What an awesome story from start to finish!

I started this book and it had me so confused, I was sure I had signed on for a fantasy road trip epic and that is exactly what it delivered the literary slight of hand at the start is so worth it as it sets the tone for the rest of the book.

It is a tongue in cheek fantasy road trip to kill a mythical monster and the journey is anything but straight forward.
The story misdirects you whilst never feeling like any of it is out of place. You move through increasingly bizarre and incredible situations and all the while you just keep going with it as it is so well written and narrated.

The narrator Joe Hempel has definitely matched the tone and feel perfectly allowing for a listening experience which is up there with the best. All of the characters feel real and unique. I never once had any confusion as to who was speaking. All of the voices seemed tospeak of the characters essence and I absolutely could not put this book down once I got started. (I even checked if there was a follow up book).

In summation this is a must read for anyone who enjoys an adventure story whether you like fantasy or not you will love this book it is so well written and narrated that I urge you to give it a try.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily provided this impartial review.

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An urban fantasy road-trip

I haven't read or listened to anything by this author before, but the premise of the book is an interesting one with a mysterious woman going on a quest to kill a cyclops in a modern setting, she is joined on her quest by Evan Portin who finds himself in a dark place having recently lost his wife and telling off his boss enough to lose his job too.

Harriet is an unusual one as she seems to have led a very sheltered life, being unused to common elements of modern technology such as cars and phones, she also takes on the more traditional warrior role of their party as she so ably demonstrates at numerous points along their journey.

Evan, by contrast has had a much more conventional life, but grows greatly over the course of an unusual road-trip that is recounted with a subtlety to the humour that doesn't undercut the more serious moments.

The cast expands beyond these two initial characters, but this book is as much about the journey as the titular cyclops, so it is probably best for people to meet them for themselves as they read this book.

By contrast to the author, I have listened to a number of books done by this narrator and he again gives a strong performance, moving the story along at the appropriate pace in a clear manner, while giving nicely distinctive performances for all the main characters that help to further enhance an enjoyable story.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting and enjoyable listen and will keep an eye out for more from this author in the future.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

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Entertaining from start to finish

I really enjoyed this story and the characters in it. The narration and production were very well done. Well worth a listen.
I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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Really Disappointed. Really Sorry to say that.

I discovered Jeff Strand a few weeks ago with Wolf Hunt 1 & 2. Fantastic books, great and well written stories, narration and humour. I have my friends onto them. I thought I had discovered a brilliant author with a joyous back log to read. I read The Haunted Forest next. Mediocre at best. Then this. I really wanted to like this out of loyalty for the author of wolf hunt. With regret, this story, was poor. The story was uneventful, immature and predictably dull. I only finished it to see if the was a grand finale twist. There wasn't. I know any book with a Cyclops is going to be fictional sci fi / fantasy, but this was just plain pointless and just childish. Sorry. The writing style was like it was written for a 12 year old. Gutted to say this. I was hoping the Haunted Forest was one poor book from a good author. A one off, but this was really poor. I don't wish to disrespect the author. I will try one more of his books and I really want to like it. Wolf Hunt was the most unexpected and enjoyable books ever. I hope to get something close to that and I want to enjoy Jeff Strands others books, but after these last two, I have my doubts, so one more try.

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1 person found this helpful