Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: Cronin’s Key III

SERIES: Cronin’s Key

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

LENGTH: 7 hours, 30 minutes

RELEASE DATE: September 5, 2017

BLURB:

History isn’t always what it seems….

Twelve months after his change, Alec MacAidan is still getting used to his many vampire talents. While most vampires would give anything to have more than one supernatural power, Alec craves nothing more than peace and time alone with Cronin. But when Alec meets entities from outside this realm, he’s left powerless in their presence.

Zoan are half-lycan, half-dragon creatures that have slipped through time and reality, seemingly undetected by man and vampire. Or have they? They bear an uncanny resemblance to gargoyles, leaving Alec’s view on all things weird to get a whole lot weirder.

This new quest leads Alec, Cronin, and their band of friends to Paris, Rome, and Moscow, where they learn that gargoyles aren’t simply statues on walls. In the underground pits beneath churches all over the world, Alec discovers the Key’s true destiny. Facing the Zoan might take every talent he has. And he may need help from the dead to get them all out alive.

STORY REVIEW:

This is one of my favorite paranormal/urban fantasy series. It really hit on so many of the things I love most and really carried them forward well.

My favorite aspect of this series has been the twisting of history and Cronin’s Key III really continued that theme well. I loved the gargoyles and the mathematics and the references to Dante. The mystery and the chase was so reminiscent of several of my favorite movies and I LOVED that fact. The influences were clear but the author easily made it all her own.

My favorite aspect of this particular story though was the characters. I loved them all. I felt so connected to them throughout this series that I am sooo sad to see this end. I have to tell you that there were times I was so ready to be angry at the author because I was so afraid she was going to kill off all these people who had made their way into my heart. But I just couldn’t be mad at her. She handled everything with care and even Jorje’s outcome was forgivable. BTW Jorge is my all time favorite character in this book.

I loved that the love was still just so clear in this series. Alec and Cronin’s bond was so strong and often times sappy but it was perfect and it’s intensity was easily felt. I loved the friendships and the family and all the fated pairings. This was just so intensely romantic that you couldn’t help but fall in love with the love.

Finally, I loved that all parts of this story worked so well together. No one aspect took precedence over any other and in fact, the plot, the love, the friendships, were all perfectly done so that every little piece was vital to the overall effect. It really worked for me and again, I am sad to see this series end.

Pick up this series and give it a try. But especially pick this one up in audio. These stories deserved to be performed and they were done extremely well. Highly recommended.

NARRATION REVIEW:

I am sure I sound like a broken record but I believe Joel Leslie was the perfect narrator for this series. This story highlighted his performance skills as he nailed the emotions and tones necessary to really bring this story to life. Joel excels at paranormal and fantasy stories. His misread of accents were clear and all his characters remained the same even in this third book. I highly recommend this audiobook.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Tantor Audio

Amazon

Audible