Shadow Pack

A Michael Biorn Novel, Book 1

By: Marc Daniel

Narrated by: John McLain

Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Werewolves sit atop the food chain. Hiding in plain sight, they murder with impunity. But nothing lasts forever. They thought his bloodline extinct. They were wrong.  

The beast came at night. Murdered the cop in his home. Tore his Rottweilers to pieces. And it's only the latest in a series of gruesome attacks.  

Overwhelmed, Houston PD is at a loss. But shape-shifter Michael Biörn isn't. Michael discerns the secret nature of the killer; a werewolf's handiwork is unmistakable.  

Werewolves move in packs, however. And the local pack is 40 members strong. But a young woman's life is at stake. And so, after centuries spent avoiding the wolves, Michael abandons his retreat to confront his ancestral enemies.  

To succeed, Michael must untangle the intricate web of lies and deceit surrounding the case. Fortunately, he can count on his friends for help. Friends like Ezekiel, a wizard of the Second Circle, and Sheila, an attractive journalist who uncovered his true nature. A nature she doesn't find particularly repelling.  

Contains mature themes.

©2013 Marc Daniel (P)2019 Tantor

Who wants to take on a 800 pound bear?

This was good up until Sheila decided to follow Michael into the Yellowstone National Forest, where he was going to do battle with 30 or more werewolves BUT the wolves got her first and I wished at that point that they would kill her. That was the stupidest thing the author could have written. Ruined the entire book as far as I’m concerned. At 62% I was tempted to stop reading I was so mad at where the author took this. But I soldiered on and finished it.

I liked Michael (the 800-pound bear-shifter, which was supposed to be extinct,) Ezekiel, (the powerful wizard) and Lewis and Salazar (the two detectives) but I didn’t like Sheila or Olivia because the author made them TSTL. I liked the story-line and was totally surprised at who the REAL baddie was. Never would have thought that!

It was all about a shifter who was killing off humans and other shifters because he wanted to take over Houston. He was delusional but he achieved a lot to reach his goals before he met up with Michael.

Some reviewers didn’t like all the different characters, but I did. I liked that I was able to read what every person was doing and thinking and saying, whether it was Michael, the bad guys, Sheila (the stupid reporter) Olivia (the college student who thought she could kill a werewolf) or the cops. Yeah, it did have 165 chapters but so what! What difference can that possibly make? Why is that even mentioned in a review?

There was no romance whatsoever and the F-bomb was used 10 times.

As to the narration: John McLain has a very nice reading voice, but he needs a little help with his female voices. And maybe a little more emotion when he read.

Disappointing - Skip this One

It is tough to review this book, I just don’t know where to begin.

Over all I found listening to this book stressful and frustrating. More than once I thought, 'just turn it off'. But I needed something to listen to on my drive. The story is told by jumping back and forth with each chapter of the book to the different threads - it gave me whip lash and was frustrating. I think the author was trying for suspense maybe? But the result for this listener was frustration.

I also found myself moaning a great deal at how slow the hero, Michael Biorn, seems to be. He doesn’t have any special skills, no strategies (other than a slip of paper with a list), no historical detective or fighting knowledge that one would think a 1,000-year-old being would have developed as part of his survival skill set. No special fighting techniques honed from 1,000 years of living .... Michael Biorn came across as pretty average in his mental skills, below average in deductive reasoning and even a poor fighter. Hard to build a compelling gripping plot around this type of character. It can be done but then the author would need to spend more time developing the character.

Character development – was there any? It was so minimal and thin that I never really cared for or connected with any of the characters. The little development there was didn’t endear me to hero Michael Biorn, the reporter or cops. What little there was we were ‘told’ not shown which again failed to connect the listener or make it believable. For example, Michael supposedly cares for the reporter – we are told, but there is so little story about how they interact on a personal level that it doesn’t really feel it is there. Michael's behavior toward his friends daughter is also reported but the string of actions don't really show this.

Story Pace was painful. This story went no where fast and at times I wasn’t sure where it was going.

There is a huge disconnect between the story line, events, emotions, and reactions. The emotions and behaviors aren’t reflective of what Danie wants us to believe is happening between the characters. We don't FEEL the romance, we don't FEEL the concern, we don't FEEL the tension ... The story REPORTS only occasionally dipping into emotions .....

I am a huge fan of urban fantasy but this is so poorly done and I am so disappointed with the writing and telling of this story that I am asking for my credit back. I do not recommend this book.

GOOD START

Interesting plot. Unique take on preternatural, shape shifters, werewolves. Well written and performed excellently. There are twists and turns and the villain is only revealed at the end. Intriguing and action packed. Good.

New series new hero

Michael Biörn is a shiftshaper a one thousand-year-old, 800-pound bear-shifter, which was thought to be extinct. Michael is a loner whose home is in the Yellowstone National Forest. His most frequent guest is Ezekiel a war lock- he's like Gandalf (Lord of the Rings).

He leaves his home to help a police friend who suspects a wolf murdered a human. The setting is mainly Houston. There has not been a wolf attach in Texas since the 20st century. He becomes embroiled with finding what wolf is killing its’ way through his few friends. Michael is thrown into a fight against preternatural, witches, shape shifters and werewolves.

The story starts a little slow but picks up. It is a gripping mystery with, lots of gory wolf kills, police bureaucracy, wild cards in the form of persistent reporter and grieving survivors makes the story engrossing. If you get squeamish when reading about wolf attacks this is not for you. These attacks are taken to another level. The mystery/thriller was well done with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing.

While much of the action takes place in Texas, the final battle was with all the shifters and happens in Yellowstone Park. As usual, the tension for the battle is ratcheted when certain people who were told to stay put refuse to follow directions.

good listen

a little slow moving at first, but it does pick up. bounces around a bit but overall a good listen. it will keep you wondering what's going on. a few good twists.

deceivingly good

this novel brings an aspect of mystery excitement thriller and science fiction all together in a way with cool characters they really make it with your time.

Easy read with surprise ending!

This book was not my usual genre to read. I’m a chic! But it was fun to delve into a world I’d given no brain space to and a page turner!

good book

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Now I have to go check out the rest of the series.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

A great representation of the idea of the fantasy world colliding with the current world. Gives new classifications to levels of the supernatural world and different correlations to the relationship between the races.

Finally something different!

Great story, it is not a spin of other novels. Least up to knowledge excellent work by the author!

Easy listen, good story but with a caveat…

If you can see past the misogynistic undertone scattered throughout the book, this is a really good story. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, plot, and direction, and was pleasantly thrown off my predicted course with the narrative, which was really nice. But, I’ll be honest, some of the descriptive comments (especially at the start) were shallow, sexist and unnecessary. I’m no raging snowflake or bra-burning feminist, but even I was irked.

Easy listening

Perfect for a long car journey. It is very easy to listen to and I enjoyed John McLain’s narration.

terrible

The only thing worse than the predictable, red-flag style writing is the horrific narration. I didn't pay for this title, yet I feel that after being dragged kicking and screaming through the first few chapters I probably deserve to get some money back.

Detective story come supernatural

Good story lots of characters to get your head round , few twists and turns , enjoyed it

Good Story

This story was fairly good, a little bit predictable but I enjoyed it well enough.

Predictable story

The story is predictible,however,entertain me during housework. The narrative is a bit annoying. I struggle not to switch off. It was like listening to reading the news . Dialogues were fine ,but rest, I did not like it.

Amazing

What a great story and the twist at the end was unbelievable. I was a bit surprised at the amount of chapters which were reminiscent of James Patterson. Look forward to the next one

Great

Really enjoyed this book, fast moving with a good plot and good characters. The chapters didn’t bother me.

The 165 3-min for each chapter reduced enjoyment

The story was excellent but why have so many chapters? It was annoying at best.