In a future where time travel has been outlawed, a black market exists for anyone with the money, connections, and nerve to request items from days past. As a Runner for one of the underground syndicates that now controls the timewaves, Stassi 2446-89 has seen it all: the fall of Rome, the rise of Hitler, the end of democracy, the establishment of time tourism, and the devastating consequences of … of it. Her job is to seamlessly slip through the past, in search of items of value to the syndicate’s clientele.
Stassi’s next assignment takes her to Paris in the 1920’s, in search of a lost manuscript by one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. She and her partner, Gaige, are swept up in the City of Light during the height of fashion and culture—as alluring a locale as they’ve ever visited. But a seedier side of life lurks beneath the glamorous façade, and the pair quickly learns this run is more dangerous than any of their previous missions.
Because history isn’t playing out as it should be—a first for the syndicate. When the stakes are raised and it becomes a matter of life or death, Stassi and Gaige must ultimately decide how far they’re willing to go to ensure the future as they know it.
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AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I’m going to start off with a review of the story, because overall, I really did enjoy it quite a bit. It starts off at the end of a mission for Stassi and Gaige, and we get a feel for how they work as a team. Quickly moving into the next mission, things seem to slow down a bit, and we get a ton of detail of how the syndicate and the missions work, and it does tend to drag the story a bit. However, as the mysteries unfold, it sucks you in more and more.
There are three main plots circling each other in this book. The main being the mission to 1925 Paris to obtain a manuscript that has gone missing, and someone wealthy would like to get their hands on. It’s a lengthier mission than most, possibly lasting up to six weeks, and involves getting deeply embedded into the elite social circles of 1920s Paris, including with Ernest Hemingway and his wife. The second mystery that is tied in with this, is Stassi’s desire to learn more about her birth parents, since she was essentially orphaned at age 4, but a mysterious locket, and a picture that ties it to Paris in this time period, makes her want to pursue any possibly leads for more information. And the third main mystery revolves around a mysterious, seemingly undocumented serial killer terrorizing the area, who then turns his sights and obsessions onto Stassi. The three stories weave around each other nicely. We even get a sweet secondary romantic storyline that proves to be more than you think by the end. Definitely an interesting world, and very intriguing, the book itself really is quite good.
That said, the narration just isn’t up to par here. The narrator herself has a very clipped and robotic intonation, most of the time. There are actually times where she actually sounds natural, usually in spurts of dialogue here and there, but overall, it is very slow, and very robotic. I had the speed ratcheted up to 1.3x in order to get it to a pace that would allow me to continue to listen to the story that I was enjoying without being majorly distracted. She also mispronounced a number of things, including some historically important ones. Those were definitely a distraction. The audio quality here is also inconsistent. The volume and quality fluctuated quite a bit throughout the book, once again, causing a level of distraction to the story.
I’m not dinging the overall score of the review for the narration, but I do think this particular book in the series might be better if just read in ebook, or other written, form. The prequel was a different narrator, and it was good, and I see that the subsequent books in this series utilise a different narrator, so I’m hopeful that many of these issues will be resolved. I enjoyed the story, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of the series!
The Syndicate by Sophie Davis
Great time traveling adventure!! I love the storyline and Stassi and Gage are great characters. They are runners, basically they time travel to collect different items before they are lost in history. There latest run just happens to be the one location and time Stassi has been waiting to come up. She is also trying to uncover anything about her past or her parents.
The audio was well done and enjoyable to listen to and I am definitely looking forward to more in this series!!
I don’t have many time traveler books read but I’m so happy to have grabbed this book. It is brilliant!! The whole world building of the runners and their world is fantastic. I was very intrigued by the Runners life and their outcomes. I was fascinated with Stassi and Gage. Stassi has a unknown background that really makes the reader want to dig more into her past. The plot was amazing as well. I don’t want to give it away but know that it is a great story that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat.
“Lock it up”
“Change not the past, lest we lose our present and destroy the future for all.”
I can really appreciate when a story is thought out and clearly written with passion and complexity behind the pages. Everything in The Syndicate worked very well. The twists, characters, world and enigmas complemented each other and the plot to perfection. So much so that even the most commonly used subjects and cliches out there became new and original in the Syndicate, in the most amazing ways this book could make it. This isn’t my typical kind of read, but it sure brought a fresh breath of air and surprisingly for me I enjoyed it to the fullest.
While I found the story perhaps a bit too long and dragged out in places it never really hurt the story that much for me. Even the most uneventful pages helped build up to the thrilling adventure, mysteries, suspense, plot-twists and then the absolute best part of all; the romance. It was a snooze fest in the beginning until the storyline introduced the romance with the very likable Charles Dupree, then the mystery with Stassi’s unknown past and the jewelry. And of course we cannot forget the most suspenseful thing of them all; the Night Gentleman. The book had so many elements to work with, which in the wrong author’s hands could have made it messy and unrealistic. But Sophie Davis (which, I believe is two authors if I’m not wrong) balanced and connected all the subplots beautifully into one big compelling and original plot. I am very impressed to say the least. Especially with the smorgasbord of different and unique personalities the story brought out.
In the first two chapters I thought that perhaps Gaige and Stassi would become sort of an item. Being a huge romance addict I was quick to hope so. However now I am very happy I was wrong, because I loved their friendship even more than a potential romance between them. Their friendship brought out the best kind of quirks from them and it was a fun read having them work together as well as bicker lovingly with each other. Their teamwork truly made the dreamwork. The authors could not have described them any better than that and a plus side, I still got my dose of romance. A hint of it from another quirky character Molly and Gaige and then the main couple Charles and Stassi.
If there is one thing I could have wished for that this book didn’t give me then it would be a more center stage romance. While I enjoyed the developing relationship between Charles and Stassi it wasn’t as big a part in the story as I wanted it to be. The book was more about the suspense, the mystery and the time travel aspect than any romance. At the same time I do understand that it is mostly just my personal preference and analyzing it with an open mind I am truly impressed with all the complexity and details from the time period it takes place. Although history isn’t my forte I could tell that the authors not only tried to keep it accurate to the time, but really reveled in it. Despite the lack of a deeper romance I am more than happy with how the book turned out. Plus, with that cliffhanger of an ending I am optimistic for a stronger relationship in the upcoming book.