Audio Book Review: Acheron Highway

Acheron Highway

By:  Gary Jonas

Publish Date:  October 21, 2014, Audiobook Release October 13, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 5 hrs 56 mins
Narrated By:  Joe Hempel

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  2nd in Jonathan Shade series; 1st Book ~ Modern Sorcery

First Impression:  Urban Fantasy Private Investigator on a case, but ends up learning something priceless.

Synopsis:
"He stole my heart, Mr. Shade. I want you to find him and steal it back."
The dead won't stay buried in Denver, so Jonathan Shade isn't too surprised when a deceased woman shows up wanting to hire him. A necromancer stalker has stolen her heart--literally--and she needs it if she's going to live.

But Shade's jobs are never simple. The dead won't leave him alone. They work for a lovesick goddess who wants Shade to turn over her former lover. Chased by zombies, and then by an army of skeletons, Shade and his magically-engineered partner, Kelly Chan, fight to stay alive.

Keep your hands and feet in the vehicle at all times, and hang on, because there are no safe exits from Acheron Highway...

First Sentence:
You ever have one of those days where dead people just won't leave you alone?

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I requested to review a copy of this audiobook for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Miranda wants to hire Jonathan Shade to get her heart back. She had a boyfriend a year ago that won't let go and has stalked her ever since. The man has decided that since he can't win her heart, he'll steal it. Sharon, his library friend he hasn't seen in months pops in. She warns Jonathan to be careful, rumor has it the dead aren't staying dead in Denver and they are looking for her. Being her friend who can see ghosts, they might come after him. Dealing with rising dead bodies wanting to find Sharon, Jonathan calls his partner Kelly and lets her know they need to handle this for Sharon.

Joe is the narrator again for the series. He paces the story with Jonathan's personality, faster at times when in distress and calmer when relaxed. He does voice differences for the characters, though most of the story is from Jonathan's POV. We get the voice of a seventy year old man, Walter, but he's strong sounding too. Most of all the feel of the voices comes across different for each character. There was one small section of repeated words that were missed in editing, but it's toward the end of the book and something easily looked over.

I was drawn into the story at the first chapter. Gary dives in to the client waiting for Jonathan and what her ailment is. And her ailment is one that caught my attention. Then Jonathan is on the case and there is always something 'off' for someone that keeps me curious.

We get to see our secondary characters, Gary's friends and those he 'works' with, again. We also pick up a few new characters - Miranda and Persephone. They both have their troubles they go to Gary with, and a huge impact on him. Gary is our snarky, one liner man from the first book. He's a bit depressed though, after what happened with Naomi. However, Gary also seems to be a bit over confident in himself and his plans. He learns that lesson in the harshest way possible here. I think this will be soothed out with the books to come with the ending here.

The ending was far from what I expected. Eye popping! It was a tough one, but... Well, you have to read it. ;) The last chapter brings Jonathan around to a whole new level of being. It advances his character quickly but we see the torment the time has had on him. With this change, I'm curious to continue with the series to see him in this state of mind and what he's learned in his training.



*If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you.