The Syndicate

Timewaves, Book 1

De: Sophie Davis

Narrado por: Andrea Harbin

In a future where time travel has been outlawed, a black market exists for anyone with the money, connections, and nerve to request items from days past. As a Runner for one of the underground syndicates that now controls the timewaves, Stassi 2446-89 has seen it all: the fall of Rome, the rise of Hitler, the end of democracy, the establishment of time tourism, and the devastating consequences of it. Her job is to seamlessly slip through the past, in search of items of value to the syndicate's clientele.

Stassi's next assignment takes her to Paris in the 1920s in search of a lost manuscript by one of the 20th century's greatest writers. She and her partner, Gaige, are swept up in the City of Light during the height of fashion and culture - as alluring a locale as they've ever visited. But a seedier side of life lurks beneath the glamorous facade, and the pair quickly learns this run is more dangerous than any of their previous missions.

Because history isn't playing out as it should be - a first for the syndicate. When the stakes are raised and it becomes a matter of life or death, Stassi and Gaige must ultimately decide how far they're willing to go to ensure the future as they know it.

©2016- Sophie Davis Books (P)2017 Sophie Davis

Very interesting story, not so great narration

I’m going to start off with a review of the story, because overall, I really did enjoy it quite a bit. It starts off at the end of a mission for Stassi and Gaige, and we get a feel for how they work as a team. Quickly moving into the next mission, things seem to slow down a bit, and we get a ton of detail of how the syndicate and the missions work, and it does tend to drag the story a bit. However, as the mysteries unfold, it sucks you in more and more.

There are three main plots circling each other in this book. The main being the mission to 1925 Paris to obtain a manuscript that has gone missing, and someone wealthy would like to get their hands on. It’s a lengthier mission than most, possibly lasting up to six weeks, and involves getting deeply embedded into the elite social circles of 1920s Paris, including with Ernest Hemingway and his wife. The second mystery that is tied in with this, is Stassi’s desire to learn more about her birth parents, since she was essentially orphaned at age 4, but a mysterious locket, and a picture that ties it to Paris in this time period, makes her want to pursue any possibly leads for more information. And the third main mystery revolves around a mysterious, seemingly undocumented serial killer terrorizing the area, who then turns his sights and obsessions onto Stassi. The three stories weave around each other nicely. We even get a sweet secondary romantic storyline that proves to be more than you think by the end. Definitely an interesting world, and very intriguing, the book itself really is quite good.

That said, the narration just isn’t up to par here. The narrator herself has a very clipped and robotic intonation, most of the time. There are actually times where she actually sounds natural, usually in spurts of dialogue here and there, but overall, it is very slow, and very robotic. I had the speed ratcheted up to 1.3x in order to get it to a pace that would allow me to continue to listen to the story that I was enjoying without being majorly distracted. She also mispronounced a number of things, including some historically important ones. Those were definitely a distraction. The audio quality here is also inconsistent. The volume and quality fluctuated quite a bit throughout the book, once again, causing a level of distraction to the story.

I’m not dinging the overall score of the review for the narration, but I do think this particular book in the series might be better if just read in ebook, or other written, form. The prequel was a different narrator, and it was good, and I see that the subsequent books in this series utilise a different narrator, so I’m hopeful that many of these issues will be resolved. I enjoyed the story, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of the series!

Good book

Good time travel story with an interesting plot and well written, characters. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Time Travel Mystery

I absolutely love Time travel novels and this is no exception . I have always wanted to go to Paris and this made me even more anxious to . The level of descriptions to detail is amazing . I didn't want it to end even after 20 hours . The narration was so so . Sometimes I felt it and sometimes I just didn't . I look forward to more from this author .

A Wonderful Twist!

The Time Syndicate by Sophie Davis and narrated by Andrea Harbin is the first book in The Timewave Series. I absolutely loved the storyline about being from the future and going back in time. Stassi is the main female character, who has had a hard childhood but makes it to becoming a Runner in the Atlic Syndicate. They go back in time to procure various items that are lost in history. The main "run" of this book is to procure a book that was never published after the authors death. However, when Stassi and her partner, Gage, land in 1925 Paris, something is VERY wrong. Follow all the twists and turns, from meeting Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and a cameo from Vincent Van Gogh, to outwitting a serial killer who isn't supposed to be there, and performing a jailbreak. All the while our heroine is losing her heart to someone who is a part of the past.
Would I listen to this book again? Probably not, simply because it is alot of information that you have to keep straight, and the narrators fumble of words was enough for one time. With that said, I absolutely LOVED the storyline and the way the author was able to stay true to historical facts and figures, while creating a totally unique story during and around such real people.
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes, because it is the beginning of what looks to be an amazing 5 book storyline, with a prequel that, while just a novella, gives you quite a bit of information about Stassi and just the tip of the iceberg on her boss, Cyrus Atlic. You get to know so much about our main characters in this book, and dip into Stassi's mind as she seeks out the truth.

Time travel gold

I love time travel books. This one had a big mystery entwined in it. Stassi goes back in time to retrieve a book but there’s a murderer getting in her way. Stassi is so clever and witty and there’s a sweet love story or two in the story. The narrator was not my favorite as she has a weird cadence but she was great at various character voices! There was a nice cliffhanger at the end... can’t wait to hear book 2!