Skinwalker

Jane Yellowrock, Book 1

By: Faith Hunter

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind - a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps.

©2009 Faith Hunter (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

• Audie Award Nominee - Judges' Award for Best Paranormal Audiobook, 2011

"A new, strongly unique voice in the dark fantasy genre." (Kim Harrison)

"Hunter's very professionally executed, tasty blend of dark fantasy, mystery, and romance should please fans of all three genres." ( Booklist)

"Khristine Hvam portrays Jane with an adventurous-sounding voice edged with a twang.... Hvam’s voices for the Louisiana locals whom Jane learns to love and respect.... augment an intriguing story with hints of Native American mysticism." ( AudioFile)

Hunter in need of editor... seriously

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Too much repeated exposition. Too much attention the immaterial detail. How many shopping trips do I need to go on with the main character? How many times do I need the main character described to me? How many times to do I need the character loadout (including special hidden underwear pockets) described to me? Answer? Ms. Hunter thinks quite a few times. She'd explain details, then explain them again a chapter later, then again and again. It's like she forgot she'd already told the reader these items, or she assumed the reader wasn't paying attention and so needed to be told again... and again.

What was most disappointing about Faith Hunter’s story?

The dreck that got in the way of telling it. I was actually interested in her plot. I wanted to know what would happen, but she sabotaged herself with too much exposition, repetition and unnecessary, boring character physical description. My only other gripe is that the main character herself is pretty schizophrenic. She goes from hard ass biker chic, to gushing nymphet at the drop of a hat. The opener was promising. I like a tough girl protagonist, but then she started waffling all over the place, her libido taking the lead for this hunky guy or that handsome vampire. That stuff has been done... many... many times. It overshadowed the interesting and innovative stuff to the point where I just had to put the book down. I've read other reviews of folks griping about the stream of consciousness style of the "Beast" in Jane's transformed state, but that was some of the most interesting material in the text. It was unexpected and well done, IMO. So I know Ms. Hunter has talent. She needs an editor though to show her how to cut.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator did the best with what she had. That's why I rated her performance as I high as I did. She did a decent job with pulling off disparate voices, portraying emotion, etc.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance, plain and simple. I could see glimmers of a good story in there, but it piled under so much genre fluff that in the end, I just couldn't stomach it.

Paranormal/mystery/vampire novel

I'm not a fan of most vampire books however the 2 "Jane Yellowrock" books I've listened to (and they are on sale the first week of October 2012) are more mystery than gory vamp books...and I like them.

There is a bit of romance but not lots..and I really like that I wasn't able to figure out the "Who Done It" myself, since I consider these books paranormal mysteries more than anything else.

If you enjoy this kind of mystery I'd really recommend buying these books right now-the sale price is a winner...Thanks Audible for introducing me to another author.

The narrator, Khristine Hvam does a really good job with the southern accents-but I like the way she 'does' The Beast best of all....and The Beast is too cool for words.

How refreshing

This book makes an exceptionally nice change from others in this genre, mainly because the protagonist is a strong, independent woman who actually likes herself, and is comfortable with her lot in life. It's very nice to read a story in which the heroine isn't complaining endlessly about her life, or gnashing her teeth over how to make some preternatural being fall in love with her.

There are a few weak points concerning the writing; another reviewer mentioned that the writer points out her own jokes fairly often, and this really IS kind of annoying. The dialogue is kind of stilted in places, and a significant portion of the book is written from the POV of her cat-spirit, which takes a bit of getting used to.

For those who are tired of the violent and/or explicit sex that's so prevalent in urban fantasy, you'll find this book a nice change.

All in all, I consider this a good, solid debut novel in the Jane Yellowrock series, and I look forward to reading more.

Ok story with terrible narration

I do enjoy a good urban fantasy, so I was looking forward to this audiobook series. Unfortunately, Khristine Hvam kills it for me. There are a variety of reasons. First, she has much too much of a nasal "head voice" for the protagonist, detracting from the toughness of the character. Secondly, her southern accent went in and out and varied in regional dialect from southeastern to western drawl. The thing that got me most irked was her lack of understanding in terms of speaking her lines. So many times she misreads the emphasis needed in a sentence, destroying the meaning or intention of the line.
I own the next two books on kindle as well as audible, so I'll probably end up just reading them if this same narrator is used.

Vampires & Shapeshifters & Witches, OH MY!

This is the first book that I have read by Faith Hunter. I found that I really enjoyed it. I liked that her main character is a strong, smart, and most importantly..... wait for it.....from North Carolina.

There has been alot of buzz about this book. So, I was pleasantly surprised, when I found it here.

Thanks Audible, for providing another great story within the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy genre.

FYI: This is a hint of romance in this book, but only a hint.

Try it - you might like it!

I put off listening to this series for almost two years. It continuously showed in my recommended list but I was convinced I wouldn't like it - maybe it was the cover art???

I gave in and bought it last week because it was on sale. I listened to it immediately and was pleasantly surprised. The character of Jane is pickly and tough, not very likable at first. She has been hired by a local vampire council to hunt a rogue. Jane is uniquely qualified for the job bacuse she shares her body with Beast, a panther spirit whose body she hijacked by accident when she was a child. Jane/Beast can transform into animal form and has a well developed sense of smell.

If you can suspend your disbelief long enough to get into the story, it is fast paced and well written. The references to Cherokee culture are well researched and seamlessly integrated. The dialog is okay - not spectacluarly witty, but okay. The voice of Beast is the one dialog exception. The way Faith Hunter writes for Beast and Khristine Hvam reads it is masterful!

After resisting this series for two years, I bought the other three books after finishing this one! Don't be deceived by the cover art it hides a great story!

Not bad but not interesting enough to keep me goin

What I enjoyed about this book:
- The in-depth back-stories about Jane's beast and her tribe, the level of detail and description invested in helping us understand her shape-shifting abilities and the effort made in maintaining the laws of physics by explaining where all the mass comes from and goes to when she shape-shifts into larger or smaller bodies.
- Having a main character with a rich Native American background and how this is gradually introduced into the story.
- The narration, it was excellent and I found Khristine Hvam's pronounciation of the Cherokee language authentic-sounding and a pleasure to listen to.
- The shape-shifting, 'nuff said, it was awesome and well-implemented.
- The vampire culture (the cemetery burial scene was great).
- The solving of the mystery of the killer, who it ended up being and what the repercussions will be.

What I didn't like and why I won't be reading any more books in the series:
- How much time and level of detail is spent describing her tea fetish, the scene in the restaurant where she goes to eat, her amazing dancing skills on the dancefloor on more than one occasion. This might just be because I find all this to be too 'girly' and therefore boring coming from a male perspective but I just couldn't get around the feeling that too much time was spent on such mundane things.
- How competent Jane is at seemingly everything she does which just strains credulity and is further compounded by how easily she dispatches her foes (the best characters are the ones that while powerful, are also fallible). I never got the sense that she was ever in any real danger.

Pretty Good Book for this Genre

STORY - Skinwalker is a vampire action/mystery. The main character, Jane Yellowrock, is of Indian origin and has the power to change into different creatures. IMHO, the best part of the book is when she is in the process of shifting or has already changed forms. Her thinking process becomes that of the beast she has become, which is definitely a cool perspective. The rest of the book is your typical vampire-killing story with a smaller mystery component. There is no romance or sex, but lots of action and blood. I personally thought the book was okay, but nothing special. It is an easy listen and comes to a satisfying conclusion, so it stands alone.

NARRATION - The narrator does a pretty good job except she mispronounces some words of French origin. Maybe it's just me, but it bugged me when she pronounced jewelry as "joolerie."

OVERALL - People who like this genre will probably like this book very much (thus the great reviews). I'm finding that I don't enjoy the vampire-hunting genre, but I'm plodding through the ones I bought in a recent sale.

Narrator is apparently not as smart as Jane

The narrator's voice is pleasant, but she has no idea what a real Southerner sounds like. As for Cajun, well, it's just embarrassing. Furthermore, she repeatedly pronounces "fleur-de-lis" as "fler de leese" and "jewelry" as "jewlery." Oh, and "objet d'arte is "Ob jet duh artay." The coup de grace, though, is when one of the male characters treats Jane with condensation (sic), which I am rather certain Faith Hunter wrote as "condescension."

This is the first audio book during which I found myself trying to glimpse the printed word beneath the hash the narrator made of it. I think Jane is a lot smarter than the narrator portrays her to be and that Hunter wrote a better book than comes off in this audio version. While it's nothing special in the world of urban fantasy, the book would have been enjoyable were it not for the clunkers thrown in by K. Hvam. Since it appears that she narrates future books in the series, I won't be pursuing it.

I should have known.

imagine a romance writer tried to jump genres by channeling Jude devereaux and Sam spade while lathering the whole thing up in the most tired tropes of urban fantasy. This is that book.

Vampire fighting, form changing fighter

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

In the most part I did enjoy this slightly different take on a vampire hunter. Jane's ability to change into the beast added a different angle to the story although I did find the short sentences when Jane was in beast form a little annoying after a while. There was lots of potential in the relationships Jane formed for future stories and I understand there are quite a few spin off stories involved. From a practical point of view I probably would have preferred the background more in this story but overall I would recommend as something a little different.

Would you be willing to try another book from Faith Hunter? Why or why not?

Yes, I've put the subsequent book on my wish list and will purchase soon. At end of the story she was about to do something so I'd like to see how this develops.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

With narration, you get more of a feel for where the book is set with the different accents a narrator brings, That always adds something extra to the book (for me).

Perfection!!!

This is without doubt one of the best shifter books I have ever come across, and defiantly the best one I?ve ever found on audio. The story its self is brilliant, as is that of the main character. Who she is and where she came from. The difference between how Jane sees the world in human form and when she is in the form of Beast is just one of the things that makes this story so gripping. All the characters are complex and intriguing as is the world in which the live. A truly great book that I will be able to listen to, and enjoy, over and over again.

Enjoyable but average genre offering.

Overall it's an enjoyable book but average in its composition and storytelling, not an outstanding genre offering but competent. There are a couple of real cringeworthy cliches that made me wonder if I was reading 50 shades of skinwalker!

The narrator was good but a few edits were noticeable.

Would I recommend it? Depends on your tastes but if like me you're coming to it after the Dresden books and the like you'll most likely find this a little lacking, although as mentioned not bad or poor by any stretch of the imagination. A book to try when there's little else to read.

good and original

the main thing with this book is that the two main characters' are likeable both caught in the same body.

There are no distinct villains because the lead character hates vampires but has to work for them. It does keep you guessing as to who the rogue is and there are a few neat twists.

Just hope the rest of the series live up to the 1st 1

Great start to a great series

If you could sum up Skinwalker in three words, what would they be?

Different gripping enjoyable

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jane Yellowrock the star of the series very likeable and powerful character

Which character – as performed by Khristine Hvam – was your favourite?

She performs them all well Jane is great but if I had to pick just one I think I would go for Leo the head Vampire I think she gets him perfectly

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes but it's too long to do that so it wasn't practical. I kept grabbing bits when I could though

Any additional comments?

This is the first of a series currently of 9 books I have listened to them all and really enjoyed them the characters develop well. If you like this type of fantasy genre I think you will enjoy these. I actually preferred these to the sookie stackhouse series which I also enjoyed. Khristine Hvam is perfect

New series to follow.

This is a book with a very strong lead character, Jane Yellowrock, who hunts rouge vampires for a living. But she has a secret, a very big secret. With the help of a secret partner Jane becomes the top hunter in the U.S.A. and because of this she becomes a target. Helped by her secret partner and her friends she knows she can survive anything.

Great narrator and gripping story

I love the narrator's voice and the way she's telling the story. The best I heard so far. She makes the story so alive and gripping.

The story is about Jane Yellowrock who has this "dual personality" of herself and 'beast' who is living basicly inside her - or the other way around if she is shifting into beast. Although very different from each other, they seem to complement each other pretty well, especially in hunting down the bad guys. In some flashbacks we get to know more about them and how they came to be. All that while they hunt some mad creature who is killing vamps and humans and everyone is curious to find out, what Jane really is.

Unusual and very listen’able’ indeed.

I enjoyed the characters who were brought to life(no pun intended) by the narrator.
The book is rich in description, never boring and full of action. I’m off to buy the next one......

Jane comes alive

Would you consider the audio edition of Skinwalker to be better than the print version?

Yes definitely. The narrator makes Jane and Beast come alive. She manages to give them their separate characters. Jane Yellowrock is one of my favourite series of books and after listening to this narration I'll be adding the audio version of the others to my collection.

A Surprise!

Would you consider the audio edition of Skinwalker to be better than the print version?

Having not read any print versions of books by Faith Hunter, I can't say whether her writing style is one that I prefer to hear or read.

What other book might you compare Skinwalker to, and why?

I was drawn to this book because it seemed to sit neatly within the range of books that have kept me returning to Audible. There are aspects of the Jane Jameson books by Molly Harper, Kara Gillian series by Diana Rowland, the Elemental Assassin series from Jennifer Estep and Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan, from The Hollows. All strong female characters, with a hint of the supernatural, similar, but markedly not the same.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I would say that some of my favourite scenes where Beast was in charge, although the final fight sequence with her frank handling of the situation was probably the most enjoyable.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book definitely did not make me cry, but there were certainly a few lines that made me bark with laughter. I'm sure the people sitting next to me in traffic were a little taken aback!

Any additional comments?

If you enjoy writers such as Kim Harrison, Jennifer Estep and Diana Rowland, then I would certainly say this book is for you. I am yet to listen to any of the rest of the series, so will wait to hear book 2 before I think about recommending it as a series!