THE MALEDICTION OF LLEWYN GLASS

The Malediction Of Llewyn Glass by Frank Reteguiz
A book in the American Lore series
Narrated by London Nix
Genre: paranormal thriller
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Malediction Of Llewyn Glass:

What Would You Sell Your Soul For?

On Halloween Eve, at America’s oldest pub, a strange and mesmerizing man walks in and tells an unbelievable story.

A tale of a former priest who sold his soul — only to discover he’d been conned into doing so — and his terrifying odyssey across the globe, facing gods and monsters in a desperate bid to escape the deal.

Each step toward salvation demands a sacrifice, and the cost may be more than just his soul... it could be all of humanity.

A chilling and impossible tale that paralyzes the patrons with intrigue and fear as they wonder: Is the man insane? A conman spinning a tale for a good scare? Or is his story true — and the Devil is coming tonight to collect?

You’re Only as Noble as Your Choices, Mr. Glass.

Source: Info in the "About The Malediction Of Llewyn Glass" was taken from amazon on 16/07/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

At first it looked like that this book is a collection of various stories of our hero's experiences in his journey towards redemption. And it kind of isuntil in the end where the narrative returns to the first scene.

The audiobook does not really follow the ebook. The audiobook skipped a couple of chapters. What was that all about??

At the end of the audiobook are shrot stories. One of the short stories is a snippet of a man framed for rape. That snippet has no beginning and no end. It was annoying!!! This is probably why I would not be buying any more books by this author.

This is my first London Nix listen and I would buy audiobooks by her again.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 2.5
Writing Style = 3
Ending = 4
World building = 4
Cover art = 4
Pace = (5 hrs and 22 mins listening time)
Plot = 2
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries

Books In The American Lore Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Frank Reteguiz:

I love storytelling. I am obsessed with it and have dedicated my life to becoming a professional, a master in the world’s oldest craft. Horror, contemporary fantasy, and sci-fi are genres that have spoken to me since I was a child, and I want to bring my love of a great story to you. As I forge my career in writing, I work as a private investigator in Jacksonville, FL.

americanlorebooks.com | tiktok | facebook | instagram | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About London Nix:

Voice Talent - female American accent, character acting, audiobooks

I am a well-versed voice actor and audiobook narrator. I can complete your project from start to finish, including editing and meeting ACX standards.

When I narrate, you can distinguish between the characters speaking.

I can even help you take an already completed audiobook and get it to meet ACX standards.

You can send me audio files for editing, and I can splice and rename your audio files for you.

I am available for audiobooks, E-learning, youtube voice-over, film or animation narration or characters, commercials, and more.

Invite me to apply for your project if you are interested in working with me. All my clients have been happy with my work, and they have consistently returned to give me more work.

I am meticulous and dedicated to my craft. Let's work together and bring your project to life

goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE LOST HEIR (WINGS OF FIRE Book 2)

The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland
Book 2 of the Wings Of Fire series
Read by Shannon McManus
Genre: YA fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Lost Heir:

The WINGS OF FIRE saga continues with a thrilling underwater adventure -- and a mystery that will change everything!

The lost heir to the SeaWing throne is going home at last...

She can’t believe it’s finally happening. Tsunami and her fellow dragonets of destiny are journeying under the water to the great SeaWing Kingdom. Stolen as an egg from the royal hatchery, Tsunami is eager to meet her future subjects and reunite with her mother, Queen Coral.

But Tsunami’s triumphant return doesn’t go quite the way she’d imagined. Queen Coral welcomes her with open wings, but a mysterious assassin has been killing off the queen's heirs for years, and Tsunami may be the next target. The dragonets came to the SeaWings for protection, but this ocean hides secrets, betrayal — and perhaps even death.

Source: Info in the About The Lost Heir was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15809617-the-lost-heir on 19/11/2017.

My Thoughts:

Wonderful follow-up to the first book!

This instalment in the series is about Tsunami, one of the five dragonets who are our team of heroes. This series is obviously going through the five dragonets in the Dragonets Of Destiny team. Each dragonet with his/her own story. Each dragonet's story revolves around the dragonet's search for his/her home and family. And I am getting worried that this might get repetitive soon. This being book 2, it isn't yet. Keep our fingers crossed that a few books down the line, this series does not become "same old, same old".

So this book, has the same wonderful world building as the previous book. But for some reason it took me a few months to finish this book despite the convenience of the audiobook... it might not be the book. It might be just that I had so much going on at that time, like, life happened... maybe... either way, this book was not a quick read for me. But despite that, I am still a fan and will continue reading this series, even if it takes me a few years to go through it. :)

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4.5
Ending = 3
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (7 hrs and 23 mins )
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

FTC Disclosure:
This book, in all its formats, was purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

ONE BAD APPLE

One Bad Apple by Blake Valentine
Book 1 in the Trent Rivera series
Narrated by Lee Beddow
Genre: military veteran thriller / crime fiction
Format: ebook & audiobook

About One Bad Apple:

Trent Rivera is an ex-soldier torn between dropping out of society and trying to atone for his past sins. His home: a dilapidated campervan. His companions: Rosie (a tabby cat), and the ghosts of his past.

When he arrives in the picture-perfect seaside town of Saltmarsh Cove, he’s intent on avoiding people.

But Trent Rivera doesn’t go looking for trouble. It finds him…

A journalist has disappeared. A violent biker gang is operating with impunity. And, everywhere he looks, it seems darker forces are at play. Soon, Rivera finds himself embroiled in battling a brutal organisation whose reach stretches far and wide.

There are many of them, and only one of him.

Will he be enough?

Source: Info in the "About One Bad Apple" was taken from amazon on 10/06/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

The theme of this book is not new. It has been around the block a few times already. Like Lee Child's Jack Reacher which started with the Killing Floor. John Corwin's Amos Carver series which started with Dead Before Dawn. Robert Enright's Sam Pope series which started with The Night Shift. Nathan Burrows's Preacher series which started with The Preacher. Cameron Curtis' Breed Thriller which started with Danger Close. All ex-military. All hard-ass. All vigilante justice.

Or maybe I am just reading too many military veteran thriller/crime fiction.

The thing I like about Lee Child's Killing Floor is that he explains things and so it makes sense to the reader. It does not matter whether it's true or not, just so long as it sounds plausible to the reader. Like for example, Lee explained away the head-butting action. I do not know if it is true that head-butting someone is easier than it looks, or not. But the way Lee explained it sounded plausible to me. And that kind of writing hooked me up to the Jack Reacher series. I know that Safia has lots of tentacles and people working for her. So, it could be that it is one of these many tentacles who told her about Rivera being in Saltmarsh Cove. However, it was not stated in the story as to who. It probably wasn't Hakeem because in chapter 44, the narrative said that "the two men's appearance matched the descriptions he'd been given exactly". The two men being Spice and Grizzly, because Hakeem's specific instructions were to take out these two. And then the text message from Safia to take out Rivera too, came. So, where did Safia got the information that Rivera is in Saltmarsh Cove?

I really do not like this kind of holes in the story. So, even though I like the story telling quality, I am not sure about following this series or this author...

This is not my first Lee Beddow audiobook and I do not like his slight singsong kind of reading. However, once you get immersed into the story the singsong disappears from your ears. So, it is not too bad.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (8 hrs and 23 mins listening time)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Trent Rivera Series:

 

Meet The Author

About Blake Valentine:

Blake Valentine is the author of the TRENT RIVERA MYSTERY SERIES. Prior to becoming a writer, he worked in the music industry as both performer and producer before moving into various roles in education. He has lived in Osaka, Japan and San Diego, California, and now resides on the south coast of England with his wife, 2 children, and a cat.

www.blakevalentine.com | facebook | amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Lee Beddow:

Lee Beddow has been in and around audio recording for nearly forty years. He started with his own studio, AbbeySound, a music recording facility that he set up when he was eighteen. The studio is situated in a former convent, and AbbeySound currently resides in what was once the nun's dormitories!

For many years, teaching was Lee's regular work, but he continued to do voice-over work. Now, he has decided to make his voice and production skills his focus. Lee can narrate scripts, audiobooks, master the audio with correct levels, chapter marks and spacing, as well as produce bespoke music for authors that want that extra touch in their productions. He has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks, with many series utilizing his ability to mimic lots of both British and world accents, with work ranging from mysteries and sci-fi to comedy and all-action thrillers, plus children's, romance, and instructional titles.

Lee is married to Jackie with two children, James and Holly, and an American Cocker Spaniel called Reuben.

abbeysound.org/audio | facebook | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.