The Golden One - Deceit

By: Hans M. Hirschi

Narrated by: Vance Bastian

Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The global Ohana is planning for the transition of power, and its head, Dawit Abraham, is anxious to meet the golden one. Shortly after, Jason begins to experience strange dreams. All the while, he and his four friends are trying to figure out why Mother sent the golden one to Amberville. Powerful enemies lurk in the shadows, ready to make Jason’s existence a living hell.

Don’t miss the continuation of the thrilling fantasy trilogy about 17-year-old Jason Mendez, aka the golden one, as he navigates the shoals of deception of the people supposedly closest to him.

The Golden One is an exciting fantasy trilogy dealing with urgent topics affecting humanity today.

©2019 Hans M Hirschi (P)2019 Hans M Hirschi

Exciting, Poignant and Magical!!

Magically transportive! Hans Hirschi finds a beautiful way of sharing a story of the world in which we live and the very real environmental and human struggles we are facing! The very relatable world created in the novel draws you in, transporting you into a journey of mystery, excitement and beauty. Developed complex characters allow anyone the ability relate and understand, while being taken on a Captivating and enlightened adventure. The Audio Book is narrated by Vance Bastian who breaths life and personality into these wonderful characters! I can't wait for the 3rd installment of the Golden One!
-NB

Not a sagging middle book (an audio review)

Vance Bastian's narration deserves a call-out. The main protagonist in the story in a seventeen-year-old boy and Vance’s performance as Jason was perfect. Never once did I not believe I was listening to a young man. There were also quite a few teenagers, their animal selves, adult men and women as well as several older characters. Vance handled them all brilliantly. It was a seamless and beautiful performance.

Now to the actual book. As with the first Golden One book, I enjoyed it immensely. The creativity involved in writing a Young Adult fantasy novel is tremendous and I’m always impressed when a writer gets it right, as Mr. Hirschi did. This book is an example of when the global goes local. The world we live in and the world Jason inhabits are the same – and is on the same destructive path. Human are ravaging the earth, plundering her precious resources, polluting her, and general abusing her. And her animals? The number of animals who are likely to go extinct this century is staggering – all because of human greed and avarice. Humans are the dominant species so we believe we can act with impunity, ruling the animal kingdom, and destroying any animals who get in our way.

This book centers around Jason Mendez. He’s almost eighteen, a senior in high school, and the anointed leader of all Byeonsin in the world. The Byeonsin are humans who can transform into animals. In the first book, Jason was given the ability to become a butterfly. He’s not just any butterfly, though. He’s the golden butterfly. Golden Butterflies are extremely rare and only appear when humankind is on the precipice of making a grave mistake. In the past, these appearances have been around upcoming war or mass slaughter and although Jason might be on earth to make that kind of save, it appears he might also have more to do with Mother Earth than her residents.

As the leader of the Byeonsin, he is also the natural leader of the Ohana. The Ohana are the executives of the Byeonsin and have formed an international association as a way to cover their meetings – putting out in the open what had once been secret. The world at large still has no knowledge of the Byeonsin or the Ohana. Because of Jason, the leadership of the Ohana is leaving a major African city and is moving to his small midwestern town of Amberville. He assumes he will have some form of involvement but there are forces conspiring against him. Suddenly his reason for being isn’t so clear.

With the help of his friends Laurel, Dinesh, Hannah, and Peter, Jason must discover his true purpose to save Mother Earth before it’s too late. This book ends of a massive cliffhanger but I loved that because I know there’s a final book coming shortly. Fingers crossed it will be out on audio soon as well. Again, as much as I enjoyed the first book, I enjoyed this one as well and can recommend it.