Stone and a Hard Place

The Alastair Stone Chronicles, Book 1

De: R. L. King

Narrado por: Kevin R. Czarnecki

It's hard enough for Alastair Stone to keep his two lives - powerful mage and mundane Occult Studies professor - separate without an old friend asking him to take on a new apprentice. Especially after a university colleague wants him to investigate a massive old house for things that go bump in the night. Still, Stone figures it's an easy job: just turn up, put on a little show, and announce that the house is clean.

Only it isn't. A malevolent spirit is reawakening in the basement, imprisoned between dimensions and intent on escape. If it succeeds, countless people will die. Worse, a trio of dark mages want to help it break free so they can control it for their own sinister purposes. They'll do whatever it takes - including seducing Stone's young apprentice and using him against his master - to get what they're after.

With time running out, Stone has to stay alive long enough to uncover the spirit's secrets. But even if he does, he fears that his own power won't be enough to send it back.

©2015 Robyn L. King (P)2016 R. L. King

Wonderful story!

Great story! On the surface It reminded me of the Dresden Files, but this was more mystery, less world magical politics. I'm looking forward to the next one.

slow and long

I feel like they could have made this book way shorter. but had to make it longer to make people feel like they got their money's worth

About average

The narrator is amazing. Using different accents and all.
The story line is so so. I’ll listen to the all the books because I’m OCD but I wouldn’t recommend it
FYI. The book was published in 2015. But none have cell phones and rely on answering machines for communication

Nothing spectacular but still a decent listen

For a first in a series it was rather stale but that's to be expected in such an oversaturated market like UF has become. It has a lot of potential and I'll continue the series to see what else Stone has in store.
What I liked:
Third person narrative was a very welcoming surprise for UF and I enjoyed the multiple perspectives.
Stone's character is very much a flawed protagonist that makes mistakes and gets his butt kicked quite thoroughly
the narration is pretty good, the spooky voice of the demon was perfectly creepy
What I disliked:
Stone is described by his magical peers as being one of the more powerful mages around, however he can barely hold his own against an amateur dark mage. Granted he says he's simply out of shape magically speaking early on so I'm wondering if this was just a fluke
The magic system is rather bland and wasn't explored much at all. Stone does little magic except for calling up shields, some levitation, and maybe one or two concussive blasts. Would like to read more on how the magic works and different implementations.

Not bad although predictable

Would you try another book from R. L. King and/or Kevin R. Czarnecki?

Most likely.

If you’ve listened to books by R. L. King before, how does this one compare?

no.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

less whine. but overall he wasn't awful. I'd probably listen to him again.

Do you think Stone and a Hard Place needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

already a series.

Any additional comments?

I'd give Professor Stone a C plus or even a low B. Overall the book was enjoyable. However, the switching POV's especially Ethan's bits, were on the more boring side and seemed to slow the flow of the story.