The Streets of Floria

By: J.B. Arnold

Narrated by: Danni Deguire

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The City of Floria has a tragic history. Something haunts its streets, something dark, something evil. For centuries, thousands of peasants and merchants have vanished without a trace, with no explanation or motive. Out of fear, the port’s inhabitants have never investigated what is happening, merely accepting this curse that plagues their city. Not until a troubled man running from his past calls the forsaken city his new home. After a brief, terrifying encounter, he is forced to face his own demons in order to keep any sense of sanity. Once the probing begins, and discoveries are made, he joins some new friends on a quest to solve the mystery: the mystery of The Streets of Floria.

©2023 J B Arnold (P)2024 J B Arnold

Beautiful and haunting

My first J.B. Arnold book was an instant hit. I absolutely loved the setting and the story. Arnold has the wonderful power of making you fall in love with the characters and dread what could happen to them.
This story was beautifully written. Hands down, and amazing read.

Thank you J.B. Arnold for giving me an Audible code to listen to this masterpiece

Great story with fantastic narration.

The story is well-written! J.B. does a great job making you feel like you’re on the streets in Floria with his world building. He crafted characters that you invest in and care about. I can see myself listening to this story again. The narration is wonderful!

Floria, a uniquely sinister city

JB Arnold creates a unique and sinister city of Floria and what hunts within. Tales of ports and merchants can be a little difficult for me to get into the world, especially when being told more than shown elements of the world and characters. The romantic relationship between two main characters felt a bit rushed and thin which contributed to the difficulties I had in the story nabbing me at the beginning. I listened to the audiobook and think that next time I will try immersing myself in a physical/ebook copy. Arnold puts a lot of heart and detail into his work, and I look forward to checking out more!

Dark Fantasy mixed with Horror

Odin is just trying to escape his tragic past by going to Floria. Once he arrives, he meets a beautiful young woman who offers him room at her family's tavern and he thinks that maybe he has found a place to begin a new life.

However, one night walking home in a dark alley after taking his friend, Simon, home, he encounters a horrible beast that terrifies him and changes his life. Determined to find out more about what he has seen, he begins to question the locals and learns that this being has been terrorizing the town for years and is known by several names. After generations of people going missing, nobody seems to know much about it.

The book starts off as a dark fantasy, set in a medieval-type town complete with Lords of the manor. The world building is great and the author has done a great job in writing a detailed description of the area. There is a bit of romance, friendship, grief and abuse of power along the way as the story slowly builds.

The horrors are pretty descriptive and the villain is wonderfully cruel, so even though the book felt more fantasy than horror, there was enough gruesomeness to keep the horror-lovers interest. I would like to know more about Odin's part in this tale and the author has left the ending open enough for a possible sequel.

The narrator was perfect for the book and added a lot to my enjoyment. All in all, this was a well-written and entertaining book and I look forward to more from this author.