The Bucktown Babies

Father Gunter, Demon Hunter, Book 1

By: Janine R. Pestel

Narrated by: John H. Fehskens

Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

This audiobook is a must-hear for anyone who is a fan of Supernatural.

A former priest and demon hunter, Father Gunter is a demon's worst nightmare. But even he will need help to destroy the demons that threaten the small farming community of Bucktown. When he sees a news broadcast about tragic events taking place in the town, he realizes he has work to do.

Along the way, help arrives - but from an unexpected source. Will it be enough to see the demon hunter through the final showdown with evil?

©2017 Janine R. Pestel (P)2017 Janine R. Pestel

Gunter, There Is No H

I started out a little hesitant to jump on board the Gunter and Robert train as this style of story is either hit or miss, many being miss. I find the humorous demon hunting books are usually my favorite and this wasn’t funny in the least. I also like exceptionally unique stories, didn’t think this story was all that different other than this being about baby killers. I also really like strong main characters who have a dark mysterious past, Gunter is an ex-priest who is in search of his sister, kinda plain. Despite all of this I really thought the story worked. Yes, there are aspects I would have preferred to be better or different but in the end I liked it and am excited to listen to the next chapter.
I have to say other than I would have preferred a bit more backstory on Gunter and just more to him overall, my only complaint was some of the dialogue. From time to time I felt that some of it was filler and was just stating the obvious when no dialogue was needed. Almost like the nervous person who keeps talking when they don’t need to. It wasn’t terrible by any means but here and there I found myself wondering why they said what they did or if that was truly something that character would say.
The narrator did a great job. Took a bit for me to get into his Gunter voice but I really liked Robert’s. Sounded a little like the motel owner but all of his voices were great. There were a couple times within his narration where he embellished a bit, not that noticeable but I felt it really made a big difference in building a connection to the characters. Really happy that he is going to be doing more of the series.
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

So many errors!

Just a little bit of research would have save this book from mediocrity. This writer apparently has never watched bones or any of similar dramas – a corner is not the same thing as a medical examiner! If two people are talking, they’re talking between themselves not among themselves. I could go on and on with all of the errors like “he leered down the alley“ when he was looking for the muscle car. Learing, connotes some kind of sexual or otherwise unwanted attention. Did she mean “peering“? On and on and on. Wrong verbs are used, we have a former priest who uses profanity especially “GD“; against so many errors it’s hard to pay attention to the story. Somethings are done very well but for this reader, the errors overshadow everything else. From the beginning this was very difficult to not delete from my phone. I don’t think I’ll continue this series.

A Good Paranormal Story

This book is about an ex-priest,Gunter, who is hunting demons. He lost his sister to demons and is looking for her. He was led to Bucktown due to the unexpected deaths of babies and the unusually high amount of miscarriages. This is a good good vs evil book. The local priest assists Gunter in his quest. It has thins everyone would enjoy...humor, mystery, suspense. I would like for it to have been a little longer but it was still a good book. When I get into a good book I hate for it to end. Gunter and the towns priest does use some colorful language which is a surprise. But it didn't bother me. Overall the story is good. The characters well developed. If you like the genre then you will like this book. Can't wait for the rest of the series.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Good story

A demon hunting ex-priest and a coroner make for an interesting team to battle the supernatural. Miscarriages and S.I.D.S. cases bring the duo together to investigate and rid the trouble from Bucktown. The characters are likable and interesting. I was impressed with the author’s knowledge of HIPAA. Not to many fiction authors think to add modern day healthcare compliance and privacy requirements to their stories! The storyline and descriptions were good. I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Great Read

The Bucktown Babies: Father Gunter, Demon Hunter Supernatural Thriller Book One was a good read by Janine R. Pestel. Father Gunter is a former priest who has become a demon hunter. There are demons that are threatening a small farming community with deaths of small babies. Father Gunter finds help where he didn't expect it. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more in this series.

Friends don't let friends go to Hell

This was an entertaining book, but nothing really new about it. You have a fairly stereotypical MC in (Former) Father Johann Gunter. Johann has left the priesthood after his sister is taken by a Demon. It is now Johann's goal in life to find her and bring her back. If his goal just happens to bring him in contact with other Demons and their victims, he will definitely take them on.

If you are a longtime reader or watcher of this genre, you won't find anything that is that new of different, but I still found it entertaining. Johann sees a news story on a local news broadcast that alerts him to a rash of babies dying due to SIDs and a lot of miscarriages in the small town of Bucktown. He immediately realizes that a Demon is responsible and heads to Bucktown. Without giving too much of the story away, he meets with another Priest and his brother, the local Coroner, and they work together to kill the Demon responsible. Add in a pregnant woman used to bait the Demon, a phantom Dodge Charger (black of course) that tries to kill Johann along the way and some creepy happenings in the morgue and you have an enjoyable book.

The narrator does a good job, but I admit that his pronunciation of "Johann" got on my nerves for some reason. I have always heard it as "Yohan", not "Joehan". Probably just me! Also, sometimes it sounded like he was calling him "John". One problem I had with the writing style was that the MC was sometimes called Father Gunter and sometimes Johann. It was almost like the author was reminding the reader that he used to be a priest. All in all, this was a good beginning to what could be a great series. Time and further books will tell!

I was given the opportunity to listen to the Audible version of this book by the author/narrator/publisher and chose to review it.

book 1 of the Father Gunter books

I have actually listened to a couple of other Father Gunter book and enjoyed them. This book is no different. In this book I found out how Father Gunter met Robert (Bob).

Janine Pastel has a great series on her hands, if you like demon hunter stories. John H Fehskens does a great job of bringing the story to life as well.

I received this audio book at my request and chose to leave this review.

It Kind Of Reads Like A TV Show.

“The Bucktown Babies” is about a demon hunting, ex-priest named Gunter, who really wants to find his sister and the demon who took her. Gunter soon finds himself in Bucktown, a place filled with an abnormal amount of miscarriages and S.I.D.S. cases. Having determined the cause to be supernatural in origin, Gunter soon finds himself teaming up with the Bucktown coroner to put a stop to the suffering.

While listening to this audiobook, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the long-running TV show, “Supernatural.” For me, that was not a bad thing. Overall, I found the “The Bucktown Babies” likable and interesting. The narrator, John H. Fehskens, didn’t really grab me at first, but he eventually won me over somewhere along the line before the story ended. I look forward to checking out book two since it’s also available.

Finally, I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Pretty good

There were some predictable moments and a lot seemed to be taken from a supernatural episode.
Still it was a pretty good story & I want to know what happens next.
Narration was excellent.
I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from the publisher/author but voluntarily give my honest review.

nice story with some demons and supernatural stuff

Since the sub-title has the word supernatural and the whole story sounds like it could be an episode of Supernatural, I'll assume the author likes that show. This is a good demon story and it's written well. I liked the length, allowed me to get it and move on, though I wouldn't get upset if the author created more in this series.
All in all, a fun book.

I requested this copy of the audiobook and have voluntarily left this review

There is no 'h', it's Gunter.

The idea behind this book is promising: a priest turned demon hunter after his sister is snatched away by supernatural forces. The ex-cleric promises his absent sister he will find her and bring her back. Sadly, however, both this story and the writing are both too simplistic and,repititious. The characters have no depth, the terrors too banal. And the fearless demon hunter does seem singularly unaware of what is happening around him. In a town where suddenly close on forty infant deaths and miscarriages have occurred over the recent two week period in a small town, it doesn't seem to occur to him to look more closely a the newly arrived doctor, one of only two, the other having been with the hospital for years when no such incidents had occured. Mmm. He's a big vague on all things demon, too.
A constant repetition of "What the hell" does not add to any shreds of suspense, which was presumably, the intention.

Narrator John H Fehskens has a warm, deep voice which is fitting for the subject and, given a better text would probably have given a good performance, but the text is naive so his slow and careful delivery comes over as ponderous. Turning the speed to 1.2 helps.

I received Bucktown Babies as a complimentary gift from the right's holder, via Audiobook Boom. My thanks for that. A good idea which failed.