Take the Body and Give Me the Rest

Dark Gods and Tainted Souls, Book 1

By: Julius Schenk

Narrated by: Tom Adams

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Seth stood and watched the nightmare creature as it tore its past master into bloody shreds and tried not to let the gripping fear show on his face. He could feel the man's life force, his memories, his talents and hard won skills filling his own mind and body turning him into something much more than the lowly soldier he'd been just mere moments before.

©2015 Julius Schenk (P)2016 Victoria Watkinson

Great read!

This book really took me in, I felt connected with the characters and their ultimate fate. I can't wait to see what comes next! Worth a credit definitely.

Building a better you through blood and bodies

I picked up the kindle version of this book months ago, but never had time to read it. The cover had caught my eye, and the title sounded interesting, so I grabbed it and planned on reading it as soon as I could. Then, I slowly found out that I no longer had time to read. Books were out of my purview. Then I discovered audible, and began my "reading" career, only as a listener now. One day, as I was looking for new books to listen to, I saw this book, by Schenk and thought that I had to grab it as it still called out to me. I got it, and listened to it all in one day. I knew I could tell a good book by its cover, because I really fell in love with the unique world that Schenk has created.

First off, props for the cover. It is creepy and demonic looking, and it looks like that poor fellow is having his sould sucked out by the beast behind him. It most assuredly grabs your eye and makes you want to see it, and is of high enough quality that it doesn't look cheesy or cheap. No, the cover is perfect for this book, and what is contained therein. I always appreciate a good cover, but do not add or subtract stars for their quality.

The writing is simply superb. It is rich, verbose, detailed, and emotional. The world is unique and new, but carries a familiarity that makes you comfortable there. It is a world that you get to see a good chunk of too, with our protagonist, Seth, on the run and being forced to flee on a ship for his life. Seth is a young man who is beaten, robbed, and sent into slavery for the simple crime of naivety. His master decides to steal his soul/memories/skills for himself and summons a dark creature to "take the body, but give him the rest", but Seth somehow manages to intrigue the demonic being, and it frees him and kills his master. Seth then goes on the run, fleeing from forces and people he can barely understand.

The book the becomes a shifting bog of quicksand in which Seth must be ever vigilant of where he steps lest he be swallowed whole. He never knows who he can trust, and the fact is he may only be able to count on himself when it comes right down to it. Still, he does make some friends when he frees some other men from slavery, and it looks as if there might be a bond there. The real trick is that Seth must learn to balance the hunger of his beast and that of his own, for there are people that beings such as himself find irresistible and simply cannot resist taking for themselves. Seth, however, might just be above such animalistic drives. At least it seems that way for now, but it looks like he is going to have a very long life ahead of him, and people change. Can you see just how much depth there is to his character? In the plot itself? This book drags YOU in, and I worry that it takes everything else and just leaves the body. You will be drawn in te longer you listen, too.

Tom Adams kills the narration. He plays Seth, the Demon, ladies, lords, and children and you barely notice that it is the same man talking. He is so full of voices, and has such emotional range. His intonations and inflections really bring Seth to life, and the man knows how to pace a story. He certainly keeps you riveted on the edge of your seat. I have never heard him narrate before, and I am glad I got to listen to him. he really made the book fun.

It looks like there are a few more books to go in this series. I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens next. To see if Seth can overcome his personal demon's desires, and what he will do about the dark brotherhood that seeks him. There are many possibilities and directions the story can go, and I do not have a clue as to what is going to come next! That is exciting.

Do not miss out on this wonderful new series. If you love fantasy or even horror then this book is for you.
If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Good and disturbing.

What made the experience of listening to Take the Body and Give Me the Rest the most enjoyable?

You are dealing with a vary luck and young protagonist that has a lot to learn about life. The vary rapid growth of him makes the story fast paced and exiting if a little producible.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Take the Body and Give Me the Rest?

When he almost die do to the lust of his flash and the youth of his heart.

Which scene was your favorite?

The death of the thief and the whore

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The devil made me do it.

Any additional comments?

To the author I'm looking forward to the next installment

great cliff hanger ending

can't wait for next book. great beginning to a series solid anti hero. awesome start.

Swift, enjoyable and a great idea

Guess what happens in this book? Yup, there are entities that take a body, and give you the rest of the person - knowledge, skills, memories... for a price, of course. It's a great idea for world-building and boy, I like those.

The story itself revolves around Seth, who should have been on the "take the body" part of the equation, and suddenly found himself on the "and give me the rest" side. Some people of course didn't like that turn of events, and so a fast-paced chase ensues. Julius Schenk won't bog you down with details or long-winded descriptions, there's exactly enough information in the story to make you understand and enjoy all the plot twists. Tom Adams does a great job narrating, and has a very pleasant voice. Some people might want to turn up the speed of his narration, but I quite like it as it is, clean and well thought-out.

I'm glad I spent my credit on this book and can't wait for the sequel. Great job, Jules!

Seems decent, spoiled by narrator

I got about an hour into the book, it seems pretty good but the narrator has a somewhat dull voice, and his characters blend together. I couldn’t keep listening.

An engaging, violent, dark fantasy

Take the Body and Give Me the Rest is a violent, entertaining, dark fantasy story with the feel of historical fiction. This is part of a series but also works well independently. The narrator has an engaging voice and does a good job with the book. Contains graphic violence and sexual content.

Great story Lots of action

Where does Take the Body and Give Me the Rest rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I enjoyed the story and it has several twist that keep you interested

Who was your favorite character and why?

Seth is the center of attention but all of the surrounding characters keep it moving

Which character – as performed by Tom Adams – was your favorite?

Without a doubt Mr Schenk is a master story writer that I hope he will write more of these

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

Mr Adams has a great gift for bringing each character alive and I look forward to more of his works

Any additional comments?

Mr Schenk continue writing and we will be waiting Don't retire yet

Fast paced and different

Entertaining action and grizzly demons give Seth power and set his life in a new direction with murder and secrets. Fast paced action and good narration. Hoping to listen to book 2 soon.

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Unexpected gem!

I was almost ready to give up on free review copies, for most of the ones I listened to have been mediocre at best. The title and premise of this book intrigued me however so I decided to give it another shot. And boy am I glad I did! What a great story this is, I could hardly put it down and finished it in almost 1 day.

This is a strange but gripping mixture of fantasy, vampire story, zombie story and even a bit of Highlander. It also reminded me of LitRPG, not that it's a game, but in the way the story buids up and the MC grows in strength and capabilities.

It is very well written, with well-crafted sentences and grammar, and an interesting plot; it also ends great, with a cliffhanger on the one hand but not a badly done one where the reader is left with the feeling that his book simply cut off mid-story; that is not the case here. All of which make up for the one issue that I have, namely the fact that the - likeable - main character (and all others as well) is rather two-dimensional.

Narration was fun, the narrator tries to give everyone a unique voice. I'm not sure if the very friendly and mild voice for the MC was the best choice; it makes him come off a bit too soft here and there. Also, the narrator has a strong regional accent, which made some of the minor characters very hard to understand.

Anyway, I'm very glad I found this fun book and will definitely keep an I eye out for the sequel, for I have to know what new adventures the MC will be embarking on now, after this climactic ending & cliffhanger...
And I do hope the MC's character, thought processes, background and relationships (and others') will be fleshed out more in the rest of the series.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I was not required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

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