The Spirit Key

By: Parker Williams

Narrated by: Collin Darcy

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's Summary

When he was eight years old, Scott Fogel died. Paramedics revived him, but he came back changed. Ghosts and spirits tormented Scott for over a decade until, thinking he was going mad, he did the only thing he could. 

He ran - leaving behind his best friend, Tim Jennesee. 

Scott’s had five normal, ghost-free years in Chicago, when the spirit of Tim’s mother comes to him and begs him to go home because Tim’s in trouble and needs him. 

He isn’t prepared for what he finds when he goes home - a taller and sexier Tim, but a Tim who hasn’t forgiven Scott for abandoning him…a Tim whose body is no longer his own. The ghost of a serial murderer has attached itself to Tim, and it’s whispering dark and evil things. It wants Tim to kill, and it’s becoming harder for Tim to resist. To free the man who has always meant so much to him, Scott must unravel the mystery of the destiny he shares with Tim.

©2019 Dreamspinner Press (P)2019 Dreamspinner Press

Guilt Complex meets abusive relationship

This is one of those romances which seem to be fine for some, but rub other the wrong way - very much so for me.

I have been in similar situations to Tim - and I think they had much less justification.
And if I acted like Tim, I would be utterly ashamed of being such a pathetic piece of self centered garbage.
If their first sex is supposed to be hot and emotionally charged and a bit kinky for the borderline BDSM-ish elements, I really did not find it to be so - I found it utterly messed up.
And no, the narrator telling you he actually really liked it does not really make it much better.

Maybe I should have taken a warning from the description, as I generally am not too fond of narratives that focus on the protagonist's guilt, but this certainly went a lot farther down the drain than I would have expected.

Maybe the author ends up salvaging some of it, but I frankly have lost any interest to find out by this point.

I am also rather sick of the whole "you do not understand how I feel!" spiel.
If you belief that, then you as a writer are in the wrong profession.
And if it is taken as a justification to act out instead of trying to be reasonable and maybe TALK things out, I cannot help but find it rather toxic.

Don't glorify abusive behavior - and no, someone feeling angry, however justified, doesn't somehow make that right.

The worst narration I've ever heard. DNF.

This is the first time I've ever left a review for a book I couldn't finish but I felt obligated to warn everyone against the narration of this book. It was horrible. Mid sentence pauses, no pauses after sentences, monotone droll. I got the impression narrator was simply doing a job, not enjoying the job he did. I lasted an hour into the book before I couldn't stand it any more. I gave the story 4 stars based on what little I heard, the book description and the author. I am a fan of Parker Williams and fan of psychic genre. I'm really disappointed I can't tolerate this one.

very disappointed

the story was awesome but the narration was horrible. at some points it felt like he was reading for a nursery school class. perhaps he'd be better in a different genre.

Not the Best Writing, Decent Narration

I was excited to read this book after I stumbled across the book blurb. The book sounded like a fun paranormal thriller with romance and sexual tension. However, it turned out to be a letdown. I normally have no problem with first person narrative, but this book made the first person point-of-view painful. It just didn’t work. Too many times Scotty was telling and explaining the story to the reader, instead of having the reader experience the story with him. These long-winded explanations left the story bogged down and ruined the momentum and pacing of the plot. I also had a hard time believing Tim and Scotty were in love or were even best friends. The only way I knew they had such a deep relationship was because Scotty (and everyone) kept telling me that they did. But their actions towards each other were confusing and inconsistent. I also thought the forced explanation for what a Lock and Key were, and how they are trained was just plain silly and weak. This book has a lot of potential, but it needs to be revamped.

The audiobook was fine, but the choice of voice for Tim was not to my liking. Collin Darcey does a good job with keeping all the character voices consistent, and he narrates the story well.

Enjoyable Story

Enjoyable story that is well written with likeable characters.  Narration is good though not to my taste.

spirited narration

I love Parker William’s writing. There is always a bitter sweet element that draws me to the characters. In Spirit Key we have Scott and Tim who with a little nudge find each other again. Together they try to understand why they have been chosen and how to cope with their roles. So many feels for both of them for different reasons.
Colin Carcy is a new narrator to me and I think he knocked it out of the park. Great characterisation and he kept the pace up in the story. He added depth and personality to make the characters easily identifiable. I will certainly look out for more by him.