TAD

By: M.D. Neu

Narrated by: Steve Connor

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Tad bounces around in time and watches mankind grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people - he’s an Angel of Death.

Doug is a fun-loving drama queen. He’s an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams, but despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction.

When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his wings are stripped away from him, and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug, and they start a friendship that shapes them both and may last a lifetime. But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?

©2019 M.D. Neu (P)2021 M.D. Neu

A post 9/11 allegory

I volunteered to listen to this and review it with a profound sense of trepidation. While it’s been 20 years since the events of 9/11, I was worried that they might not be treated with the respect that they deserved. I lost friends and co-workers in the attacks. In fact, if I’d gone into work early that day, I’d not be here now. My office was on the 94th floor of Tower One. All my co-workers that had already gotten to work were lost.

That said, this book uses that event as just an opening event in a whimsical and telling tale about angels and saving lives. It isn’t disrespectful of what happened on that day. In fact, the tale revolves around an “Angel of Death” that is stripped of his wings for lowering the body-count that day. As a result of his punishment, the angel finds himself a homeless man on the streets of NYC. Now it’s a year after the fateful events and this tale revolves around the drag queen that took him in.

Doug is slightly overweight drag queen and hairdresser who takes in this fallen angel, calling him TAD. Though Tad is beautiful, he’s asexual. He has no sexual desire and doesn’t quite understand human desire.

While this is partly an allegory it is also a tale of humanity. With the advantage of being partly from the viewpoint of an innocent, unworldly outsider, one can see and say things about the human condition that we insiders seldom realize. Who’s better to explore what it means to be human than someone who never has been?

In spots this is a poignant portrait of man’s inhumanity to man. In other’s it’s a portrait on just one man’s life. They say that “Fate works in mysterious ways”, but when Fate asks for Doug’s help in this tale, one questions where it will all lead.

This tale out of time lacked some of the cohesiveness of more standard plot-lines. At points it’s confusing, and one feels like it should be better ordered. But then, that’s true of life as well.

This audiobook is narrated by Steve Connor in an upbeat manner that reveals his history as a children’s book narrator. The prose narrative is clear and well paced and the different character voices are distinct without being over-done. Connor’s narration style wouldn’t work for every tale, but it’s perfect for this one. It adds emphasis to the “moral fable” aspects of the story. This Audio-book is outside the norm in a number of ways, and won’t be to all tastes.

I really enjoyed it, and I expect that those for a taste for things outside the norm will as well. It's one of those books that gives one a fresh perspective and perhaps a deeper understanding of life.

*** Note: I am voluntarily reviewing this after receiving a complimentary copy ***

Interesting take on angels

This was a very interesting take on angels. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into but the blurb made me want to listen more and I really did enjoy the story a lot. There are angels among us but they aren’t always what we assume they are and I really enjoyed that. I had a lot of fun listening to this and seeing where it would go. I really wish there had been more to the story and it was longer but it was still really great! I am excited to see if there is more there and if we will get to see even more of these stories.

GREAT READ!

I really enjoyed it. This book was full of drama and romance! The narration was great. The author did a great job with the character builds and plot. This was my first book by this author but definitely not my last! I look forward to reading more books by this author! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Excellent Uplifting Story

This is the story of one of the Angels of Death (Tad) who was punished for wrong doing by having his wings taken and left on Earth. Here on Earth he is rescued off living on the streets by a Wounderfully generous gay man (Doug)who helps him.
This is their story of the time and Adventures they have and of Doug finding his true love & husband (Roberto). A Very touching story that give a different view of the world. The Narrator did a Wonderful job with the characters voices and the storyline!!

an new take on angels

I haven’t read or listened to anything by this author before, but one of my fellow reviewers reviewed the ebook and loved it. I didn’t read her review because I wanted to go into this story without anything to influence my thoughts. I’m going to start with the narration because the narrator was new to me as well. I thought Steve Connor did a good job narrating this story. I didn’t feel a lot of personal connection to the story through his performance, but I thought his voice was pleasant and I would listen to him again.

I just have to put it out there that I don’t consider this story a romance at all. Not in the way that I would define a romance, anyway. But it is a story about love. TAD is an angel of death (there are many) whose love for humanity has him saving lives he isn’t supposed to. And while it seems like the little alterations he makes in mass casualty events to lessen the death total won’t make that much of a difference, he is stripped of his wings and made to live on Earth as punishment.

One of the events is 9/11 and it’s near ground zero that TAD meets Doug who gives him his acronym. Doug is a full of life drag queen with some self-esteem issues and a bad influence for a boyfriend. Meeting TAD makes Doug want to help him and so begins a long friendship. At first TAD isn’t wired for anything sexual, so their love is purely platonic. With out giving anything away, events occur that result in TAD becoming fully human, and he does engage in healthy sexual relationships with women and men. He doesn’t seem interested in anything permanent with anyone except the deep friendship he maintains with Doug.

The story is told over a long period of time with large gaps between sections. I understand why this is convenient because certain moments in the 20 year long story are more important than others. The characters grow and change so much but most of it occurs off-page. During the entirety TAD and Doug, of course, remain friends and Doug falls in love with a man we never learn that much about, but he is happy. And from time to time angels make brief appearances to see if TAD is ready to go back to his angelic life. I think this story speaks a lot about the importance of platonic love because TAD is never willing to leave Doug even though they are not in love with each other. Their kind of love is just as important to the duo though.

The story started with a lesson for TAD to realize how his interference does affect the world despite his best intentions. The lesson is kind of a long game and brings about the near collapse of the world like the blurb mentions. I thought the scare and what it takes to stop it made for an interesting story. There is a little twist in regards to TAD’s origins that I enjoyed. I felt that the story ended in a satisfying way, but again not really a romance so no HEA. The story does make you think, though, and I would recommend it as long as you aren’t expecting a romance.

Loved the Story

I enjoyed listening to this story very much. This book is unique, refreshing and very different from the usual romance stories I read. I Loved the concept of how every action, every step we take can impact future of the world and author's delivery, how he made me experience every twist of Fate along with the characters. Narrator has a pleasant voice and did a good job with the story. It is probably just me, but it took me a little bit of time to start enjoying the narrator's style and therefore I liked narration of the second part of this story a lot more than the beginning. This was new to me author and I am looking forward to more of his books.

Excellent

Thoroughly enjoyed this one from a new to me author! It wasn't your typical mm romance, it was more urban fantasy with a thread of romance running through it. It was different from a lot of books I've read and I really liked it! First time narrator with me and boy, he did a super nice job! Cannot wait to hear more from this duo!

Bittersweet

This is a very different book from others that I have listened to. It is overall a good story. I just had trouble getting into it. I felt like it was just too short for what the story was covering. I did like the whole friendship aspect of the main characters. I also loved the narrator Steve Connor. His voice was very easy to listen to.

An engaging tale told oh so well!

Tad is an Angel of Death. He is supposed to help people cross over. He’s not supposed to change their outcomes. Tad’s also a bit of a soft touch. When a mistake of epic proportions causes Tad to be de-winged and tossed out on his less than angelic backside, it falls to Doug, a fun loving drama queen, and part time drag queen, to pick him up, dust him off and save him from himself. But, of course, all is not as it seems in this divinely delightful, and somewhat dark tale of divine intervention. Tad’s boo-boo was a doozie, and apparently the course of world events has been a wee bit altered, well more than a wee bit. More like Houston, we have a problem! Cue the popcorn, pour the drinks, grab the headphones and enjoy this well written, magnificently narrated gem! This story was so well done! I don’t want to give too much detail for fear of dropping spoilers. I went from laughing, to having a look that my husband termed looking like I had seen a ghost, to shock, to uncontrolled sobbing. This story affected me deeply, and it will stay with me a long time. It will also be listened to again. Five stars are not nearly enough. It is deserving of so much more.

Good Premise; Not So Good Execution

I requested an ARC of this audiobook and am now leaving a voluntary opinion.

While the premise is interesting, I feel the execution is flawed. First, the story is much too short for what, in my opinion, calls for an epic fantasy story. It has need of a lot more worldbuilding. As it stands, it’s a mash-up of Greek mythology and Judeo-Christian beliefs (with a smidge of Doctor Who), in which none of the elements really get fully fleshed out.

Both MCs have wobbly characterizations. TAD and Doug vacillate between altruism and selfishness. TAD, in particular, has such an abrupt change in personality toward the end of the book, that I almost stopped listening. There is a bit of an explanation for the change, but I don’t buy it. The story requires more exposition to clarify each character’s motivation.

Narrator Steve Connor’s choice to pitch Doug’s voice so high was also a problem for me. Otherwise, it’s a well done performance.