my teammates are. It's going to be a wild and filthy ride!

Trigger Warning: This book has a lot of guns in it, and sometimes, their triggers get pulled, resulting in devastating headshots. If you're not into that sort of thing, or if you've got issues with dirty words, dirty thoughts or talking spiders, then slowly back away from this book and retreat to your safe space. Wouldn't want you to get your feelings hurt.

©2016 Ambrose Ibsen (P)2016 Ambrose Ibsen

Demons are always fun

Any additional comments?

Roaring Blood is about a fella trying to fight fire with fire, sort of, to do good in the world. It ain't always pretty, but he gets the job done.
Ambrose Ibsen brings another thriller to the world with some interesting takes on old ideas. He is very entertaining to read.
James Foster is an amazing narrator. He has a powerful voice but can make it do whatever the story calls for. I have listened to several books simply because he was the narrator.

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

Anti hero action

Any additional comments?

Good story, with superb narration. This a good anti hero novel, I'm not sure the main character knows who he is just yet, but that's always the fun part of a journey. Good secondary characters and entertaining mythos make this series a good listen.

“This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.”

Meant for a much younger crowd.

The main character does express his feelings repeatedly and acts like a hot headed teenager, not a sufesticated 20 something year old with a masters degree in Arts and a taste for classical music. Couldn't keep my interest. The story had so much potential but the main character kept ruining the book for me.
Maybe if I read this book as a middle or high schooler I would have loved it.

Good continuation of the series

This book is the sequel to Raw Power, and I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I thought book 1 was great, and this one was no different. It follows Lucian Colt, who had a heart transplant from a demon, and afterwards gained abilities, and this sequel is just as action packed as the first.

The narrator was James Foster, and he is great! He has many different distinct voices (a hallmark of a great narrator). This was not my first book narrated by him. I also listened to him on the first few books of the "Moonrat" series. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy.

almost non stop action

Ambrose Ibsen has brought back his unique character, Lucian Colt, who literally had a heart transplant from a named Demon. This procedure didn’t vanquish the demon as he now lives within and a part of Lucy. Bringing with him very handy abilities that allow Lucy to be a contributing member of the Veiled Order. Such as, well, basically making him invincible with a split personality, the other being a mastermind of violent aggression.

In this edition a fearsome Warlock is set loose on mankind. Not just any Warlock, a Necromancer. Yes, that means there will be a lot of zombies “running” around. I found the magically induced zombies to be a tab different that the “run-of-the-mill” zombies that most people have become accustomed to. However, it would have been amazing if Ibsen could have come up with a completely new spin on everyone’s favorite undead.

In this second book Ibsen was able to expand the character of Lucian Colt, nicknamed Lucy (love that), and that of the demon within him. Let’s get one thing straight here. I am not a huge fan of Lucy’s character. He whines a lot, not a very overall good person. I believe that this was by design because remember he didn’t ask for the new heart to save his life. And simply replacing that organ is not going to change his personality. I do think that it will change, slightly, over time. Character evolution is kind of a key thing to be able to pull off.

Roaring Blood was almost non stop action. Fight scene after fight scene with a few serious conversations thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Ibsen didn’t have much to explain as most of that was taken care of in the first book Raw Power. So now he was able to focus on action, gore, character progression and interaction.

James Foster is one of my go-to narrators and has been ever since I discovered him reading Adrian’s Undead Diary. There is just something in his voice that is memorable. Yet, nothing that you can put your finger on. He has a way of bringing characters to life in a real sense, meaning that they sound believable. Adding in subtle and not so subtle things to further the listening experience. Example, actually sounding like the character is talking while yawning. Not just “he said amidst a yawn” or something. Fosters ability continues to grow every time that I hear him.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Demons and zombies

You like a different take on zombies than this is your book. Demons zombies and necromancers you can't get better.

I received this book free in return for a unbiased review.

Can not wait for book three!

This was even better than the first book. There is nothing in the first book that will prevent you from enjoying this book. Book one delineates how he received the demon heart and his relationship with the order.

Lucian (Lucy) is a little reckless in this story. That happens to some men when they get bigger toys. The demon heart makes him a little stronger and he wants to prove to everyone, especially people who intimidate him, that he is a bad ass, despite being a demon.

Being a leader means making the best decisions for your team, not having the highest body count or make the most important kill. Lucy is just ass hole enough to get people needless killed and spends the remainder of the story trying to prove that he learned his lesson.The secondary characters are funny and add to the book, especially the spider. Since the order uses him as a team leader it would make sense to have a set of the supporting characters.

From book one you also learn that Lucy was partially dead when given the choice of dying or being saved. But the order did not quite inform him of the small print in that option...giving him the demon heart means he will go to hell. It is not that he was Mother Teresa before he got the heart. But that is now a concern that will be (most likely) expanded in the next book.

There is action with all kinds of guns and explosives, cussing and other paranormal happening in the Motor City, Detroit, my home town. Enjoy this because I did!

Macho goodness, demon style!

Where does Roaring Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

At this point I've not listened to many, but this book lands easily in the upper quarter! The narration was superb, and the variation in character voices was great. The story line kept me entertained and engrossed. I'm very tempted to purchase the first book in the series to listen to the story of how Lucien got this way.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jermaine the spider - something about talking spiders is very cool.

Which character – as performed by James Foster – was your favorite?

Jermaine the spider. Mr. Foster did an incredible job with all the characters, but a talking spider with a New Joysey accent? Priceless!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction, but overall the main character reminds me of a cross between Duke Nuk'em and Johnny Bravo... but a bit more scaled down. Pure macho. Hail to the King Baby. Hoo Ha Hoo! Do the Monkey!

Any additional comments?

This audio book was gifted to me by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

If you are a feminist or a cuck, this book is not for you. :)

Demon Hearted, book two

Excellent second part in the Demon Hearted Series. Can't wait to hear the next book.

James Foster is excellent for reading these books

Great Book 2 of the series!

I so enjoyed the first book of the Demon-Hearted Series that I was very excited to see Book 2 out and jumped at the chance to give it a listen. In this story, Lucian (Luci) is the same sarcastic, but humorous character that we came to love in the first book, but he has taken a selfish and reckless turn. He compromises some missions and ticks off his friends in his quest to be the hero. Honestly, there were a few times I wanted to knock some sense into him along with the rest of his team. I loved that he redeemed himself in the fight against evil, even though he has the heart of a demon. It's a very interesting play between good and evil that I'm interested to see to the end. The narration is also incredible. James Foster just IS Lucian. I can't imagine anyone else giving voice to this unique character.

This book is action-packed, fast-paced and full of fun stuff like zombies, necromancy, holy swords, and exorcists. I received this audio book at no charge via AudioBookBoom in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend you give this book a listen. Seriously, I enjoy this series so much I am chomping at the bit for the third installment.