Veiled

An Alex Verus Novel

By: Benedict Jacka

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

Alex Verus is a mage who can see the future, but even he couldn't have seen this day coming. Alex has agreed to join the Keepers, the magical police force, to protect his friends from his old master, the Dark mage Richard Drakh.

Going legit was always going to be difficult for an outcast like Alex, and there are those in the Keepers who aren't keen to see an ex-Dark mage succeed. Especially when Dark mages are making a play for a seat on the council for the first time in history.

Alex finally has the law on his side - but trapped between Light and Dark politics, investigating a seedy underworld with ties to the highest of powers, will a badge be enough to save him?

©2015 Benedict Jacka (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

" Fated is an excellent novel, a gorgeously realised world with a uniquely powerful, vulnerable protagonist. Books this good remind me why I got into the storytelling business in the first place." (Jim Butcher on Fated)

"Jacka puts other urban fantasists to shame.... A stellar blend of thoughtful philosophy and explosive action." ( Publishers Weekly on Chosen)

"Harry Dresden would like Alex Verus tremendously - and be a little nervous around him. I just added Benedict Jacka to my must-read list." (Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files)

Friggin' love this series. Obsessed.

Love the stories and colorful characters.

The narrator is king - LOVE HIM ! Highly recommend this entire series to anyone interested in being hooked with a new story !!

⚠️Trigger warning needed for certain aspect ⚠️

Hot off devouring Dresden I stumbled across Alex & his friends and whilst Gildart isn't Marsters and at times narration does suffer, I enjoyed the series so far, That was until mention of White Rose and as a PTSD suffer, I feel that really needed some kind of trigger warning. Whilst I am invested in the main 5 characters, I found this book quiet hard.

Don’t get distracted by the politics!

Previous reviews have focused on the political overview of this story - don’t. As I’m writing this, it’s a few days before the USA Election, trump is currently the sitting president. (October 2020). I figure that the politics of the past 4 years has influenced their thinking and closed their minds to this novel because of it.

Put all of that out of your mind. The politics here is not that deep and seriously drives the story only as a background to the actionable adventure (& gives an insight to all of the double crossing and backbiting that must take place in every political arena).

This, more than anything, is another Great story about the combination of ingenuity, skill and divination that Alex is called upon to use, just to stay alive! Close calls & sharp, quick thinking!

I’m enjoying this world.

Mid-season filler

Think this book was a tad slower than the previous, or at least I seemed to fall asleep more often. Could of skipped 10 hrs and just played the last few minutes.
Let’s see if the next one keeps me awake.

politics and human weakness

Delving further into a world of magic practitioners to discover despite their powers the normal human failings still sour the mix. Excellent story and delivered really well.

Become a dull political police procedural

I was very disappointed in this book, the first one in the series I've not really enjoyed. It had confusing political machinations - so confusing that many times all the characters had to have it explained to them... again. When exposition is needed there's something wrong with the plot.

Still, I enjoyed the book before this so much that I'll listen to another. The writing is smooth, characters till now have continued to develop and there's much to enjoy. This book however felt like a book that had been cobbled together from a space between where Alex was end of book 5 and where - perhaps - the author is going for book 7. Enjoyable enough though

Getting better and better

whilst the earlier books have been quite action packed and straight forward, this is a fantastic dive into the politics and manoeuvres of the various factions in verus world. very exciting and interesting!

Alex Verus goes to the dark err light side.

A bit if a change for Verus but definitely shows Jacka has big plans for the long suffering Mage.

Can't wait for next book

The series has been excellent and I've enjoyed every book. Complex plots, endless twists and turns, and believable characters in spite of being (contemporary) magicians.

Develops the plot and sets up further sequels

This is a good middle-of-the-series book and develops the characters and relationships in interesting ways.

The narration is expressive and engaging which I enjoyed, though I'm not sure about Luna's accent!

In summary - good fun!

Alex Verus gets even darker

In this book, the progression since the very first is marked at every level: the writing is very fast paced (when it Fated, although not bad at all, it seemed a bit awkward at times), the characters are well 'fleshed out' and have matured, the plot thickens ever more and even the narrator's style and voice has become deeper and darker.

The most accomplished volume of an already excellent series.