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  • A Murder of Shadows

  • Shadows of Montshire, Book 1
  • By: John Conroe
  • Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
  • Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (111 ratings)

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A Murder of Shadows

By: John Conroe
Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
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Summary

As the old saying goes: The first is the heir, the second is the spare, and of the third - beware!

Savid DelaCrotia is the third born son of one of the Kingdom of Montshire’s oldest and most respected High families. Cast aside by his father at an early age, it’s up to him to make his own way and create his own honor. With just his horse, his weapons, the clothes on his back and in his pack, and the education that his family provided, he’ll have to go it alone. Luckily, he already has a pretty good idea of what he’s good at - fighting, and woodcraft - not to mention finding hidden and lost items.

It’s also handy that he already knows exactly how to honor his Kingdom - by serving his best friend, who just happens to be the kingdom’s scary smart princess. But what does a princess who already has everything need? How about her own Shadow?

From the author of the Zone War trilogy and the Demon Accords series comes a slightly twisted take the genre of high fantasy. Swords and spies meet monsters and magic (sort of) in the world of Nengled and the Kingdom of Montshire. If you’re looking for The Wheel of Time meets Game of Thrones, this isn’t it. Mr. Tolkien, please shield your eyes.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 John Conroe (P)2020 Audible, Inc.
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What listeners say about A Murder of Shadows

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great new series

Great new series from a favourite author. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I got so into it I was surprised it ended.

I did not expect the end like you do not expect the last step going down some stairs.
The story got me so good I forgot I was listening.
It was all so natural it just happened. Really great experience.
And this is my main point, the book has a natural stile that makes you forget about the strange world it pulls you into.
The story itself is very interesting. I do not want to spoil anything but as a huge scify fan and someone who likes a more darker kind of fantasy I was very happy with this.
And it also has something of the Witcher to it. Not the main character that all revolves around but the feel of the world.

Great book.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Derivative, anachronistic, entertaining

This book has a lot of flaws. It's a bit of a random collection of ideas from other stories. There's a bit of James Bond spycraft (including a Q-like character), there's a lot of politics reminiscent of Dune, Deathstalker or Farseer and a bunch of psychic powers also very much like those three with a touch of steampunk thrown in for good measure. The author doesn't quite seem sure whether to use modern or pseudo-medieval vernacular. All that said, I enjoyed it a lot since it's wraps up a compelling story with a cast of characters you can get behind.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

No demon accords

Takes some getting into. But stick with it. I hope we find out eventually what happened in the past.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Storyline amazingly created by JC

Amazingly narrated by the ledgend - James Patrick Cronin. A totally different genre by John Conroe brilliant storyline cannot wait to listen to the next book in the series :)

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great start

I listen to audiobooks all the time, specialy now with quarantine so I felt the book was short but I love every minute of it. this book gave hint of the depth of characters yet to form in the following books, I can't wait.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Another Sparhawk

I agree with a previous poster, it's not epic fantasy and you can certainly see the "joins" but it was enjoyable for all that. The closest I can come is Eddings' Sparhawk, as Savid strongly reminds me of that character and the Shadows are reminiscent of the church knights. However it's obviously a post apocalyptic scenario [I'm guessing Montshire is somewhere between Vermont and New Hampshire], so I'm actually not certain that fantasy is the correct genre, but it has monsters and powers and magic/bio-engineering, with churches banning advanced technology, and I find it intriguing enough that I want to see where it is going and read the next book. That brings me to the ending, which I thought was poor, an abrupt and badly thought out introduction to the next book.
So Pros : It flowed well as a story, the characters were engaging and the backround intriguing enough to make you want to know more.
Cons : The writing was a bit amateurish, the start and finish of the book really let it down and frankly the narration was a bit clunky. The reader has a very laconic style and I found it grating to listen to and lacking in emotion, plus there were audible breath sounds in places, especially towards the end of the book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Meh.

Main hero is way too OP to be even remotely interesting. With every virtue and zero character flaws, one keeps hoping for a stray arrow to senselessly hit him in the face. Also, that sign should probably be aluminum.

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1 person found this helpful