Secrets and Ruin

Jacky Leon, Book 9

By: K.N. Banet

Narrated by: Savannah Gilmore

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Dirk, my werewolf nephew, is going home.

Sending Dirk back to his father is complicated, but I have to do it. Even if it’s for a short time, I know that father and son need to talk about what’s changed between them. They need to talk about what the future holds for both of them. One year. That was how long we wanted to keep his new status as a werewolf as secret as possible, before we involved the family. That one year is up, and now, it’s time to face the music. Niko is only the start.

However, secrets are insidious things. They can stay hidden for decades, even centuries. Dirk and I kept have been keeping several, but we’re not the only ones. When too many secrets finally come to light, we’ll be left standing in the ruins of more than one family.

It’s too late to stop this, but I’m Jacky Leon, and I’ll be damned if the secrets of generations past ruin the family I’m building in the present.

©2023 K.N. Banet (P)2023 K.N. Banet

Not as satisfying

There’s a lot going on in this one. A lot of big events and a lot of secrets so far only hinted at being uncovered. More than usual I would say. There’s few things I love so much as learning plot secrets!And yet I came out of it feeling a bit unsatisfied. And it took me a while and a couple of reads to figure out why, because it wasn’t obvious.
Usually Jacky resolves the inciting incident and in doing so something is revealed that advances the bigger picture of the entire series in some small but impactful way. There’s the potential for that here, and the overall story does advance, but it is past revelations that do the advancing, not the new ones many of which get only a small mention and no exploration at all. Perhaps as a result a lot of important moments feel less impactful than I would expect from past experiences with this series. And since this book has a lot of important moments I became a bit frustrated. Another common thing that I love in these books is how Jacky always deepens her relationship with the people around her. Not to get spoilery, but Jacky spends a lot of time with Landon in this book, and learning about the mysterious Nikolaus, and yet it didn’t feel as if their dynamics changed in any significant ways by end (which I would expect based on previous books) a lot of conversations they have with the potential to do that end up interrupted and remain mostly superficial. Even the final confrontation ends up interrupted at its climax. I understand why, but the way it was done took away it’s impact and shifted it to something else… I’m still not sure if it was a good thing. There was also missed opportunities to see Dirk interact with his father which I feel I’d been waiting for since first meeting Dirk. I expect we’ll see more of the results of this in future books, but I missed seeing it here. Jacky also reminds us of past book events on multiple occasions and they aren’t always useful ones. Her mansion in Dallas is mentioned several times along with why she owns it even though she spends no time there at all and there isn’t much relevance in explaining it. Another problem is that there’s a lot happening off screen that then requires an explanation. I’m fine with telling instead of showing when it makes sense, but rushed tellings end up lacking any satisfying details which is disappointing. A bit like hearing someone speak in a different language and being able to understand the emotions involved based on context, but not getting the content (which incidentally is something that happens several times as well). It’s also sometimes unnecessary. There’s some Heath pov in the book, and later Jacky gets a summary of what happened with Heath… all of which the reader/listener knows already. I won’t describe events, but Jacky didn’t actually need to know the details only the results and the readers know the details so it felt redundant. There’s a few other things.
None of these would be a problem on their own, but the accumulation makes for a sometimes frustrating and often superficial read, especially since the previous two books were brilliant and in my opinion the best in the series (Rogue Alpha has become my go to every time I want to read but have nothing new and I don’t want to spend time looking for something, I’ve probably listened to it at least 6 times, which feels a little much). The fact that some events end up being deeply pivotal makes it even more frustrating. It also makes it hard to rate. In terms of execution it is the worst of the series (let me be clear that the bar is high, each book in this series has impressed me with how well events lead into one another and how well they influence and change the characters, but that’s exactly why I’m inclined to be harsh). The story and plot are very good and I’m only disappointed because I think they didn’t reach their full potential and I expected very great things. I understand that this is most likely a result of the difficulties the author had been experiencing and I’m grateful that she pushed through to finish this book anyway. I hope she takes all the time she needs to recover. Despite being a bit disappointed in this book it has opened up some very interesting potential for the next one, and I’m incredibly eager for the next book, and that’s why I will wait as long as the author needs. I will keep an eye out for this series even if it takes a few more years.

Wow! Loaded and heartfelt

Well Miss Kristen, you did it. You made me cry ☺️
Seriously, you did, but, its because you write so well I was immersed in the story. Buggar me but, this is a great series. I can't wait for next book.
Concerning you and family; I'm saddened to hear you've had such go of it this past year. May 2024 be filled with positive steps and renewal for you both and your fur babies. You have my support and may hope and love fill your hearts and lives.

Wow!!!

This series gets better and better. I can't wait to see what challenges Jackie will face in the next book.

Amazing Plot!

I love everything about this series! The drama and character development is so good!! The narrator is emotional in all the right ways in her tone and voices!

Keeps getting better!

I love this series and this is certainly the best one yet. However, the narrator’s new pronunciation of “Hasan” as well as a few other words was extremely jarring after 8 other books with a different version. I really hope they change back for the next book.

had I realized I'd have read this in book form

This book is amazing as usual. I didn't realize how much I'd cry both in sadden and joy. I love this books. I prefer physical books especially if they make me cry. Mainly so I'm not crying in public or while driving and I love books. but I've been unable to carry them with me recently. I can't wait for the next one.

A note to the narrator and producer...

I'm a BIG fan of series / universe storytelling and love the Jacky Leon saga. I also greatly appreciate that KN uses the same narrator throughout. Narrators are almost as important as the writer and Savannah does a good job. However, in my opinion, consistency is critical when telling an immersive story. We're literally hanging on every word and having the narrator change name pronunciations is very distracting. It sticks out like a sore thumb, but I really feel it does a disservice to KN's writing and diminishes her work. In the last book it was a minor character, but this time its a major character that's been in every one of the last EIGHT books. Listeners, please DON'T let this criticism stop you from enjoying an exciting new story. Producers and narrators, please do better. KN, please keep writing these amazing characters.

Emotional rollercoaster

Even though I hate to cry, I still find myself rereading this series for the happy feels.

The best, but an odd change.

Probably the best Banet has ever done, but the change of Hasan from Hu-san to Has-sin is jarring, and it makes little sense for a name said over nearly (if not) two dozen books to suddenly change pronunciation.

Minor storyline spoilers, while I appreciate red herrings, making a major plot point have several of them leading to nothing just feels... off. Almost akin to how people with a character/word limit add useless things to the story to extend it to meet.

The namesss

Love this!! I waited so long and am definitely not disappointed. However -- Why is Jackie's father's name suddenly being pronounced "Hassen" vs "Hu-son" ?? I'm unsure now which one is right vs wrong for her father's name.