Murderous seer. Mother taken hostage. Someone needs a warlock for hire.
Meet Eddie Lancaster. Eddie is a warlock and a thoroughly annoying one at that. Eddie sells magical services: potions, spells, protection, he can provide it. For a price. Eddie has a unique ability: he can syphon magic right out of other sorcerers. When Ashley Sheridan hires him to remove her magic he wants to find out why. … remove her magic he wants to find out why. His nosing around lands him in trouble with a murderous seer whose psychic abilities make him almost omniscient. He has to find a way to kill the seer before all his friends end up dead.
But how do you beat a man who sees every move you make before you’ve even decided to make it?
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Showdown at the river…
Warlock for Hire (Arcane Inc., Book 1) by Sean Stone and narrated by Hannibal Hills held my interest and I recommend if you’re looking for something new in the genre. 4 ½ stars all around.
What’s it about? Eddie, a warlock who does pretty much anything for the right amount of money, gets involved with a client named Ashley, who needs help. Only she doesn’t want his help at first, but he butts in anyways. Eventually they form a friendship (of sorts) to take down Killian, a ruthless leader and seer. How do you take down a guy who can see the future and has his hands in everything? There is an underlying back story that helped keep it interesting and, I assume, will serve a purpose in future books.
The narrator, Hannibal Hills, did a wonderful job voicing Eddie. If Hannibal hadn’t narrated Eddie so well, I don’t think I’d be giving such a good review. He def made the character not annoying- can’t say I’d feel the same if I read the book, so do yourself a favor and listen to it.
“The point is, don’t waste time. We all have a small amount of time. We shouldn’t waste it. Spend your time doing the things you love. Things that make you happy. Don’t waste time worrying about things that might or might not happen. Just get on with your life. Cheesy I know, but in your case, it serves a valuable lesson.”
“I wanted to drag it out for as long as possible, but I’m smart enough to know not to tempt fate. It happens countless times in films; whoever has the upper hand takes their time about things and the tables quickly get turned.”
Overall, I enjoyed and will be checking out the next in the series.
Parental guidance/trigger warnings: kidnapping, drugging, death, weapons (gun, knives). Language used: Fx24, Sx11.
*I was given a free review copy of the audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. Thank you for allowing me to listen and review the book!
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.
This is the first book in the Arcane Inc. series. It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger ending.
Here, Eddie Lancaster is a warlock and sells his services – he creates spells, sells magic, etc. He goes to seances/psychic readings, waits for the medium to begin the “act” before exposing the medium as a fraud and handing out his business cards. He lives in an apartment, with the landlady and her adult son living in the same building. He goes to the same pub and sits in the same booth. One day, a woman asks him to take all her magic [which he is happy to do as this is how Eddie gains magic strength] but she refuses to talk to him – piquing Eddie’s curiosity. Then she returns a few days later wanting her magic back. Now she has Eddie completely enthralled and the more she doesn’t want his help the more he wants to help her. She is reluctantly forced to accept Eddie’s help and the adventure begins.
This story is told in a first person narrative – along with Eddie’s snarky observations about the situation or characters and on occasion, Eddie speaks directly to the reader. Sometimes this has the feel of sitting down with Eddie and over a couple of beers, he tells you this story. There is a lot of humor in Eddie’s sarcastic asides. Eddie is a character you either love or hate – I loved him and would be happy to sit down with him and hear his stories over a beer or two.
I listened to this book — A huge part of my enjoyment of this book was the narration. Hannibal Hills is so fabulous as Eddie – really just perfect and completely engaging.
Eddie Lancaster is a Natural Warlock who sells his magical services. He’s everything we don’t expect in the hero. He’s egotistical, pretentious, self centered and unapologetic and I freaking love him!!! Hannibal Hills was born to be Eddie Lancaster and Eddie Lancaster was created for Hannibal Hills. The story itself is awesome! It’s creative and different. Selling his services gets him in a bit of trouble – no spoilers here and Ashley has him so captivated he gets himself in to a life or death situation to help her. The writing style of Eddie telling his own story adds so. I have to the story and Hannibal Hills narration on bringing Eddie to life is incredible. I just loved it when he went on a rant speaking directly to me and then remembered he was tell no his story coming back with oh where was I now. Love love love. Can’t wait for the next book
Warlock for Hire
Arcane Inc., Book 1
By: Sean Stone
Narrated by: Hannibal Hills
This is the first time I have listened to a book by this author but it will not be the last. I really enjoyed the wit, clever dialogue, plot, characters, and of course the use of magic! Our wizard ends up helping a gal in need against an evil billionaire who also can see the future. The billionaire wants to be invincible because he foresees his death. Great action and excitement to get to there! No romance! Yeah! A urban fantasy without a hook-up!
The narration was spot on too! Going for book two!
You have to love a book that tells you upfront, the main character is a bit of a prick. He’s rude, obnoxious, a bit pretentious, and unapologetic. He, my dear friends, is Eddie Lancaster… and he’s in a bit of a pickle! Unfortunately for Eddie, he’s about to find out why all those character traits listed above is starting to be his downfall.
He meets Ashley Sheridan, who is in serious need of his services and is in trouble… Killian Myers, an extremely powerful man, wants her to make him invincible. She can’t do it alone. But what can you do when the one man you don’t want to help, can see your every move?
This was a fast-paced story, with action and humor on almost every page. The writing was great, but the narration was better. The narrator, Hans Hill, adds a personality to each character and brings them to life. This had just the right amount of humor and sarcasm, without it being overbearing and annoying. I found myself laughing out loud and thoroughly enjoying this story.
Audiobook review: Eddie is a sardonic and arrogant leading character. The story though good needed to explain less and just have the characters do. Plenty of action to keep my wayward attention. I found too many similarities with Jim Butcher’s character, Harry Dresden, to rate the story higher than three stars. The narrator did a good job but was a bit over the top with voice inflections at times. I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.