Shadowblood Heir

By: J.S. Morin

Narrated by: Jeremy Cohen

Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Magic: As Seen on TV

Aspiring author Matt Lee delivers pizza by day to scrape together the pittance he contributes for the Cambridge apartment he shares with best friend Judy and her boyfriend.

He also hears voices.

During the season finale of their favorite show, the three learn that the best-selling author of the books has been murdered in a manner remarkably similar to the episode’s prophesy. Unfortunately for Matt, the author is Patricia Martinez - the professor responsible for expelling him from Harvard when his Shadowblood fan fiction was just a little too good.

Now the prime suspect in her murder, Matt worries even his friends think he might just be crazy enough to be guilty.

His only hope: listen to the voices.

Because if he can prove that Patricia Martinez was writing fact instead of fiction, and that the Shadow realm killed her before she could close the seal she opened, he might just be able to save the world.

But can he trust Judy to help set things right, and resist the first taste of real power he’s ever had? Or will he break away from his best friend and give in to the Shadows?

©2017 J.S. Morin (P)2018 J.S. Morin

It's not the author or the book, but the narrator.

I have read and absolutely loved J. S. Morin's other book series, Galaxy Outlaws, and the spin-offs, Astral Prime and Mercy for Hire. This book is good, but the narrator is getting seriously in the way of my enjoyment.
At the very beginning, he had a bad habit of speaking into the microphone where his exhalation interfered. Then I was nearly startled by his other habit I have never heard in any other narrator's work. At the end and sometimes the beginning and middle of sentences, he quickly and sharply gasps for breath, almost like a nervous tic. I gave up on the book in the third or fourth chapter, it was too annoying and jarred me out of the story.

Overlooked, Undeservedly

J.S. Morin has consistently produced some pretty good work over the years, and gotten some deserved attention based on the Black Ocean. But what surprises me is that there's very little attention paid to this book.

Which is a bit sad, because this is in its own way a rather well written story, with a backdrop of a magic system that involves connecting to your (is it helpful? is it sinister) shadow.

I rather like this book. This is good quality writing and world building. Especially if you can get it on sale or via WhisperSync, it's worthwhile.

Definitely worth a read.

Good book, would really love to see it become as big as Black Ocean or Twinborn Chronicles. The last few chapters seem a little rushed to me, like there is more story to tell, but time constraints demanded the book end.

The book is in first person, and from a single perspective, a big change for the author, which makes much of what is going on for the other characters at any given point a mystery and leading to a few surprises for both main character and reader/listener.

Narration isn't bad, but unfortunately you can occasionally hear breath on the microphone, or hear it being keyed on or off.

I enjoyed the couple pop culture references that were included, Warhammer 40k being a big hobby of mine, but at one point a Final Fantasy character is mentioned as being from the wrong game.

Overall, I would recommend it if you are a fan of J.S. Morin's other work. If you haven't read or listened to his other series, finish this up, then head out into the Black Ocean.

Excellent!

Another winning tale told by a master! Your characters are so real emotionally, you can’t help but be sucked it.