The Vampire King

The Kings Series, Book 1

By: Heather Killough-Walden

Narrated by: Antony Ferguson

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

It was immediate for Roman. In 3,000 years, he'd never lost control of his emotions, or his heart. But the moment he laid eyes on Evelynne Farrow, he knew she was the woman who haunted his dreams. And everything changed. Everything. Evie Farrow has always loved a good vampire romance. In fact, she makes a living writing them. While sitting in a coffee shop and working on her next mega-hot book, Evie is approached by a tall, dark, and handsome man who could have been pulled directly from one of her novels.

Unbeknownst to her, Roman D'Angelo is exactly what he appears to be - a vampire, and not just any vampire, but the king of vampires. Unfortunately, while Roman is both ancient and invulnerable, Evie is flesh and blood. Just as Roman decides that he and Evie have a date with destiny, for reasons of their own, an ancient god and a homicidal vampire take an equally strong interest in her. Can Roman fight off the incredible forces that would have Evie as their own long enough to win her heart? Or will destiny betray him and destroy everything he has ever dreamed of?

©2012 Heather Killough-Walden (P)2013 Tantor

Good story - Terrible Narration

This narrator takes a good story that jumps between different settings with different groups of characters and makes no effort to help the listener transition between them.

The 'almost monotone' narration creates a situation where you can be a paragraph into a new setting with the new characters and you're confused, as if you were following a path then suddenly lost your way. It just makes what should be a pleasant listening experience into too much work to keep the story straight in your mind.

I'll read the story myself and pray the author did a better job with the transitions.

Has Potential

I have been listening to this book for some time. I am honestly lost in the story. The structure of this book has great potential. The characters, plot, and structure is wonderful. The weak point of the story is how it is strung together. I am not sure if that is the book or the narrator causing the disconnect. It jumps around resulting in it feeling choppy. Each scene is descriptive and well thought out. However, I have no clue how the scene fit together in the greater plan. I will attempt to read this book and see if I am able to catch on. I do not recommend the audible version.

Worth Listening To

I am giving this review with the next couple books in mind. This story in and of it's self is a good story. It's not spectacular, but it's the basis for the next books. What I liked about this book was, it is "all about the story" there is plenty of substance and you have to pay attention. You can't space off and still know where you are in this romance. There is very little sex and it isn't graphic so you can make your own moral judgements there. It's still for adults.

Overall good; but....

This is the first in the series of the 13 kings but I felt like to much information was packed into this story. It gives you information on characters, such as who they are and quite a bit of their history not to be mention again in the story. Which I found a bit hard to decipher as well as follow. The story to me seemed to deal more with the kings then them finding their queens. In this first installment I found it hard to believe that the Vampire Kings' queen had any real feelings for him other than gratitude by the time he transformed and claimed her. I mean when he abducted her he was trying to explain what he was and trying to get her past her fears then when they are reunited the author wants me to believe she loves him and nothing else has happened between them other than him rescuing her from a mad vampire. Once you get past a lot of additional character history and you can follow along with the story overall I'll say is good. To me it felt like the story was rushed and overstuffed with details that should have appeared in some of the books to come. Some of the information felt a little out of place. I will continue with the next book to see how it all comes together and I'm hopeful that the next book won't read and feel as if the author rushed the story line.

meh

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

wish I could say yes, but for listening not so much, better to read it. The book it's self got 4 stars, but I can't stress enough how awful the narrator was.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Vampire King?

I liked the plot over all.

How could the performance have been better?

the narrator was as interesting to listen to, as dry toast is to eat. He was so monotone, it felt like he was reading instructions instead of a story :(

Could you see The Vampire King being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

not really, it wouldn't translate well.

Any additional comments?

Read this book, but the narrator ruined it as an audio book IMO

A wonderfully immersive fantasy novel!

I loved this book. It was so inventive and kept me listening on the edge of my seat the entire time, even though the books I typically listen to have more sexual content throughout. While I was glad something FINALLY happened at the end, I wish that we were given more than just one scene and it seems there are other books in the series so maybe there's more to come. This was definitely more a fantasy feel to it than what I've been used to but it was very well done even with the outlandish abilities of the characters involved, which is saying something since I'm something of a cynic. Antony's voice was nothing short of brilliant; I've heard some pretty horrid English accents and whether or not he actually is English, he sounds the part and sounds like a well-spoken man that a girl could listen to all night (which I did, I listened to this within one day). If you're ready for a book that is something sexy without any sex until the very end, this is the one. Just keep your imagination open and let Roman in!

Listen to The Big Bad Wolf series first

These stories are intertwined, I love that each one continues the overall story. Don't listen to the negative reviews,just listen in order.

The continuation of the supernatural story theme!

I had to go back and get the 4 books about the wolves prior to this book. Now the storyline is making sense,

Would be 10 stars if it had more dialogue.

This was a fantastic story! Wow I just loved it, I read it in one sitting I couldn't put it down. This book would be getting 10 stars if there had been more dialogue in it. For me dialogue is very important when reading a book. Even though this one was lacking in dialogue I have to admit it was still a great read/listen I am hoping the rest of the series will have more.

The characters were fantastic, so many varieties of characters and powers, its magical, and opens up a whole new world.

AHH Roman...now that's what I call a Vampire! The story was great. The sex was mild and minimal but it was there, barely, but it was there.

Credit worthy? OH YES.

Sexy and action filled

Had to wait a bit but the sexy was worth the wait. Moving on to book two