The Regional Office Is Under Attack!

A Novel

By: Manuel Gonzales

Narrated by: Sarah Scott, Natasha Soudek, Susan Hanfield, Mike Chamberlain

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

In a world beset by amassing forces of darkness, one organization - the Regional Office - and its coterie of superpowered female assassins protects the globe from annihilation. At its helm, the mysterious Oyemi and her oracles seek out new recruits and root out evil plots. Then a prophecy suggests that someone from inside might bring about its downfall. And now the Regional Office is under attack.

Recruited by a defector from within, Rose is a young assassin leading the attack, eager to stretch into her powers and prove herself on her first mission. Defending the Regional Office is Sarah, who may or may not have a mechanical arm and is fiercely devoted to the organization that took her in as a young woman in the wake of her mother's sudden disappearance. On the day that the Regional Office is attacked, Rose's and Sarah's stories will overlap, their lives will collide, and the world as they know it just might end.

Weaving in a brilliantly conceived mythology, fantastical magical powers, teenage crushes, and kinetic fight scenes, The Regional Office Is Under Attack! is a seismically entertaining debut novel about revenge and allegiance and love.

Read by Sarah Scott, Natasha Soudek, Susan Hanfield, and Mike Chamberlain.

©2016 Manuel Gonzales (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Funny, fun, exciting.

I’m not sure why I chose this audiobook. I think I saw it on a “good audiobook performances” list. But, damn, am I glad I took a chance on this! Nice performances from all narrators and the story is awesome.

The story jumps around through time, mostly focusing on two extraordinary women and their connection to the mysterious, world saving, organisation The Regional Office. We learn about the rise and fall of that super powered organisation.

Awesome!

I haven't finished a book in 2 day in a long time.
The Author does a great job of pulling you in with a unique style of story telling. I don't want to give anything away, other than I was very entertained. This is a rock solid first novel from Gonzales and IMO it's a must read. Congratulation Mr. Gonzales, I look forward to your next release.
Tim.

I was great, and then it just ended...

It was excellent and then it stopped, as if the Final Chapter was excluded. I was sad.

Wow Fantastic

I loved it. The story was good and engaging. I had a hard time putting it down. The narrators did a fantastic job!

it was ok

I found the story structure a bit hard to follow at times. It was interesting enough to finish tho

Just Wow!!!

This story was so wonderfully different! The characters are fresh and new! Movie would be awesome!

Super Fun!

What did you love best about The Regional Office Is Under Attack!?

I typically listen to audiobooks while I'm walking. I am usually a runner, but due to a knee injury I have been only able to walk and walking by itself, gets rather boring when you're used to running or lifting super heavy, but life happens. I saw that I could do a free month of Audible and have two free audiobooks right off, so I decided to give them another try, even though I had been 100% certain they were just not for me.

This one, along with the sixth book in Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series has completely changed my mind and made me actually look forward to what I considered pretty boring hour long to two hour long walks around the park because it's my "audiobook time," as well.
(quick aside ends here, and the review starts now of the above was tl;dr)

This book in particular was hysterical! I loved all of the characters (well, started to hate a few but in a fun way towards the end) and kept wanting to go back down to the park to listen to it more. Finally, after my insomnia hit tonight, I decided to finish listening to it and gosh, I'm so glad this was one of my choices for May to listen to! So funny and perfectly on point action. No gratuitous violence or sex but for those like my mom who find a ton of swearing off-putting, you probably will not enjoy listening to this. But, if you love comics, assassins, oracles & secret corporations, grab this one to listen to! You won't regret it! I definitely recommend it to those who listen to books while doing something active, though sitting quietly while listening is also super fun, it's just a book that is even more thoroughly enjoyed if you're working out while listening to it!

5/5 stars. Narration was perfect; I listened to it at 1.25x speed which was probably the best speed for the narrators.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sarah; because she has life hit her silly a lot and I relate to that.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Timing. Most of the jokes are witty verbal ones that require pitch-perfect timing, and the narrators brought that out. Plus, I was able to more fully immerse in the story because it felt like someone was literally telling me what they and others had just gone through. Sarah is who it felt like was telling the entire story, even other people's parts.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really, but there were quite a few laugh out loud moments where I knew I probably looked weird to others, walking round the park giggling to myself- it's why I was grateful I had huge headphones on, too!

Any additional comments?

I am very happy that this was one of my first audiobooks to listen to in full. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

Multiple narrators and storylines

I love a book where the chapters alternate between different narrators/characters. I also love a book where the chapters alternate between two different timelines (past and present). However, this book does both. There are multiple narrators and the chapters also take place in different times. I guess this MIGHT work in a book, but this is so incredibly confusing for an audiobook. Another result of this storytelling process is that the plot moves so slowly. The book starts with an attack on the regional office. Five hours in the chapters about the present are still in the early battle scenes of the attack.
Additionally, the main character Rose has a super immature internal dialogue. I am no prude, but I think that swearing should be somewhat meaningful, not used for constant fillers.
Overall, this book has a good premise, but is confusing and would be better suited for young adults.

Natasha Soudek Nailed It!!

What did you like best about this story?

This was better than his "Miniature Wife" stories.
Great story, solid pacing, EXCELLENT new narrator Natasha Soudek on the scene!

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I considered getting the ebook, but am so glad I got the audiobook because I found Natasha Soudek (who reads the From the regional office chapters). I'm now going to hunt down everything else she has done is Sci-Fi. Mike Chamberlain is also great as always.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I listen to Sci-Fi, I don't cry. Except when zombies or aliens attack babies. :)

Fun listen!

I didn't have a problem with the timeline and found the story fun and engaging. I still had questions at the end but I think it wrapped up nicely. Very good and entertaining!