The Necromancer's Smile

By: Lisa Oliver

Narrated by: John York

Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

Detective Dakar Rhodes is an alpha wolf shifter who's short on sleep and patience. Called to yet another crime scene, definitely the work of a serial killer, he's shocked to learn the Pedace Police Department has a necromancer as a consultant. Considering he'd moved to Pedace because of the lack of a coven in the area, he wasn't pleased with the new development. His previous dealings with magic users never ended well. But when ordered to show the consultant the respect befitting his position, Dakar bites his tongue and longs for a swift conclusion to the case. 

Necromancer Prince Sebastian York, or Sy to his friends, has a real issue with people. He doesn't like or trust them, but because of his position, he has to deal with them. Dead people are so much easier - at least they don't want anything from him. But Sy has been raised to do his duty and when he's called to a crime scene, he doesn't expect anything much to happen beyond talking to a few spirits. The last thing he thought he'd find is a wolf shifter claiming to be his mate. 

One short meeting has a wealth of repercussions. Finding a serial killer is easy; coping with relationships is anything but. Demons, journalists, long-held grudges, and a familiar with loyalty issues all combine to make for a hectic time. It's a case of one step forward, two steps back for Dakar and Sy, but when evil comes calling will they be able to rely on each other for a chance at an HEA? 

This story is the first in a planned trilogy for our two main characters. A complete story, the epilogue does set the scene for book two, but this can be read as a standalone. This book contains a few intimate situations suitable for adults only and is M/M. Some graphic violence.

©2018 Lisa Oliver (P)2018 Lisa Oliver

Ok story made worse with narration

I’m just going to cut to the chase, the narrator makes this story difficult to finish. I can’t count the number of times I found myself wishing I had read this instead of grabbing it on Audible. At least then, words would have been pronounced correctly and pauses would have followed punctuation and normal speech patterns. The intonation in the various voices slipped at times and between the odd pauses, it sometimes became difficult to know which character was speaking.

Aside from the narration, I found this story just okay. I liked the concept but I felt the characters were a bit all over the place. The innocence of the necromancer is contradicted with a confident magic user. Okay, it could work, except the immaturity in jumping to conclusions in his relationship doesn’t mesh with his immediate acceptance of a situation after the miscommunication. While we might see self reflection and growth, very late in the under devolved wolf-mate, we don’t see the same with the me romancer. As to the other MC, it’s like there are bits of cliches pulled from the trope but it doesn’t quite work. It’s almost as if the thought to write it in was, “oh, this is a good time to show he’s protective so let’s put him snarling in here.” Yet the danger has passed or, during the epilogue, he was the one knocked his mate to the ground.

The idea for this book was solid and the author should get props for wrapping up the details of the story. It’s just too bad this narrator has convinced me not to listen to any other by him and with the narrator making this a hard “read” the just okay story doesn’t encouraging me to go purchase the Kindle edition either. Perhaps I’d try book 2 if it were on Kindle Unlimited but it’s not. I am left a little disappointed because I really do love series books like this with magic and mystery and a little romance. -apologies for any typing errors, I’m writing this on my phone.

2 people found this helpful

good book

loved it nice easy listening had a good story behind it I can't wait to start the next book

Buy a vowel!

The narrator has an unremarkable voice and frequently mispronounces common words. He ignores O's and U's replacing them and many other vowels with the soft A sound.

The story is creative but predictable and under developed.

I love it, great narrator

loved it, great storyline and characters. I can't wait for the next installment of the series. I highly recommend this story.

Compelling listen

Book one in a new trilogy, The Necromancer with social anxiety and the police wolf shifter with a distrust of magic users. Fated mates. Whatever could go wrong. Add in a Demon with evil intent in charge of the police department and you have exciting shenanigans.
John York does a fine job of making all of the characters recognizable and individual adding something extra to the book I read.