Audio Book Review: Gates of Hell

Gates of Hell

By:  J.F. Penn

Publish Date:  January 5, 2015, Audiobook June 17, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 6 hrs 2 mins
Narrated By:  Veronica Giguere

Genre:  Thriller

Series:  6th in ARKANE series; 7th Book ~ One Day in New York

Impression:  A current set Indiana Jones type story, without the whip, and with an agency behind Morgan and her partner.

Synopsis:
An ancient manuscript that leads to the Gates of Hell. A woman’s revenge for the death of her father.

When the last of the Remnant is murdered at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, ARKANE agent Dr Morgan Sierra is drawn into the hunt for a supernatural Key. She's joined by agent Jake Timber, who must face his own fears as they decipher clues left behind by Kabbalist scholars.

From ancient sites in Spain, to Israel and the Czech Republic, Morgan and Jake must follow the trail to the Key, while evading Adam Kadmon, a man consumed with a lust for dark power.

As the planets align, Morgan and Jake race against time to find the Key and destroy it before the Devourers and the Polluted of God emerge from the Gates of Hell to ravage the earth.

First Sentence:
Santiago Pereira stumbled as he ran through the park, dropping to one knee as he gasped for breath, heart pounding.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles

Audible


My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.

Adam wants the Key. The key to open the gates of Hell and to cleanse the earth. He's demanding the last of the Remnant to give it to him. But the man of devote faith couldn't think of letting that be unleashed that on the world, so he does the one thing he can think of.

Morgan has received a package in her dead father's handwriting, along with another's she doesn't recognize. An ancient book with a loose paper of symbols in her father's script. The person that sent it to her, the last living member of the Remnant, was found dead that morning. The further Morgan digs in this case, the more she learns of her father and the secret organization he was a part of that protected an old secret of the Hebrew. She has three days before the planets align to race a man determined to release the darkness on the world before he gets the Key and to the Gates. Morgan must find the Key first to stop him. But can she solve the answers to the puzzles before Adam and not let the desire for revenge get in the way?

Veronica is one of the best at voicing different voices and accents to make it easy to different characters in a story. I love how Veronica knows when to speed up, then slow down. She accents the scenes as they go, making my heart race in chases and pause in other moments to have the reader feel the impact. One example is a moment where Jake starts to crawl through snakes. Veronica does an amazing job with the pacing in her voice here. A moment you want to creep through unheard, and unnoticed yet I want to hurry. My heart started to race but I know I needed to breath slow with Jake to get there, and not hurt. Then the fast movement around him! Veronica's voice brings this across.

J.F. Penn's prologues are mesmerizing, intoxicating... so well written to draw a whole story in and of itself. This prologue gripped me by the event that happens and tells of what story could come. She uses every word to tell of so many different pieces of information. Wow. I'm amazed by it!

And the writing to follow is nothing short of what we get in the prologue.

Thrilling, action, adventure. All in one place. The descriptions of the sights we see are amazing - diving in the Dead Sea, the city of Barcelona, and the artwork viewed. So beautiful. Not only do we get the stunning view but the emotional reaction of the characters at the sight. This really hits home the beauty, or horror, of it all. The action! Oh there is always some sort of obstacle or attack at every turn Morgan makes. She thinks she's ahead of the bad guys, but not really.

This is book 6 of the series. I don't usually pick up books in the middle of a series, but I listened to a novella that was stand alone as well as in this series and loved the settings. So I had to dive into the series. But I found it easy to dive in. There are brief drops of the last case with Morgan and Jake, where he got hurt. Even cases that Morgan had been on without Jake. This gives us a nice introduction into the book and world of ARKANE. Not only does this give me a feel for the history leading into this book, but also makes me want to go back to those previous books to live through the heart racing moments. But then we go back near where a previous book took place, so it all comes together yet you don't have to have been there the first time. We even get a quick overview into the ARKANE. Arcane Religious Knowledge And Numinous Experience Institute.

The book is the characters and the characters are the book. They are all so closely related and well fit together for the cases they are on. The lives of the characters and what they are brilliant at is exactly what brings them to this job and the cases they are on, even personal ones like this as Morgan was taught to look for these things from her father and he his before him. There is a character we come across later in the story. He knows a bit more than we expected. He's been trained, in a small fashion, for what the Remnant's were keeping secret. I love the magic he brings forth to us.

This book dives a bit deeper into Morgan's history. We get to see her family raising along with her job before joining the ARKANE, her ancestry, and experiences in life. Even her father and his obsession with numerology and translating numbers to letters, and how he died three years ago. Nice to learn all this and give a deeper background to her.

There is more to the story than a personal case and saving the world. Morgan worries about her partner and his return to field work. He had sustained severe injuries in their last case together and she worries if she can trust him, will he be strong enough mentally and physically. And another worry, has she changed without him and will they be able to work together again. This is an underlying worry for her, and it shows for Jake as well. But there comes a point that they will have to make their chooses and move on. In this token, I think the book is readying Morgan and her partner for what they are going to have to deal with next. Which there will be something if the Directors words are true in the beginning of the book.

I enjoy this style of thriller reads. I wanted to listen to this book in one sitting, yet I wanted to pause to absorb all I was learning and piece it together myself. It's got a paranormal feel to the religious aspects and has caught my attention with the writing, adventures, and dangerous action present. I'll be adding the previous books, and any to come, to my library.