Swing Shift: Book 2

By: William D. Arand

Narrated by: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down. Gus’s life had been a tedium and boredom he’d grown comfortable with. One that he sought out after he’d come back from his tour of duty.

That was before Melody, a contractor, more or less blew his life up as if it were a building packed full of C-4. Then she pranced around the ashes of it like it was the end of the world and was conjuring up the end times herself. All while breaking in a rookie by the name of Vanessa into the PID. A gung-ho and eager young detective looking to prove herself. Then commandeering and recruiting a cleaning lady who turned out to be an elven dryad sorceress who viewed killing people as little more than emptying the trash can.

Gus had lived through it, though. Made it work for him and had come out of it without too many new scars. An adventure that he hadn’t wanted any part of...that involved the Fed being blown up, a stadium full of Paras all going into a feral rage, and breaking off a plot hatched by what felt like an organization that rivaled the Fed. 

Which apparently was all in a day’s work, right up until they fired you for doing that work because you made the brass look bad.

Without a job, more people relying on him than ever, and no direction, Gus is going to have to put on his big boy pants and figure something out. And soon. 

It’s a good thing that he’s a boogieman. Because, being an apex predator that made the entirety of the paranormal world fear him was something he could fall back on. He could lean into it and make it work for him. 

He’d done it before when he was in the military. Made a name for himself out there in the bloody desert. He was "The Hunter". A name that the elven mothers now used to instill fear into misbehaving children. A name that grown men and women wouldn’t discuss in polite company. Except, despite Gus’s best intentions to get back to his stable nonlife, he’s going to get thrown right back into the fray. Whether he likes it or not, he’s about to be handed a new problem that’s going to mess up what little remained of his life. 

Unfortunately, his past was going to catch up to him and meet up with his future.

Warning and minor spoiler: This novel contains graphic violence, undefined relationships/harem, unconventional opinions/beliefs, and a hero who is as tactful as a dog at a cat show. Listen to it at your own risk.

©2019 William D. Arand (P)2020 William D. Arand

"Gus Said."

When I downloaded this second book in the series, I had apparently forgotten how annoying it was to constantly hear "Gus Said."
"Gus Said."
"Melody Said."
"Gus Said."
"Chloe Said."
"Gus Said."
"Gus Said."
"Gus Said."

I feel like there are other ways the author could have indicated who was speaking. I'm still not sure if it is the overuse of "Gus Said." that bothered me, or just the way it sounded coming from this particular narrator. Otherwise, I really liked the story and the narrator. I just got so sick of hearing "Gus Said."

marvel and dc move on over

Look, at this point I'm just waiting for our own version of Nick Fury to start handing out invites.

the best read of all the Arrand/Darren series

The series is going in a fantastic direction...I hate huge cliffhangers and the author never leaves a current story unfinished , which I really like. there is always a tease. I have read all the series' available and all were fantastic with great narration. all the series I thought could go on becausethe story was so good, but after finishing this book I have a huge desire to know what happens next....I will anxiously await any addition. to any series...
If you are unaware of this authors work start with the selfless hero series and you wont be able to stop until you read everything by Arrand/ Darren.
I have given good reviews and bad but I cant stress enough that this authors entire work is a must. swing shift 2 is where half the open questions wher answered and twice as many where opened.

Predictably-Unpredictable.

First of all if you haven't read or listened to book one "Swing Shift"? This is a must do as there are a lot of things that interface and make this story what it is.
Sorry no spoiler alerts.
Andrea Parsneau once again is the narrator and again a great performance. Her voice range and delectable dialects are definitely delightful(not at all sorry I wrote that). They make the story that much more.

kinda flat ending

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 o 0 1 2 3 4 6n

Equal to the first book

Narrator: I'm glad Parsneau stayed the narrator - otherwise I wouldnt have burned the credit. I just appreciate multi book series having the same reader throughout. The author needs to be careful about how many main characters are added. Parsneau is a good narrator, but some of the voices can be rough. The one character I have a problem with is Melody - she happens to be a primary and main character too. I find the way she is voiced to be incredibly annoying and almost childish.

Overall Story: Book 2 is definitely a direct sequel and it more or less picks up where book 1 left off. I like the overall plot of the book: magical creatures investigating magical crimes in a world that includes both regular humans and paras in the same world - just that normal people dont know that paras exists. The story overall is good.

Character development and story issues: The overall story of investigating crime is fine. At the end of book one, you can definitely tell that a harem could be set up. The beginning of book two establishes the harem and its more rated R and sexual innuendos than actual graphic sexual content. My main complain is that the author seemed to rush characters into the story and make them part of the harem. Melody is this magical contractor that while explained in book one... I still have no idea what the hell her magical power is. Rather than slowly build the harem, it seemed that at every main plot point a new female was added to the group. It just seemed really rushed.

I'm looking forward to book three. I just hope the character points dont feel as rushed as book two.

Holy, Star-Crossed Revelry

I was totally excited to start listening to this the moment I saw it in the store. However, I never thought I would get the connecting info I'd been waiting for. I can't wait to see how Felix and Vince react to Gus and the Curator lol

Book 2 are always the best

We get to see the edges of the patch and how it fits in with the rest of the quilt. Plus you get to see what Gus can do and why his race is so feared. I can’t wait for book 3.

Needs more story... less GF drama

By William Arnand
Narrated by Andrea Parsneua

Swing Shift 2 doesnt have as much crime fighting/Urban Fantasy investigations. That part of the story just gets completely overpowered by the harem stuff. It goes from a Love Triangle to a Love Octagon.

Apparently I didnt get the email, but this is a full fledged Harem story. Sorry if its labeled that way, but I just continued because I really liked Book One. And I'm not a prude. I dont care if a character has multiple partners. My issue is that as soon as ANY woman is introduced, then you know they are going to be in harem... there's no suspense at all. They meet a girl at a military base, she's in the harem. They go to a club and meet two random girls who've never been a part of the story before, well they're in the harem too. They need a mechanic to fix their cars, so they find a female who can change oil and she's in the Harem too. It just became annoying to me.

There is the "Conflict" or "Mystery" to be investigated. I HATE HATE HATE when an author answers or resolves a conflict by randomly throwing in some hidden plot that was never introduced or talked about before anywhere is the story. Magically, this Donald-Trump-Like-Deep-State conspiracy appears in the book from out of the blue. 😒 Just not the type of writing I expected after Book 1.

Theres a surprise ending that makes me want to keep going with Book 3, however if its continues being 60% - 70% girlfriend drama then I'll be disappointed.

2 Stars 🌟🌟- Decent

Still good, but not my favorite Arand

The story of this one was still good and I recommend it, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first Swing Shift or some of Arand's other stuff.

Performance is top notch as always from Andrea Parsneau.

There is some good series crossover in this book with the larger Arand/Darren-verse (it probably has an actual name), and it looks like more is yet to come!

Fair warning (or endorsement, depending on your preferences) -- this one, like the previous Swing Shift but to an even greater degree, takes the sexual content about as far as you can without actually having any explicit sex in the book.

Disclosure -- I received a promotional copy of this book, but was not required to leave a review.

a bit much

its a bit to much this time. i know i know. i went in to this series knowing it was a hareem novel. but this one is less adult esk and more 13 year old drivel.

its set in the same world as the last one and this time makes even less sense. also the author moves to far forward in the harem. 3 to 4 to quickly. just sigh. its not even funny or erotic

really enjoyed it

lots of solid; differing characters with diverse input into the story. I'm looking forward to the next one.

It’s not over yet.

I would suggest that if you’re going to read / listen to these books that you google all books by this author and read them in order. There is so much that makes sense, only if you’ve read previous books. Characters that pop in and out are the stars (or at least feature more prevalently) of previous books. You’ll be fine without reading them as long as you’ve read the previous book in this series.

The excellent narration by Andrea Parsneau gives life and depth to the characters.

This series is beautifully written and put together, with each story unveiling a little bit more of the back story of each character and what drives them. Good and evil from a human perspective is not as clear cut as it should be. Living monsters and nightmares undertake the fight for good, to prevent the human and para world from mixing, no one wants another inquisition after all.
At the heart of it, love and friendship, brotherhood, and a heavy dose of denial, lust, and squaddie humour lead the way.
I laughed out loud, and was engrossed in a world where the boogie man, and a whole host of paranormal species usually seen as the monster can be the hero.

Spoilers

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I don't know if it's the same writer but there link to Fostering Faust series.

I liked it a lot but jesus man...

I liked this book a lot. Quite a lot. I love the world and want to see more of it. I like the main character and I want to see how he reacts to the things comming down the road. I like the supporting characters as well, to a certain extent.

I like this series and will certaintly buy the next one, but I have one major issue with it: I don't like the romance/harem aspect.

I generally have nothing against multiple romances and undefined relationships in books. Hell, I really like it when it is done well. However, in this book I just find it to be too much.

I like Gus and the story generally better when he is either with only one of the girls, or with none of them. It can get especially tiering with Mel, constantly going on about sex, and harem, and colours and everything.

I liked the book. A lot. Just, cut out some of the sex, harem and romance talk. I get that a book needs some filler, but when the filler is plain, dull and means nothing to the world the story takes place in, it just becomes tedious.

Need a pin up board

Great addition to the wider multiverse that is this author and his other handle, although sometimes I think I need a notes section to keep track of all the crossover.