Audio Book Review: Dead of Night

Dead of Night

By:  M.R. Forbes

Publish Date:  May 17, 2014, Audiobook Release August 14, 2014

Format:  Audiobook - 9 hrs 53 mins
Narrated By:  Jeff Hays

Genre:  Urban Fantasy

Series:  1st in Ghosts & Magic series

First Impression:  A necromancer for hire who wants to live, but has one foot in the grave.

Synopsis:
Small-time thief and hitman Conor Night thinks having terminal cancer is his worst problem. The illegal treatments keeping him alive are expensive, and the side effects a mixed bag:

Conor can raise the dead.

When a low-end hit points to a high-end job, Conor is suspicious, but it's an opportunity he can't afford to ignore. Armed with a set of soul-sucking ancient dice, a collection of corpses, and the estranged daughter of one of the most powerful wizards on Earth, it will take all of his wit, charm, and magic to navigate the treacherous world of the dominant Houses and either finish the job, or be finished himself.

He's got ninety-nine problems, and dying is only one.

First Sentence:
I approached the door on my elbows, dragging myself like some kind of mutant lizard along the stained brown carpet that lined the eighth floor hallway of the Hotel Paramour.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I requested a copy of this book from the narrator, author, or publisher for my enjoyment and an honest review.

On a job, Conor Night hears of another job paying two million dollars. That was a lot of money. More than his current job to kill the two men that were offered the job. After finishing his current job, Conor asks about the job. The Fixer gives it to him, but Conor has 48 hours to finish and contact him and Mr. Black or a kill team will be after him, and being a necromancer won't make a difference to them. What seemed to be a simple theft job turns out to be more, and the different powerful Houses are involved. Conor finds himself on the run while protecting another, yet fighting back against beings that shouldn't be.

I do enjoy the vast cast of voices Jeff performs in his narrations. That's the first thing that drew me to this novel, the second was it sounded like something I would read and enjoy. Jeff has not let me down with his talented voice. Not only do we get different voices but we get the muffled sounds of one talking without a jaw (you have to listen to understand) along with sounding like one is on the phone when doing so. Jeff breaths life into all the characters in a fourth dimension we don't always get in books, through voice and emotions.

Wow. This world is vast in creatures and beings and magic. There is a system to the Houses that ruled in the magical ways. And lots of ghosts, though I did get confused as to who are ghosts and not, and what ghost meant here. I'm leaving the book believing ghost isn't exactly what we think of with ghost. I think Ghost is a term used for people who are affiliated with magic, touched by it some how or for those that are hired to do theft jobs along with assassinations.

Conor is motivated by money, so he'll survive and send money to those he care(d) about. But he does have his own set of rules and morels too. Will he turn on his current employer to save his own neck? Or does he have something else up his baggy sleeves? You'll have to read to see what he'll do when put on the spot. Conor is an interesting character as he's a necromancer, and to be one you have to have one foot in the grave, so to speak. Conor is dying. That's when the necromancer ability shines along with the use of the drugs he needs to hold off the cancer from finishing it's work. He could always feel the pulse of the fields that brought magic back to the world, but that was all until he started the test drugs for his cancer.

The reason for magic being present in the world is interesting and feels well thought out. We get the descriptions are given through the book.

I think the jury is still out on this book and world. I'm just don't feel I understand what's happening in the world with ghosts and magic completely yet. We get some of the rules, but I'm not sure I understand it all yet. There is much here to see and learn, and with Conor being a hired gun or thief, there is great potential for us to see more of this powerful world.

In the end, I'm curious about this dark, magical world created. We get the complete story here but there are small openings in the world that could bring us to the series and to learn much much more about Conor and some answers he's seeking.