Redmerski chewed me up and spit me out as their ta

Any additional comments?

The Swan & the Jackal was brilliantly paced with twists and turns that shocked me, ripped my heart out and made my jaw drop. The last 40% of my listening experience took place into the wee hours of the morning because there was no way I was stopping. Fredrick’s story is far from over and maybe I am sick, but I cannot wait for more.

Fans of dark, gritty, complicated romances wrapped in the world of assassins for hire will find The Swan & the Jackal to be a brilliant addition to the In the Company of Killers series. Redmerski has this incredible gift for bringing these dark, damaged characters to life and weaving them around your heart.

4 people found this helpful

WILL FREDRIK CHOOSE CASSIA OR SERAPHINA?

Not a lot I can say without giving anything away.

It doesn't have as much action, suspense and thrills as the first two books but this book focuses on the relationships between Fredrik, Cassia and Seraphina; and Fredrik and Izabel. There are several twist, turns, surprises and why didn't I see that coming.

I enjoyed this book because I'm intrigued with Fredrik and wanted to know more about his past, his demons, what makes him tick.

The pace moved well without a lot of internal dialogue which also kept me interested.

The performers were just a perfect as books 1 and 2. Luke Daniels is Fredrik, Andi Arndt (in my top 5 female performers) is Cassia and Kate Reinders is Seraphina.

I will Absolutely recommend this book as an essential building block to the series which also makes it worth the credit.

3 people found this helpful

Excellent book, amazing readers

Would you listen to The Swan and the Jackal again? Why?

Absolutely.I have become addicted to this series and Luke Daniels does one of the most amazing jobs as a reader that I have experienced.

What other book might you compare The Swan and the Jackal to and why?

I can't, I've never read a book like this before and I love it.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

What don't they bring is the question. I became a big fan of Andi Arndt with another series she narrates so I was really excited to see her as one for this book. I became a fan of Katie Reinders is with books 1 and 2. And Luke Daniels, I can't even express properly what an amazing job he did. He had a different voice for each character and his voice alone was enough to hook me.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I definitely chuckled a few times. My heart broke for Frederick and there was a couple moments where my mouth fell open. Both times were moments I was not expecting or thought would happen.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this series. I can't get enough.

2 people found this helpful

Awesome Series!

This is an awesome series. It was great to get find out more about Fredrik's and his wife Seraphina. Love the twist that the story took. I only hope Fredrik can recover from the ending. On to book 4.

1 person found this helpful

Great dark series

The Swan and the Jackal in novel #3 in the 6 novel "In the Company of Killers" series (novel #6 is nor yet available in audiobook format). These novels are superb dark suspense thrillers that are exceptionally well narrated. The author JA Redmerski is romance novel writer, but this series is not romance although it does have graphic sexual content. I've just finished listening to the wonderful 2 novel dark suspense thriller "In Light" series by Aleatha Romig who writes mostly romance novels. The two series are about very different subjects but the writing style is very similar as is the use of one male and 2 female narrators.

5 people found this helpful

Bad narrator in addition to a disturbing read

This one was the darkest yet and I had to put it down periodically. I knew Frederik would be a tough character to get to know but his book made me uncomfortable.

This book featured Frederik hunting his wife Seraphina and he kidnapped a girl named Cassia to force her to give him information that would led him to his wife. After torturing her and getting no good information, Frederik found that torturing others in front of her yielded better results. So he forced her to watch.

This is when I decided that I will part ways with the series after this book. I will finish it out since I dont like DNFs but these sort of dark romances/stockholm syndrome books don't agree with me.

I will say the 2nd half of the book was much better as Frederic got good info and was able to get the answers he needed. The writing was good but I am just too much of a flower and candy romance reader to get down with this.

BTW, the new narrator was AWFUL. He was another issue that added to my discomfort but the subject matter didn't make me feel warm in my snuggie.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointed

What disappointed you about The Swan and the Jackal?

I felt that the author away so far from the 1st 2 books. And at times the story line seemed to be rambling. There seemed to be a lot of meaningless names that I couldn't tie into the 1st 2 books. I was disappointed that Fredericks accent came and went, as did Nicholas was missing entirely. The sense of humor that was bestowed on Frederick didn't match the persona he was originally given. I

Would you ever listen to anything by J. A. Redmerski again?

Maybe

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Yes

1 person found this helpful

DAMN this was good

What made the experience of listening to The Swan and the Jackal the most enjoyable?

I loved not knowing what was going to happen next. I loved that this a little different from what I expected.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I'd say Fredrik and all of his dark ways was my favorite. There was more to him than what he let people see.

Which scene was your favorite?

I'd say my favorite scenes were Fredrik and Izabel. You could see the friendship that developed over time when they were together.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

While getting the very dark Fredrik we also got the loving Fredrik which honestly broke my heart at times. I was sad for him and his way of thinking but understood where he was coming from. I found myself rooting hard for him especially towards the end. I liked the friendship that he and Izabel have formed as well.

As for everything with Cassia I have no words. Being held captive for a year and getting into her heard I started falling for her just like Fredrik.

Overall this has been a very good series. I would love more of future Fredrik but I'll take his past if that's all I can get.

1 person found this helpful

Fredrik is soooooo interesting!

This series just gets better and better! This is the third in the company of killers and it is great! The story of Fredrik and if you have read #1 and #2 you know he is a torturer. It is a mindf#&k from the beginning. I loved it and highly recommend. #4 is coming in October and sounds great! The narrators were good too!

2 people found this helpful

Performance was solid, story was none sense

Short of it, long lost wife adapted the personality of another or her original depending on your perpective. Fred spends 80% of the story physically and emotionally torturing his victim until she remembers. This book started off good with the ex wife killing their playmate. Time skips 6 years and goes back and fourth from a year ago, two years ago, to present. Lastly there's a decent amount of sex, especially the last chapter. I stopped 5 mins in as I've had enough and didn't care about the last 15 mins or so. Book had early potential, especially when the other hitman was killed via poisoning, but fell apart after Fred was sent home.