Shelby Alexander series #5

Narrated by Theo Holland

Run Time: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Summary:

Shelby’s enemies crawl out of the woodwork for another round. It’s definitely personal. They go after his daughter. He’s still growing apart from Carly, but they’re still close enough that she calls in a favor when her friend gets in big trouble.

Additional Comments:

• This is a novella, so things happen pretty quickly.
• If this is your first Shelby Alexander story, you’ll be treated to lifelike characters and not so realistic circumstances. But that’s the nature of thrillers.
• If this is not your first Shelby Alexander story, you’ll probably notice that almost every character has the same brand of humor. It works in most cases. It’s a great sense of humor. It’s just bizarre that almost every character, except the bad guys has it.
• The story’s certainly action packed.
• I enjoy Shelby as a character, but in the real world, he would be sued so many times, he wouldn’t have two cents to rub together. As it happens, everybody who might think to sue him happens to wind up dead, so that’s … convenient.
• Content Warnings: Adult content. Check. Very strong language. Also check, but it seemed a tad less than previous books.
• Shelby gets stuff done.
• There was pure 5-ish minutes of the bad guy infodumping, but everything else moved at lightning speeds.

Conclusion:

Whether you’re just coming into the series or have followed each of Shelby’s adventures, it’s a nice, intense piece of escapism, if you can take the strong language. Would NEVER be thrown on a clean reads list. I only mention that because I tend to read/listen to clean reads.

Audiobook Promotions …

33 of my 41 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Were on Audiobookcrave.com (which just went under). Ones with links are relisted at Audiobooksunleashed.com.
5 Steps to Surviving Chemistry
Spirit’s Bane (Guardian Angel Files Book 1)
Kindred Spirits (Guardian Angel Files Book 2)
Violence in Vegas (Eagle Eyes Book 1) – not relisted yet
Rescue in Reno (Eagle Eyes Book 2)
Danger in Dallas (Eagle Eyes Book 3)

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

Check out my other titles available on Audiobooks Unleashed:

Beyond Broken Pencils – contemporary, literary
Shadow Council Combo (Books 1-4)
The Individual titles are available but not yet listed on an ad site
SC 1: Money Makes it Deadlier
SC 2: Revenge Makes it Sweeter
SC 3: Christmas Makes it Chaos
SC 4: Treachery Makes it Tense)

Eagle Eyes – mystery thriller

Scratched Off – mystery, thriller; FBI agent vs serial killer, more intense than Shadow Council/Eagle Eyes

Awakening – Redeemer Chronicles Book 1, MG fantasy
The Holy War – Redeemer Chronicles Book 2, MG fantasy
Reclaim the Darklands – Redeemer Chronicles Book 3, MG fantasy

The Collins Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 1, Christian mystery
The Kiverson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 2, Christian mystery
The Davidson Case – Heartfelt Cases Book 3, Christian mystery

Other titles:
5 Steps to Better Blurbs – for authors
5 Steps to Better Audiobooks – for authors/narrators, but mostly authors.
Innova – Christian Dystopia
The Golden City Captives – short fantasy
Fatal Interest – short mystery/thriller

Narrated by Theo Holland

Summary:

Shelby’s camp-owning friend has a shady past that comes back to bite him in a big way. Of course, Shelby gets in the mix.

Additional Comments:

• Shelby’s relationship with Carly is on the rocks, sort of. They’re growing apart because she wins an unpaid internship that will take her to New York City (far from Michigan). He wants to be supportive, but he knows the writing’s on the wall for them.
• Getting Shelby involved this time is kind of a stretch, but it wouldn’t be a series if the main man didn’t get dragged into trouble.
• The Sherriff finally reveals his true colors in this book.
• The twist at the end is predictable yet still satisfying.
• The tie-in to the title was pretty weak this time, but it too makes sense when you get to the last page of the book. (Or last few minutes of the audio if you listened.)
• I didn’t like it quite as much as the previous ones, but it’s a decent entry in a good series.
• Content warnings: perpetual strong language, pervasive violence. Not just gun battles this time, this goes deeper into the torture of at least one character. The last book kind of skirted details.

Conclusion:

You could read these novellas as standalone stories, but it’s probably more satisfying to have the knowledge of the previous books.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 41 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.

(Shelby Alexander Series Book 2 and Book 3)

Narrated by Theo Holland

Book 2 Summary:

There’s a serial killer on the loose and he’s got Carly in his sights.

Book 2 Additional Comments:

• High on action. Not always high on sense.
• The killer’s got a typical sob story. Kinda wish he was a little more likable, that would make him more complex as a character.

Book 3 Summary:

Shelby races to his daughter’s side when she has some complications with her pregnancy. His ex-wife, Helen, is also present to support their daughter. But Helen’s got a debt that’s placing everybody in danger, so of course, Shelby gets involved.

Book 3: Additional Comments:

• Several portions of the story are from Jimmy’s perspective – he’s the mob enforcer sent to collect Helen’s debt. He’s also barely more than a kid and nephew to the boss man.
• High-action, quick listen. These aren’t deep thinkers, but they’re fun. There’s decent humor sprinkled throughout dialogue.
• Content Warnings (for both books): a LOT of adult language; a lot of violence. Skirts the edge but doesn’t quite step over the line to distasteful.
• Not very realistic, but kinda like the mystery version of an old-school Rambo episode.

Conclusion:

Either could be read as a standalone, but they are probably more fun if you know Shelby already and have heard book 1.

Audiobook Promotions:

33 of my 36 audible titles are listed on Audiobooks Unleashed.
Whether you’re looking for mystery or suspense or fantasy, I’ve got a title for you. Never Again (mystery, suspense) and Reshner’s Royal Ranger (epic sci-fi) just made it there.
Note: Filter by US if you’re looking for those codes as many titles are out.
Ones I think may still have US codes: Reshner’s Royal Ranger, Never Again, Innova, The Golden City Captives, The Holy War, Reclaim the Darklands, Eagle Eyes, Treachery Makes it Tense, Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts, The Dark Side of Science, Ashlynn’s Dreams, Nadia’s Tears, Malia’s Miracles, and Varick’s Quest

Devya’s Children Series Links:

Ashlynn’s Dreams Shorts – short stories featuring Jillian.
The Dark Side of Science – official prequel to Devya’s Children; Genetically altered kids fight for the right to live.
Ashlynn’s Dreams – Genetically altered Dream Shaper learns her gift.
Nadia’s Tears – Jillian tries to awaken her sister, Nadia, from a coma.
Malia’s Miracles – Jillian and her siblings try to save a friend’s mother.
Varick’s Quest – Jillian and Danielle get kidnapped. Nadia’s also in trouble.