Tallow Jones, Blood Trail: An Urban Fantasy Detective Novel

By: Trevor H. Cooley

Narrated by: TJ Clark

Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

A wizard detective takes on the bloodiest murder spree in Atlanta history!

On the brink of finally breaking the dwarven smuggler ring in Atlanta, Tallow Jones, Wizard of Mysteries, discovers a far more gruesome monster let loose on the streets. Was this killer brought to our world by the dwarves, or is it a homegrown terror? People are being killed by magic, and Tallow finds himself one step behind. 

Through it all, Tallow must deal with modern-life problems like family, demons, finances, deadly pheromones, knitters, dating life, and an Earth elemental bound to a pet rock.

If you like the Dresden Files or the Iron Druid Chronicles, Tallow Jones is going to be right up your alley! Give it a try today! Explore this new side of the Bowl of Souls universe!

©2018 Trevor H. Cooley (P)2018 Trevor H. Cooley

Tallow Burns Hot!

I can't help it. I enjoy trying to come up with titles that are funny to me.

I really enjoyed this book! I was really intrigued after the first book and I think the story really has only improved. The story starts with some action and intrigue and then leads into an excellent plot. We get some more information and character development, some humor, and some loose ends being tied up. The magical creature list expands and we learn some of the significance of "Tallow" being his name now.

TJ Clark's narration was fantastic. I was engaged and enthralled the whole time. The characters really came to life for me.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an -->unbiased<-- review. As in, I liked the first book so much that I was chomping at the bit for the opportunity to read this story as well!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

I miss the narrator from book one! 😢

Tallow Jones, Blood Trail: An Urban Fantasy Detective Novel (Wizard of Mysteries Book 2)
by Trevor H. Cooley
Narrated by TH Clark
I enjoyed the book almost as much as book one! I think if it had the other narrator I would have enjoyed it more! This narrator was good but the other one was great! This makes a book to from a 5 star to a 4 star.
Tallow has to deal with a someone bringing in something or somethings into this world that doesn't belong. Only he can fight it since only a handful of people know he has magic.
The characters are great but the way it was told it didn't come out as funny as book one 😣. I was counting on giggling. The clever and witty lines were there but the delivery wasn't. Ugh!
The narrator was good but just not for THIS book!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I put off this series way too long.

Loved this series! it is an intricate and excellently written story! Some of the voices are a little too similar and I always prefer male voice actors for males and females for males but the voice acting was still good and you could here the emotions well.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Need a new Wizard Detective? Look no further!

I found the first Tallow Jones book while I was looking to fulfill my need for a new Wizard Detective. Truth is, Jim Butcher has been dragging his feet for so long that he plowed a field and let other writers plant their own seeds. Trevor Cooley is one hell of a cultivator because what he has grown in Butcher's absence is a fun, well thought out character that keeps you coming back for more. Honestly, this is a new series that I am glad to see has continued. I really enjoyed the first novel, and worried that I had gotten hooked on a one and done kind of book. I know Urban Fantasy is saturated, and I mean SATURATED, right now and it is hard for new stuff to find footing on the slippery slopes of the genre. I needn't have worried about the incredible Tallow Jones.

This time around, Tallow is still trying to bust up the dwarven criminal activity and is tailing a monster that just might be homegrown. Problem is he can never quite get to where he needs to be and is always playing catchup rather than caught up. I find the magic system to be fascinating and a breath of fresh air. It is rather fun getting to see the mechanics of Tallow's world of magic as it is overlaid onto the mundane lands he now lives. I said it before, this book reminds me of when the Dresden Files were just starting and we were only getting glimpses of the awesomeness that was to come. This series has that same feel to it, it is fairly electric, and I love it whenever Tallow low key uses magic and then the same when he throws down hard and heavy against some mystical foe or obstacle. Jones deftly handles crooked cops as well as monstrous nightmares, struggles to rebuild his connection to his family and even balance his love life? What? When did he find time for that?

I can say that this book never slows down once you start and you will find that it ends far too quickly. The confrontation scenes (I don't want to call them fight scenes as they go far beyond your everyday battle) are clever and inventive in their delivery. Jones is an intriguing character, and I am coming to realize that he actually comes from the place written in the Bowl of Souls series, so maybe I'll check that out so that I can get a better idea on how the magic works and a better grasp on the world he visited to get his magic.

We change narrators for this go around, and I am a little saddened as I liked Andrew Tell's narration. That being said I really enjoyed Clark's take on the wizard's adventures. One thing I will caution Mr. Cooley with is that listeners like consistency with their narrators, and swapping frequently can push us away. Stick with one, even if you have to wait for it to be released. On that note, I also like the cover far better this time and appreciate that the cane is spotlighted once again.

I reiterate, this series continues to improve, impress, and intimidate lesser UF books. jump on the train while it is in the station and enjoy the ride. Don't be left behind.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Oh No, I'm Hooked on Another Great Book Series!

Need a little escape from today's reality? Here's a great light read/listen that you won't be able to put down.

This is the first Trevor H Cooley book that I've read. He is quite skilled in plot pacing; excellently balancing story line, character development, and scene description & tone... the hours flew past! I see plenty of raw material for a great series of books and, unfortunately, plenty of reasons to want to escape reality for a bit. I'm honestly looking forward to Tallow's next mystery.

While I'm waiting for book 3 to come out, I'll backtrack and listen to book 1. I hope the narrator of that book is as gifted as TJ Clark is at giving voice to the diverse characters of Tallow Jones' world.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Another great one

It didn't take long for me to get used to the new narrator after listening to Andrew Tell for the last 10 books or so. TJ does a great job and I got sucked back into the story in no time.

For those who haven't read The Bowl of Souls series, I strongly recommend it as there are many parallels from that universe present in this one!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great Series

After watching Fantastic Beasts I was in the mood to start up a new fantasy series. A friend of mine told me to check out Trevor H. Cooley’s stuff. His main series looked really interesting but with 11 books it seemed a little daunting. So I decided to dip a toe into his new series, Tallow Jones. I’m so glad I did. It’s so easy to fall in love with these characters especially with the great performance the narrator gives. The mystery works great and the magic adds a really fun layer without ever becoming to silly or unbelievable. I am really hoping this team keeps this series going and I will be moving over to Trevor’s “Bowl of Souls” books for sure.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

There's A New Narrator

Story:

Not bad. It's a bit slow to start with events mostly consisting of reconnecting with family members, but once the actual investigation takes off it keeps moving which is a good thing. It's nice that we are exposed to more races from the fantasy world Tallow slipped off to for the duration of his absence, as well as their world specific afflictions. Vampire is presented in an interesting way. That's a good thing. A couple times I wondered why the antagonist was so difficult to deal with given his inexperience, but it didn't subtract from the enjoyment of the book. I'm glad that the story moved away from Agatha because she bothered me in book 1.

By far the strongest quality of this series is world building. Lots of magic with rules and limitations (not just wave your hand and whatever you want happens),interesting races, interesting magic items and magical afflictions. These are all good things.

Narration:

I was really disappointed to see that there was a new narrator for book two because the guy who did book one did a really good job. The new guy isn't terrible, but there was something missing from his performance. It sounded more like he was reading (which he was) than acting (which is what the best audiobooks need) often times.

I have very sharp hearing compared to friends and family, so it could be you won't notice, but there was also a troublesome white noise hiss in the background that took a very long time to get used to while listening on headphones. It's subtle but ever present. It took me several times of starting and going back to the beginning and starting again to get used to the new guy and the background fuzz, but once I was, the narration/recording was okay.

Overall:

If you like the narrator's voice and enjoyed book 1, you'll probably like this novel. You can listen to the preview to hear for yourself. For me something was a little off, but a lot of other people seem to like him. It's a matter of personal preference. He didn't do anything horribly wrong, so don't let that completely put you off the series.

I look forward to seeing more of this world unfold.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Yes new narrator (with big shoes to fill)

I went into this scared! I have read most of Trevor's books but I have listened to all of them! A new narrator is like Weird Al chosen to do voice work for Darth Vader!

That being said it was like a new pair of boots, put it on at first it was hard to move and rubbed me the wrong way but a few chapters in they were comfy as a second skin (is that comfortable, not sure but sound good like TJ Clark's voice).

I beleive this is second book surpasses the first Tallow Jones book. Now that the characters are developed it opened up a great world for them to roam and cover people in awakenings! It's a very fun read and we have a few new characters to round out the world!

You should definitely give this a listen if for no other reason then to loose your self in a fun tale of manic murder and the wizard of mysteries!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I want to go on an adventure with these characters

I always feel at home with Trevor's characters. They are nice, intelligent people who love each other. That doesn't stop them from giving each other constant shipt. This book built nicely on the camaraderie of the first while moving through a new adventure and expanding the 'family'. I listened to it all in one sitting. Ok, maybe a couple of interruptions for skype meetings. ...stupid corporate status meetings, interrupting my... Whatever, buy this book and book 1 if you haven't. Then buy the Moonrat saga. You'll get lost and you won't regret it.

BTW... there is a new reader. I was indignant for about 5 minutes, then completely forgot until I was writing this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful