Title: Cronin’s Key III
Series: Cronin’s Key: Book Three
Author: N.R. Walker
Narrator: Joel Leslie
Publisher: Self-Published
Run Time: 7 hours and 30 minutes
Category: Paranormal, Fantasy
At a Glance: Buy the book, buy the series. N.R. Walker is a consummate storyteller, and Joel Leslie is a true performer.
Reviewed By: Mike
Blurb: History isn’t always what it seems….
Twelve months after his change, Alec MacAidan is still getting used to his many vampire talents. While most vampires would give anything to have more than one supernatural power, Alec craves nothing more than peace and time alone with Cronin. But when Alec meets entities from outside this realm, he’s left powerless in their presence.
Zoan are half-lycan, half-dragon creatures that have slipped through time and reality, seemingly undetected by man and vampire. Or have they? They bear an uncanny resemblance to gargoyles, leaving Alec’s view on all things weird to get a whole lot weirder.
This new quest leads Alec, Cronin, and their band of friends to Paris, Rome, and Moscow, where they learn that gargoyles aren’t simply statues on walls. In the underground pits beneath churches all over the world, Alec discovers the Key’s true destiny. Facing the Zoan might take every talent he has. And he may need help from the dead to get them all out alive.
Review: In the twelve months since Alec became a vampire, gaining every known vampire skill—and some unknown before in his kind—things have been sort of hectic. After fighting a coven of Egyptian vampires hell bent on bringing a vampire back to life, and then battling the Terra Cotta vampire army of China’s first Emperor, Alec, the Key, and his beloved ancient mate, Cronin, were really hoping for a day or two of quiet. Except, Alec begins to have encounters with a hidden-in-plain-sight band of creatures called Lycans. Half wolf, half dragon, they hide in public as gargoyles but live in what appears to be a dimension outside of time.
As the Key, Alec must once again defend his vampire kin with the help of Cronin and the returning band of vampire elders who have helped lead his way into vampiric existence. The battle for power and possibly control of the planet requires the help of old friends, and even the dead to force the Lycan back to their dark places for good.
Joel Leslie returns for this third book in the series, and brings back to life all the characters from Walker’s canvas with his usual skill. As the cast is international, the plethora of accents can at times be overwhelming for a new listener to this work, but the voices are crisp and individual with no confusion about who is speaking, even without word cues from the author.
While Cronin’s Key III is an adventure unto itself, you may want to listen to or read the first two books in this series to learn about the history and the relationships between the vampires and those few mortals who populate these books. As I said above, the quality of the voice work is well above average. Buy the book, buy the series. N.R. Walker is a consummate storyteller, and Joel Leslie is a true performer.
You can buy Cronin’s Key III here:
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