Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: A History of Trouble

SERIES: Beacon Hill Sorcerer #3.5

AUTHOR: SJ Himes

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

RELEASE DATE: November 12

LENGTH: 2 hours, 32 minutes

BLURB:

“Red Wine and Blood”: The Blood Wars raged for centuries across Boston. Witness a brief glimpse into the brutal history of the Wars with Ignacio Salvatore and the vampire he loves, Ashwin Metcalfe, in 1897.

“A History of Trouble”: Angel was joking when he asked O’Malley if someone resurrected a mammoth. Little did he know that was exactly what someone did. Experience the untold story of what happened that unfortunate night at the Boston Public Museum.

“A Dragon in the City”: What happens when Eroch goes adventuring in Beacon Hill without Angel? Chaos, pure chaos.

“Fae’s Gold”: Daniel is helping the newly-resurrected fae, Ruairi Brennan, become accustomed to modern-day living. A boring trip to the bank quickly escalates, and Daniel calls Angel for help. The day goes downhill from there but ends in a comfy meal in a pub for an ancient fae warrior and a necromancer’s apprentice.

REVIEW:

This book was everything I wanted and more. I loved these short stories, they were quirky and fun adventures with the people (and creatures) we’ve all come to know and love. Each story followed different characters and was set in different times. To fully enjoy them all I would recommending reading or listening to the first three books before jumping into this one.

So what will you experience when listening to this book? Well first we go way back in time, back to the late nineteenth century, in the midst of the Blood Wars that’s causes destruction in its wake. We meet Angel’s ancestor Ignacio Salvatore and his vampire mate Ashwin Metcalfe.

Present time, someone had the brilliant idea to resurrect a mammoth. As you might have guessed said mammoth caused just a tiiny bit of trouble for Angel and a mighty pissed of owner. It was also a fun adventure.

My absolute favourite story though was Eroch’s. I’m in love with this dragon. He’s cute, fun and fierce and extremely loyal, I just can’t get enough of him. His war with the pigeons in the city caused some unwanted attention, cue two humans and a net trying to capture him. Let’s just say, the next time they see a dragon they will be running the other way. You do not want to mess with a dragon familiar and his master.

We also got a story with Daniel and Ruairi. Where said fae tries to understand the concept of money and currency. A trip to the bank that might have been quick and routine turned into anything but, where panic buttons had to be pressed and reinforcements called. Then again, the bag of literal bling that Ruari tried to exchange is not an everyday occurrence…

Joel Leslie did a great job with these stories, though narrating a book like this highlights a couple of thigs. Voices are recycled between main characters. So the main characters had the same voice throughout the book. I didn’t find it odd or dissatisfactory in any way, because I personally wouldn’t be able to do two voices myself. Still it is noticeable, but not in a way that bothered me. I’m also still wondering if Leslie (or Himes) were dragon familiar in their past lives, because I they get this wonderful creature just right.

I loved to be back in Boston and Beacon Hill. I’m looking forward to many more stories set in this world.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon