Urban Fantasy Where Good Kicks *%# and I Loved It

From the very first chapter of the first book of “The Demon Accords”, it immediately grabbed my attention and has held my attention throughout the entire 12 books; and it still left me wanting more. This is a great Series appealing to our visceral sense of righteous justice. Written in first person we meet Chris Gordon, a young police officer with the ability to vanquish demons. He is a very likable main character that exhibits all of the traits of a hero; humble, yet very capable with a strong sense of morality.
I have to say I usually I don’t go for this type of genre, but this series is not the typically hero fights monsters story; in fact some of the stereotypical monsters found in other books are actually the hero’s in this story as well, and the relationships that Gordon develops with these other characters is one of the main reasons that I like this series so much.
I was also impressed, as I listened through the other books, that there was no let down in the quality or the experience of the expanding story. The added characters are just as strong and interesting as the original cast giving new dimensions to the story. There are many other series that seem to have “filler books,” that aren’t that good and you read through them just to get to the next one; in my opinion every book in “The Demon Accords,” was a great addition.
If I had to criticize anything it would be the title of the series; I think maybe “The Supernatural Accords,” might be a more apt title; but who am I to judge.
About the narrator, James Patrick Cronin, I really like listening to his narration; in fact I’m looking for other books he has narrated. He really does a great job.
I recommend this series if you like urban fantasy and strong main characters that simply kick but.

101 people found this helpful

If u like JIM BUTCHER and KEVIN HEARNE, u will LOVE this series!!!!!!!

I have over 400 audio books in my audible library, and find it harder and harder to find books, let alone series, that I enjoy profusely!! I sometimes almost have panic attacks when I am looking for a good book. Thank god I found this series. I have been in a bit of an audible slump since I couldn't find that perfect book. Of course I look at ratings, and have been reliant on audible suggestions as of late. I was very lucky they suggested this one. Just reading the synopsis had me hooked. I went back and read the negative ratings, as I always do, after thoroughly enjoying a book, and couldn't figure out why people were saying the narrator was bad and the story line was young adult material. I can tell u they were horribly wrong. Give this one a chance, and like me u will be excited to see there are several already on audible. An audiobook addict like me knows what I am saying when u find a gem like this, then see there have been several audiobooks written and recorded already in the library. It's like starting breaking bad on Netflix after the series just ended.... Pure unadulterated pleasure!!!! Great job to the author, on both the great story line and choosing a great narrator!!!

74 people found this helpful

Entertaining, but subject to serious power creep.

What made the experience of listening to God Touched the most enjoyable?

Excellent performance. Generally very interesting characters.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The world building is foundational and fairly interesting. I'm intrigued to see how the world evolves as we, the the audience, are shown more of it.

What about James Patrick Cronin’s performance did you like?

He does a very good job of differentiating the many different characters with subtle vocal nuances and affectations that make it simple to easily determine which character is speaking before you are actually told.

Any additional comments?

I've read up to the fifth book as of the writing of this review. It's a generally interesting and engaging story, with an intriguing universe.

The only part I have a real problem with is the obscene power creep - i.e., the main characters are absurdly strong, and grow absurdly stronger with the passage of every book. The concept of finding new challenges for the main characters becomes a more and more daunting process with the passage of every chapter, it seems, and it seems as if the main characters will be universe-shatteringly strong by the end of the series.

Still, if that does not bother you, this is an entertaining and enjoyable Series book. The story has a tendency to run and flow and make differentiation between books and chapters somewhat strange, but it is, overall, a good story.

70 people found this helpful

Nothing clever here.

I listen to stories in bulk... epics are my jam. The longer the better. There are two things I desire in my listening experience; multiple books, and a fair amount of character development. I endured the first three books in this series. 90% of the character development happens in the first half of book one. The characters invoke as much feeling as being served a mostly flat soda/beer at a bar... At no point did I feel like any characters were in danger (emotionally or physically). The plot lines of each book are as predictable as a color by numbers painting. I don't need the stories I listen to to make me feel good, but I would like to feel something... interested? Excited? Scared? Grossed out? Anything...

I don't usually write reviews, bc frankly, it's just my opinion.. I don't usually feel the need to share or influence others with that opinion. But these books are just lame pointless dribble from a self described "midlife crisis" mind. My advice is to spend your credits elsewhere.

44 people found this helpful

I was sucked into the story quickly

God Touched by John Conroe is the first in a series called the Demon Accords. Chris Gordon is a NYPD rookie who spends his free time conducting exorcisms. He has an extraordinary skill with exorcism that he developed with he was a child living with his grandfather in the countryside. As an NYPD rookie, he was trying to live a normal life, when he is suddenly flung into a world of vampires. He must now try to balance his life as an exorcist, fighting crime as a cop, his growing role in the vampire community, and a budding romance.

This novel really grew on me. At the beginning, I wasn’t really impressed by Chris, but I was sucked into the story quickly. By the end, I was sad that it was over and wanted to find out what happens next. There were a lot of moving parts and parallel storylines. This kept the story from getting flat. The vampire politics and the cop/drug storyline both moved forward at an appropriate pace and intersected seamlessly. The plot was dynamic and filled with an appropriate amount of slow reflection and fast action. The action itself was also exciting. I thought that Chris’ voice came off as a confused young adult who is just not that smooth, but is confident in his ability to exorcise demons. Clearly, a lot of effort was put in to make sure Chris had a full backstory. I really liked his interaction with all of the different characters. The banter between the cops and Chris was especially amusing. In fact, all the characters were vivid even if they were just introduced in passing. Unfortunately, a big part of the story that I didn’t really enjoy was the romance. Chris’ girlfriend, while powerful, came off as a little flat. Maybe in the succeeding novels, she will grow more into her character. I was also hoping for more of a build-up of strong feelings, rather than the sudden rush of deep love that happened. It just didn’t seem real. However, if it’s possible to suspend belief for that part, the rest of it was entertaining.

The narration by James Patrick Cronin was great. His voicing of the characters was memorable and consistent. This consistency was important for Chris’ character because he has such a distant way of speaking. I especially liked his voicing of some of the older vampires. The production quality was good as well. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes stories that combine urban fantasy with cop dramas.

Audiobook was purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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39 people found this helpful

Entertaining - improves along the way?

I'm getting book 2 because the writing and narration improved along the way. I was almost ready to bail on this book due to the annoying "Valley Girl" manner of speech with the rising tone at the end of the sentences. Thankfully, the narrator brought that down mid way through the book, but not totally? :)

This was not the most sophisticated book I've ever read, and is probably just a notch above Young Adult? The Iron Druid series is a better presentation of dialogue and rich details from research. But, while I'm waiting for the next Iron Druid book (author Kevin Hearne) . . . and, for the next Peter Grant book (author Ben Aaronovitch) . . . this will fill the time?

Given that the book got better near the end, I'm hoping that the series will too. Hope the narrator drops the Valley Speak. Book 2 could be awesome?

38 people found this helpful

Eh - unless you like vampires

If you like vampires, this book is great for you. It makes them out to be sexy, intelligent, powerful (politically, finacially, and naturally), and nice for the most part. Chris Gordan is a non magical New York style Atticus O'sullivan (Iron Druid), which is something that I related to quite nicely. But the overall use of Vampires turned me off a little.

So if you really like vampire books, you'll absolutely love this series. I don't and therefore I have yet to move on to the rest of the series. However, I would suggest it for most people.

Narration is fantastic!

32 people found this helpful

Juvenile and predictable

Very juvenile story - and I don't mean teen or YA, no, just painfully immature writing and storyline. The narration was ok, but the narrator sounded like a "valley girl" i.e. always ending a sentence with question mark, etc... There was absolutely zero chemistry between the protagonist and the vampire Tanya. ALL the girls were "stacked", "gorgeous" and "hot" - when they weren't; they were made to be jealous, angry and bitter. Just too stupid all around... Meandering plot, repetition abounds.

32 people found this helpful

Urban Fantasy Dreck

This story reads like the first draft of a high school student's wish fulfillment story. All the women are HOT. The hero is amazing at everything. The supernatural super hot chick falls for the hero instantly and irrevocably. The only thing described in any detail are guns and food. Every character is two dimensional except for the grandfather who only shows up at the end of the book.

Sometimes stories like this can be mindless fun, but this was just mindless.

23 people found this helpful

HE LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING THAT WOULD APPEAL TO A

LITTLE GIRL
This is a preteen girl book. The main character is a muscle bound martial arts expert, who wears baggy clothes, so as not to attract attention. He has a trust fund, but lives in a small apartment because he does not want to be showy. He is a defender of children. He has only had one date. He played football and wrestling in high school. Even though he didn't care about sports, his tackles caused memory loss. He played sports as training for demon killing. YOU ALL AIN'T THAT SCARY.

YOU ARE REMARKABLY BLASE ABOUT THE SITUATION
The narration called for sarcasm. Cronin is a second tier narrator and did not Crusher it like Will Wheaton would have.

I DON'T LIKE BEING SCARED.

22 people found this helpful