God Touched
By: John Conroe
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
Series: The Demon Accords, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 10-27-15
Language: English
Publisher: Audible Studios
Book Blurb
Chris Gordon is a rookie with the NYPD – one with a secret. In his spare time Chris is an exorcist without equal, with a gift from God. But when he saves a beatiful girl from a demonic attack, he discovers there is more to fear than just demons. Finding himself surrounded by vampires and were-weasels and facing a giant short-faced bear, Chris struggles to stay alive, all while protecting his deadly new girlfriend. And then there’s her overprotective vampire mother!
My Review
I picked this up for a book club read and discussion. It was cute. It makes me think of The Dresden Files plus Underworld movies but much lighter like paranormal romance and young adult. It was OK. I certainly felt it paled in comparison to many other urban fantasy series. Also, I couldn’t help but compare it to The Dresden Files. Main characters from both series are born on Halloween, lost their parents as kids, were born with supernatural powers, and aren’t great with women. FYI – Dresden Files came out about a decade before this book. So I did wonder how much that series influenced this series.
Anyways, Chris seems like a nice guy. He’s certainly naive when it comes to the ladies, but also when it comes to any bad guys that have a smidge of deception. Right away, he’s tossed in with a bunch of female vampires. He was demon hunting and inadvertently saves a vampire, which makes a good impression on her friends and family. Romance ensues, even if it’s a bit awkward.
I felt the ladies got the back seat in this story. All the adult males refer to the adult females as girls throughout the entire book and that irritates me. Chris also has certain ideas about women in general, how they are about status and look for men with money. He comes off as a bit sexist yet unaware of it. Perhaps there’s hope for him? The story tells us that Tanya (the main love interest) is an awesome fighter in her own right, but we don’t get to see her do any fighting. She does spend most of her time fawning over Chris. In fact, all the adult ladies (with the exception of Gina Velasquez) fawn over him. And then Chris spends a lot of time worrying about his looks, etc. He’s very egocentric. It was tiring. I wanted more action and character depth and less time with Chris going on about his looks and how he doesn’t like his own body.
When there were action scenes, they were well written. I do get the idea that bigger things are afoot. Okwali, the large spirit bear that follows Chris around, peaks my interest too.
Overall, it was just OK. I will give Book 2 a shot. 3/5 stars.
The Narration: James Patrick Cronin is a good pick for Chris. He sounds innocent and sincere. I also liked his Russian accent for Tanya and her family. His voice for Velasquez sounded a little pissy, but she’s also kinda written that way too. The pacing was good and there were no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
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