Audio Book Review: The Society

The Society

By:  Lilith Saintcrow

Publish Date:  August 15, 2005, Audiobook Release May 16, 2017

Format:  Audiobook - 8 hrs 27 mins
Narrated By:  Rayna Cole

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Series:  1st in The Society series

Impression:  Psi powers draw them closer than just love.

Synopsis:
Will she be the Society’s salvation...or its downfall?

The black-ops government agency called Sigma broke Justin Delgado, trained his psionic talent, and turned him into a killer. Then he escaped and joined the Society, an underground resistance movement of psions determined to use their talents to bring Sigma down. Competent, cold, and cruelly efficient, he’s the best operative the Society has, a legend among the psions who fight a shadow war against an enemy that owns the courts, the press, and the police. Feared even by his own teammates, hunted by the government, and too damaged to feel anything but clinical rage, he is utterly alone—until he meets Rowan.

When Rowan Price stumbles across Delgado’s team in an abandoned house, he is assigned to make contact with her, bring her in, and keep her alive—because Rowan is one of the most powerful psychics the resistance has ever encountered. If the government gets its hands on her, she could very well mean the downfall of the resistance, because nobody, not even Rowan, is quite sure how far her talents extend.

The Society will welcome Rowan, if she can stay alive long enough to join them. Unfortunately, there’s a traitor buried in the ranks. If the Society goes down, Rowan is at risk. God alone knows what Delgado will do to keep her safe, because Rowan is fast becoming the only thing in the world he cares about...

First Sentence:
It was, as Rowan's best friend Hilary often said, a day of small mishaps turning into complete disasters.

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Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.


The story rotates from Rowan and Delgado's POV, female and male. Rayna does a nice job of giving a deeper tone when Delgado's speaking or when in his mind. It helps separate the characters for us. There is a description of Rowan's voice being a bit on the husky side, and Rayna's voice fits this for me. Rowan is a delicate person in this book. She's lived through some terrible things she's seen. This creates a vulnerable person to be voiced. Rayna voices Rowan in those moments when her hearts breaking and she sounds lost, as Rowan would. Even with Delgado, he's trying to be careful with Rowan but he's also falling for her, so there's a level of concern and thought in his voice that comes through with Rayna's tones. Very powerful emotions portrayed with talent.

From the moment he sees Rowan for the first time at that abandoned house, he's found her attractive and he's protective of her. The way he comes across as he's doing his job, watching her to find if she's with the government or maybe recruit her for her psi ability, does NOT come out stalker-ish and it very well could have. On the contrary, it comes out more protective. There is a draw there for him but it's gentle in feeling.

I found I liked Delgado and Rowan. Both are good people and do the right thing. Delgado though, he is afraid he'll scare Rowan because her psi is so sensitive and that most people are nervous of him. Why? To think so low of himself has me curious as to what he can do. And we do learn about why Delgado thinks this way.

Oh my. I'm just going to say it. I absolutely LOVE Delgado. He's that damaged character that's trying so hard. I fell in love with him more and more as the story went.

When Delgado gets to explain things to Rowan, I found I really liked how he did it. He was honest with her and didn't hold things back. But he did it with a gentle feel, trying to keep her emotions in mind.

This is more of a romance read. There is a bit of action and urgency to what the characters do. BUT this is a story told from the characters minds as they meet and get to know and even fall for each other through their actions.

Lilith gently draws us into the world of psi with Rowan and Delgado. There are things happening that make us curious, but also builds the characters as people for us, and in doing this she builds the world through them. We aren't blindly thrown into a new world, we learn it with Rowan.

Okay. All that being said. I found I slipped into their relationship and the growth of it. How they became so intimately entwined emotionally. Wow. I feel that audio really elevated this feeling for me. Lilith with the words and Rayna with the voice, together they were seductive.

Before the end of this one, I knew I needed the next book. At the end, I NEED the next one. lol.



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