Audio Review: Blood & Thunder by Charlie Cochet - Narrated by Mark Westfield

Title: Blood & Thunder (THIRDS: Book Two)

Author: Charlie Cochet

Narrator: Mark Westfield

Run Time: 7 Hours, 50 Minutes

At a Glance: This is another fantastic entry in the THIRDS series.

Reviewed By: Chris

Blurb: When a series of bombs go off in a Therian youth center, injuring members of THIRDS Team Destructive Delta, and causing a rift between agents Dexter J. Daley and Sloane Brodie, peace seems unattainable. Especially when a new and frightening group, the Order of Adrasteia, appears to always be a step ahead. With panic and intolerance spreading and streets becoming littered with the Order’s propaganda, hostility between Humans and Therians grows daily. Dex and Sloane, along with the rest of the team, are determined to take down the Order and restore peace, not to mention settle a personal score. But the deeper the team investigates the bombings, the more they believe there’s a more sinister motive than a desire to shed blood and spread chaos.

Discovering the frightful truth behind the Order’s intent forces Sloane to confront secrets from a past he thought he’d left behind for good, a past that could not only destroy him and his career, but also the reputation of the organization that made him all he is today. Now more than ever, Dex and Sloane need each other, and, along with trust, the strength of their bond will mean the difference between justice and all-out war.

Review: So, if you’ve seen my reviews here for the audiobook of Hell & High Water and Rack & Ruin, you know I’m just a little bit addicted to the THIRDS series by Charlie Cochet. This is a book obsession I happily admit I can’t get enough of in any form.

I honestly didn’t think there was a way that Mark Westfield would be able to top his performance in Hell & High Water. Boy, was I ever wrong! If anything else, Mark was able to get deeper into the characters, especially Dex and Sloane. Okay, I know I’m biased because I’m a total Dex fangirl, but seriously, Mark Westfield becomes Dex in this audiobook.
Now, on to the storyline … In Hell & High Water the focus was on world building and introducing the characters. In Blood & Thunder, character development and growth is the focus, with the relationship building aspect on Sloane and Dex. This story also shows within the storyline how close Destructive Delta has become again, with the inclusion of Dex, and starts delving into other personal relationships within the team and in the THIRDS series.

There are some ‘laugh so hard you snort your drink’ moments in this book. The Therian Training class with Dex and Sloane was one of the most humorous moments in the book. Imagine Dex being Dex, trying to show off how to work with your Therian partner to a class of new human/Therian agent pairs. There are some of the best one-liners in this short section, along with Sloane licking Dex in the ear, which annoys the piss out of him, and Dex taunting Sloane till he chases him.

We also have some darker aspects to the book, delving more into Ash and Sloane’s time in the labs, Sloane’s feelings for Dex, and even Dex’s own doubts about himself. Overall, this was another fantastic entry in the THIRDS series and while I’ve read the others, I highly anticipate hearing what Mark Westfield does with the books on audio.