Shadow Play

Black Magic Outlaw, Book 2

By: Domino Finn

Narrated by: Neil Hellegers

I'm Cisco Suarez, and a week ago I was dead.

Cursed into serving a clandestine shadow group, I have a lot of blood on my hands. Good thing I also have a juvenile problem with authority. I'm not taking orders anymore, and the first thing on my bucket list is bringing them down.

If I'm good at anything, it's looking in dark places. But I've got shadows of my own. Horrific deeds coming back to haunt me, and not the metaphorical kind of haunting, either. I'm talking ghosts, mages, and that thing with the glowing red eyes.

Just goes to show you, it really is true what they say: What goes around comes around. I only hope to give more than I get.

Is resurrection overrated or what?

©2016 Domino Finn (P)2016 Domino Finn

A great book

This is both the first Domino Finn and first Neil Hellegers book I’ve listened to. Even though it’s the second book of the series I didn’t have any problem getting into it and it filled in the back story enough that I never felt lost. This book is great as a standalone novel, but it leaves you wanting more at the end. The narrator did a great job and I really liked the voice he used for the main character. I felt that the deep voice he gave Cisco really brought the character to life. He nailed the smart aleck comments perfectly. Speaking of the main character, he definitely had a sarcastic in-your-face attitude which I really enjoyed. I’m pretty big on fantasy books, but the concept of magic in this book was something that I haven’t really seen before. The main character is a Voodoo magician who can use the shadows to his advantage in innumerable ways. There are also undead creatures like vampires, zombies, and ghosts, but there were also other magic creatures like elementals and other forms of magic, such as paper magicians. The whole book was an action packed adventure mixed with snarky comments from chapter one until the end and I definitely plan on listening to the rest of the books in the series.

This audiobook was provided by the author at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Better than the First!

What made the experience of listening to Shadow Play the most enjoyable?

Since the first book laid the groundwork, this book took off with action very early. It also went further into what had happened to him during a 10 year period in which he had no memory. I also enjoyed the more in depth explanation of his ancient Taino powers that emanated from his ancestors in Cuba. The Cuban artifact that held similar power as he did came into play as well as a cross section of other worldly characters to include a vampire and a mange.

What other book might you compare Shadow Play to and why?

I would compare this book to the Dresden Files (which I consider to be the gold standard in this genre); however, it takes off in a very different direction and uses its own originality in the storyline as well as the character development.

What about Neil Hellegers’s performance did you like?

He was just enjoyable to listen to.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The end of the book was a crescendo.

intense

popcorn action movie style book very intense narration I enjoyed it as background while doing other things

A good Listen

This series gives a more edgy and dark view of magic Gives the feel of Miami and how someone's cleverness can overcome great challenges. Well worth a listen.

Good follow up

If you enjoyed the first in the series then this is a worthwhile sequel. Interesting new layer to the story, good world building, sticks the ending.