Stylite: Mystery

The Stylite Chronicles, Book One

By: Tag Gregory, Lily Marie

Narrated by: William Pierre

Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A curious art history student disturbs a lonely recluse holed up in an historic building in downtown Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle". Together, they investigate the mystery behind the building and in the process unearth evidence of a long-dead, illicit love affair. Will that ancient romance help kindle a modern one for our history sleuths at the same time?

It's a Mystery, History, Romance.

©2018 Tag Gregory & Lily Marie (P)2021 Tag Gregory & Lily Marie

An interesting historical mystery

This was an interesting, historical mystery mm romance.

The storyline was compelling and the characters were likeable and entertaining.

The narration was enjoyable as well.

Looking forward to listening to the next book in the series.

Scary super slow burn

I loved the atmosphere created by these authors and the narrator... It was creepy in the exact places it needed to be!
The slow burn is super slow and the book ends in a cliffhanger. You really want to have the next book asap, it is that intriguing (and just as the name says... Mysterious!)

Triangle mystery and hermits

An amazing journey begins with an art student studying an old triangle building he thinks is vacant. Then he meets the buildings owner.
This story was so sympathetic to OCD and agoraphobic sufferers. Very spot on descriptions of some of the manifestations of the illness.
A wonderful tale of two people finding each other and discovering a mystery right behind the walls of the building.
Terrific character development and excellent storyline pacing will keep you invested in the tale.
I can’t wait for the next one in the series!

Fantastic listen!

This was sooo freakin good! Tristan is a student who trespasses because of a fascination with a building. Brandon lives in the building and has severe agoraphobia. They get to know each other over time. Tristan decides they’re going to be boyfriends. Poor Brandon didn’t stand a chance. The only thing I didn’t like was how it ended on a cliffhanger! Otherwise it was fantastic. The narrator, William Pierre was new to me. I thought he did a good job with distinguishing the voices.

A Few Issues

I can't wait for the next book. A nice mystery of past love and the budding relationship of a new one. This is the first time hearing this narrator and I think he did a decent job,but there was a issue with the editing and production was off.

An okay first part

Fair warning, this is an unfinished story. looks like it will be published like a serial more than a series, so you won't get any kind of resolution here, just an abrupt ending. I resent that this is not explicitly told in the blurb of the book.

I thought the storyline was very intriguing and was very eager to get this book a try. Sadly, the mystery doesn't strongly feature in this part of the story. And I didn't like the romance that much.

The main reason for this is that I deeply disliked Tristan. The slight disquiet that I felt become real scorn after he has 'the talk' with Ian. Rude, unnecessarily insulting and blaming Ian for something that is, however you see it, his fault. If you slept with someone while being blind drunk, and then you aren't man enough to tell him that it was a mistake and keep stringing him along while calling him a stalker just because he likes you... well, you aren't a nice person

It didn't help that he doesn't seem to see Brandon as a real person, he is like a project, someone broke that needs to be fixed.

The constant repetition of 'my eggie', with a few iterations of my man showing up randomly for variety got annoying pretty quick. And the narration, although nice, could have benefited from some editing.

Interesting listen.

There is a mystery here, but unfortunately it doesn't get solved in this listen. The OCD and agoraphobia that the one character has, doesn't leave much fo different venues, but it is interesting to see the interactions if the two main characters.

A Promising Start to an Intriguing 3-Part Mystery

William Pierre’s near perfect narration vividly brings to life the full cast of characters that Tag Gregory and Lily Marie have created for their Stylite Chronicles 3-volume series.

‘Stylite: Mystery’, the first of the three installments, introduces Tristan, a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburg. Tristan is fascinated by Pittsburg’s old Triangle Building on Liberty St at Seventh Ave, constructed in the 1880s, that has long since been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.

With the encouragement of his roommate, Darla, Tristan decides to make the Triangle Building the subject of his undergraduate thesis. He spends hours every day sketching the building from every imaginable angle.

He and Darla are shocked to discover the likeness of a haunted, bearded older man in the window of one of his drawings. Tristan has no recollection of actually having seen the man, but he must have been there for Tristan to have captured his likeness in the sketch.

On his next visit, Tristan confirms that the man does indeed exist. Eventually, after breaking into the building only to be confronted by a hissing, feral cat, the two men actually do meet. Together Tristan and the reclusive figure he names ‘Eggy’ discover and begin to unravel the mysteries of this historic old building.

Hidden rooms, sliding walls, abandoned staircases, secret love letters hidden behind framed drawings, and a long forgotten basement are just the start of their adventure.

As others have noted, this volume is just the beginning - it is not a complete stand alone story.

This audiobook was provided by IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for my honest review. I’m really looking forward to parts two and three of this mystery/romance series to find out how everything is resolved.

A Wonderful Start

This is the first book in The Stylite Chronicles Series. A wonderful book the writing was good. The plot was entertaining and it was steady throughout the book. I found the story and characters engrossing. The characters were developed and thought out. Tristan and Brandon are the MC’s of this book. I loved this story and can’t wait for the next. The narration was good and not monotone. I can recommend this book as a good read/listen. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

Wonderful Story

Audio: 3.5 Stars
Narrator: William Pierre

Storyline: a very interesting mm mystery novel. The writing style was direct and fresh with a very intriguing plot. I am still not sure if I have totally warmed up to the MCs, but they have completely fascinated me.

Tristan is an art history student that is normally pretty self-centered. He has a best friend, named Darla, that tends to keep him grounded. Tristan is fascinated by a Flatiron building in Pittsburgh that he thinks is abandoned. Passing his favorite building for the hundredth time, he playfully kicks the door, and it pops open. His exploration of the building is quite disastrous as it turns out, it is not abandoned. Tristan finds a grumpy, scary-looking man with an unkempt beard that really wants him out of his building. Tristan either has nerves of steel, or is the most stubborn individual on the planet, as he continues to visit both the odd man, and the architectural dream he lives in. The isolated Brandon, starts to slowly enjoy these encounters.

Along the way, I learned this recluse has many issues he has to learn to live with. I felt at first it was odd that Tristan was starting to have some romantic feelings towards Brandon, but with time, I understood the attraction. Tristan is a fixer and poor Brandon feels broken.

The story blends an inkling of an unlikely romantic attraction, history regarding this amazing triangular building, and a mystery of a possible illicit love affair from years before. The story is a cliffhanger that ends abruptly. An interesting story, that is part of a trilogy, that begs you to continue reading to see where all these loose ends tie.

Audio: I found the book to be very interesting but the narration was somewhat lackluster. I couldn’t tell the difference between Tristan’s voice and his female friend, Darla. They sounded identical and this took away from the listening experience. Mr. Pierre did maintain a steady voice but it did not readily pull me into this unique story. He did change his voice into a deeper tone for Brandon which really improved the production. I would recommend this if you prefer audiobooks to reading. Happy listening!