Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Ramen Assassin
SERIES: Ramen Assassin #1
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: September 12, 2019
LENGTH: 7 hours, 37 minutes
BLURB:
When life gives Kuro Jenkins lemons, he wants to make ponzu to serve at his Los Angeles ramen shop.
Instead, he’s dodging bullets and wondering how the hell he ended up back in the Black Ops lifestyle he left behind him. After rescuing former child star Trey Bishop from a pair of thugs in the middle of the night, he knows it’s time to pick up his gun again. But it seems trouble isn’t done with Trey, and Kuro can’t quite let go…of either the gun or Trey Bishop.
Trey Bishop never denied his life’s downward spiral was his own fault. After a few stints in rehab, he’s finally shaken off his Hollywood bad-boy lifestyle but not his reputation. The destruction of his acting career and his relationships goes deep, and no one trusts anything he says, including the LAPD. When two men dragging a dead body spot him on a late-night run and try to murder him, Trey is grateful for the tall, dark, and deadly ramen shop owner he lusts over – not just for rescuing him, but also for believing him.
Now caught in a web of murders and lies, Trey knows someone wants him dead, and the only one on his side is a man with deep, dark secrets. Trey hopes Kuro Jenkins will stick around to see what the future holds for them once the dust settles, but from the looks of things, neither of them may survive to find out.
REVIEW:
First of all suspend all beliefs, because this book is way OTT. It’s entertaining for sure, and if you are a fan of a lot of action – as in flying bullets and an explosion or two – you might want to check this book out. But go into this book wanting to be entertained by a fast paced book and don’t expect it to be anywhere near the world of reality.
For some reason I really liked this book, I shouldn’t have, but I did. The plot was beyond unbelievable and our two main guys made it out of one death trap after the other with barely a scratch to show for it. And when you add in the cliché of disbelieving and unintelligent and bullying cops and some family drama, it should be a no-brainer for me to dislike this book big time. But it wasn’t. It worked for me. I think Rhys Ford might just be magical.
There were a few things that I didn’t like with this book. The first one being the romance between Kuro and Trey. It didn’t feel genuine. It was just suddenly there out of seemingly nowhere. I missed the building tension and getting to know you part, the longing glances and hearts that go pitter-patter. Granted, romance tend to end up in the backseat (not literally) when running for your life. But still, I wanted something more in that department.
Then there was the plot in general. It almost read like a movie. With lots of different things going on, exciting action scenes from one moment to the next. For a movie that works, for a book, you need something more, to have a flow of events that makes sense from start to finish. You need more depth.
Despite all this I really had a great time listening to this story. Kuro and Trey were interesting characters, they both have issues and flaws and I want to see much more of them and this world in general. There is a lot of promise to build on for future stories.
I’ll be honest with you. When I first saw that Kale Williams was narrating this book I was disappointed. He hasn’t been one of my favourite narrators in the past, and I was really looking forward to this book. But I have to say, Williams did it again. I truly loved his narration of this book. With his passion he brought it to life. I love is intensity and how he varies it after the situation. He truly made me enjoy listening to this book. Plus, he has a very nice voice that makes my ears very happy.
Ramen Assassin was a good start to a new series, and I’m eager to know more.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: