Wizard for Hire

By: Obert Skye

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Fourteen-year-old Ozzy lives near Portland, Oregon, and is desperate for help. His scientist parents have been kidnapped after discovering a formula that enables mind control. Their work was so top secret that Ozzy is afraid to go to the police, but without help, he fears he'll never find his parents. Then he stumbles across a classified ad in the local newspaper that says "Wizard for Hire. Call 555-SPEL." Ozzy has read about wizards in books like Harry Potter, but wizards couldn't actually exist today, could they? After Ozzy meets the wizard Labyrinth - a.k.a. Rin - he's even more skeptical.

Sure, Rin dresses like a wizard, but the short robe and high-top tennis shoes seem unorthodox, as does Rin's habit of writing notes on his shoes and eating breakfast for every meal. Plus, Rin doesn't even cast any magic spells, which means that the unexplained coincidences that start happening around Ozzy are just that - coincidences.

With the help of a robotic talking raven invented by Ozzy's father, a kind and curious girl at school who decides to help Ozzy, and of course, a self-proclaimed wizard who may or may not have a magical wand, Ozzy begins an unforgettable quest that will lead him closer to the answers he desperately seeks about his missing parents.

©2018 Obert Skye (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good Story

Everything was GREAT & read well EXCEPT the yelling!!! Why all the yelling? Blew our ear drums out!

sorry but no

Not a fan of this book. The narration was great but the story was just depressing. You think that it is a fantasy but really it's the story of a sad man leading a young boy around with the promise of magic that will never come and an end result that is just melancholy as hell. The main character is in a bad way and the only person he has to rely on is a delusional man/ deadbeat dad who makes up a fantasy world to escape his crappy life and the fact that his wife left him. Maybe I'm just projecting my own disgust at deadbeat dads seeingbas mine was never there but this book just makes me mad.

Intriguing Magical Twist

Initially this novel has a slow pace and I was unsure about the plot or to even continue but the story eventually builds up to a powerful mystery and the ending is highly satisfying! The narrator grew on me but he was not my favorite. His Clark voice was my favorite.

Bought this book because of the narrator!

So, we totally bought this book because we love Kirby Heyborne and the summary sounded interesting so we figured we couldn't go wrong with it. I listened with my 10, 13, and 14 year old children and we thoroughly enjoyed the book! I will agree with some of the other reviews that there doesn't seem to be much fantasy in this story... The wizard, Ren, comes off more crazy than magical yet the wacky guy seems to have incredible luck too. Just be prepared for this story to be more realistic mystery and adventure than fantasy and you won't be disappointed. We all cringed as Ozzy learned to be around people and we found ourselves completely invested in the story. We're on to book two and can't wait to see what happens next!

It's got to be a joke

The first 2 hours were so bad that I had to finish the book just to see if I was being had. So close to the Oregon coast at Otter Rock that he doesn't see anyone or hear the Pacific Coast Highway for years? He talks as if he was only away from people for summer vacation; and he perceives things so well that his miss on the value of a $100 bill seems weird. What does a Hogwarts sandcastle look like? Where did that fast freight train from Otter Rock to California come from? How do you pronounce Willamette? And that birthmark? These and other questions remain unanswered - driving me to go on to the next book and more bad literature.

!!!!!!STOP YELLING!!!!!!

This had the potential to be very enjoyable read. Much witty humor, as well as some blunt force trauma humor, was interspersed throughout the story. BUT ALL THE CHARACTERS CONTINUALLY YELLED AT RANDOM INTERVALS WITH ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANTIAL OR EMOTIONAL MOTIVATION MUCH OF THE TIME. It produced a mental picture of Japanese anime or manga, where the drawn character's face instantaneously changes from normal to tight eyed all open mouth fits of rage. Indeed, the story almost seemed like the author was trying to create a verbal anime. Unfortunately, the narrator did all too good a job of reproducing the auditory equivalent . . .

Fun story, but gets too loud

Loved the book, but the volume change during yelling made it uncomfortable with headphones. Otherwise, fantastic!

Book= good, audible version= bad

I read this book and it was amazing 🤩 so I was excited to listen to it. WARNING THIS BOOK IS SUPER LOUD THE NARRATOR ACTUALLY YELLS WHEN THE CHARACTERS YELL!!!!!!

Hidden gem!

This was free on audible and I thought I'd give it a try because I love magic / fantasy books. It was completely not what I expected but the story was wonderful. The narrator did a great job on the different characters and I felt that the story was very rich and had good character development. There is very little to no magic so don't be surprised by that. I will definitely be reading the sequels to this book!

Great but too loud

I thought Wizard for a Hire was a very good book and the only thing I could possibly say was wrong with it is that sometimes the narrator got really loud and then really quiet so it’s kind of hard to keep up.

Was pleasantly surprised

I ran out of books, this was free. I wasn't expecting much but it sounded interesting. After starting the book, I was after a single chapter dragged in by the intrigue of the books storyline and the style of writing. The character progression and development in line with the story created a connection to the characters. Thoroughly enjoyed it, starting book 2 after this review and book 3 is in my wishlist for after that.

Brilliant Story!

A few subtle little Diskworld references, which I loved! very well written story - had me constantly wondering what happens next. Really fell in love with the characters, and the narration was absolutely spot on!

Brilliant

It’s aimed at a younger audience but at 65 I found it highly entertaining. The character of ‘The Wizard’ is fabulous, I found myself chuckling a lot. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed. It would make a great film.

Unexpected gem

Listen to this as I run out of credit, it was free. I was pleasantly surprised, and now listening to the second book

brilliant

brilliant but unusual fantastic book I thoroughly enjoyed this book just hope the other two are just as good

I loved it so much I cried!

Review from my 10 year old so n.
He adored it. Headline says it all.

Excellent Audiobook. A great listen

excellent Audiobook, full of adventure. excellent storyline. Great author. Great narration. I'm on to book two now see ya..

A really good story I was so sad for it to finish

loved it
it was so interesting I recommend this book if you like Harry Potter.

A delightful listen

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It was brilliantly narrated and it made me laugh. So pleased I added it to my library, it was just what I needed. thank you

Soooo good😭

I was crying when his (spoiler alert)











When his parents got kidnapped it was soooo sad but I stopped when Clark woke up but anyway love this