Prelude: A Supernatural Suspense Series

An Alec Winters Series, Book 1

De: Chariss K. Walker

Narrado por: Walt Allen

A young man is supernaturally transformed!

It all began when 17-year-old Alec, a New Orleans teen jock, discovered a terrible family secret involving his younger sister, Catalina. Alec's ensuing rage and desire for retribution took over. His fury was the catalyst that propelled Alec into this paranormal change.

Was the Winters’ family secret instrumental in changing Alec’s life, or was it his destiny?

As both angel and demon, he is a protector of innocent victims and a punisher of those who hurt them.

Prelude, a prequel to Crescent City, shares a behind-the-scenes look at Alec's life before that fateful night and gives little known facts about Alec’s relationship with Sabrina, Chaz, and Danae.

This dark urban fantasy and supernatural suspense thriller is only the beginning of Alec’s controversial story as an angel and demon. You can discover more about his life on the gritty streets of New Orleans in Crescent City, Port City, and Harbor City, the last installment in this emotionally charged four-book series.

Author's Warning:

Rated R: This dark fiction story deals with elements of fear, death, and the darkest side of life, and contains many emotional triggers. Not for the faint of heart, and not recommended for those under the age of 17.

Fans of the movie The Equalizer and the television series Supernatural and Constantine will enjoy An Alec Winters series.

Download Prelude today!

©2017 Chariss K. Walker (P)2023 Chariss K. Walker

prelude

the avenging angel/demon concept made for an interesting story. narration was clear and also understandable.

very good

This was a very well written story, The character building was fast and effective. The narrator was on point and moved at a steady pace.
If you like a good supernatural story then I highly recommend this book.

Demon or angel, that's the question?

This is the first book I've read by Chariss Walker but it won't be the last. I look forward to the next part. This leaves you hanging and wondering but at least it's not a cliffhanger. I don't do spoilers I can't stand them. It's well written and worth listening to. It sort of a mix of the old series of the equalizer and supernatural with a twist.
The narrator pulls off a excellent southern drawl, but it's a bit slow. I had to speed it up one notch.
This audio book was given to me for free at my request from the publisher or author or narrator and I provided this unbiased voluntary review.

Angel or Demon?

Chariss Walker has crafted a tale in which the main character, named Alec, is an angel to the people that he saves but he is a demon to the people that he punishes. I enjoyed this story and found it to be thought provoking, fascinating, and emotional. I recommend this book for others who like supernatural suspense stories, but please note that some of the scenes and language are inappropriate for younger readers. Walt Allen does a great job as the narrator and provides distinct voices for the characters. I was given a free copy of the audiobook and I have voluntarily left this review.

Great story!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

The narration was pretty good but a bit slow. I tend to listen to most books at around 1.4x but this one, I had to increase up to 1.6x. Other than that, the narrator was great!

The storyline flowed very well and I did not feel that I was missing anything as I listened. I am a big fan of supernatural, fantasy and thrillers so this book hit all of my buttons for a good story. It was dark, it was disturbing, it had great characters and a great storyline.

I shivered as part of the tale was revealed!

Walt Allen has (or is able to use) the perfect Southern accent to make this book come alive! Having read the e-book I think I actually got more from the audio book. I felt myself shiver as part of the tale was revealed!

Thought Provoking

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review. Alec's life seems perfect, that is until he goes home. One fateful evening, a decision to save his sister's life, changes his life forever along with the members of his family. Once you look evil in the eye, you can never forget. Alec has a new purpose in life though and he does it very well. A somewhat dark plot that is intriguing and thought provoking as you follow the well written character in the suspenseful tale. Looking forward to the next book.

Great story!

I loved every part of this audio-book, from the opening chapter to the last word on the last page. Excellent character development and even though there were a lot of characters, each one added something rich to the overall story. Walt Allen had a way of pulling me into the story so that I really cared about the characters and the outcomes for each of them

3.5* - interesting to see how series progresses

I thought this was an interesting and unique premise for a series, so I was looking forward to hearing how the plot unrolled. From a distance the plot seemed to connect together okay. We hear about Alec's 'origin story' and get to know about his character and those of the people around him.

When we get to the details, though, there are some aspects to the plot and characters that don't resonate with me or seem to be a bit off-kilter to the impressions that I had other wise formed. It's hard to give examples without entering spoiler territory, but I'll share a few examples of what I mean. Most prominently, I like the themes of justice and retribution in fiction (indeed, if I could have a superpower, it would be related in some way to justice.), but... I'm not keen on vigilantism. Also, Alec isn't the direct victim of the event that transformed him, he's a witness. That's not to underestimate vicarious trauma, but in other fantasy stories involving the theme of retribution, it just seems to work better when the protagonist has personally experienced some form of brutal trauma.

I also sensed an undercurrent of gender/sexism stuff that seemed to be between the lines, but maybe I sensed it because it doesn't square with my personal values and opinions (thus it's very subjective) about feminism. Multiple female characters in the story made decisions that I thought were not admirable or honourable/ethical but their actions were explained away as acceptable, and I got a sense that women who commit crimes have been driven to it and are innocent in spirit, while men who commit crimes (who also may have been driven to it by abusive childhoods or mental illnesses) deserve to be extinguished. Perhaps the author didn't intend to send those signals, but those were the vibes that I was interpreting. There are many 5-star reviews here, which perhaps illustrates how subjective these perceptions are.

I felt that the author's description of the community's extreme negative reaction towards key events didn't seem to make sense, given their earlier extreme goodwill towards the protagonists. I wasn't persuaded that the prosecution was 'open-and-shut', I felt the opposite (i.e., that the defense's case was 'open-and-shut'). Having said that, the sociologist geek inside me is fascinated by the concept of mob mentality and I'm always interested in how crowd behaviour is portrayed in film and books.

Narration was quite good, although I did increase the playback speed significantly because the accent was a little more drawling than I'm used to.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Dark and entertaining

Prelude is the first novel in the Alec Winters Series of four dark paranormal mysteries written by Chariss K. Walker.

The story follows a young man on his journey in life. Alec discovers that he can be an angel for those who love him and a demon for his enemies. As we progress, we see as Alec is forced to take some harsh decisions, especially when his younger sister is in danger.

Chariss K. Walker has written with Prelude a disturbing, but compelling novel that touches on some really dark aspects. But, like with other characters in her other works, those who we meet in Prelude have a well written character arc that evolves as the story goes forward.

Voiceover artist and narrator Walt Allen brings this captivating and entertaining story to life with different voices for each of the main characters and raises the level of immersion for the listener with a credible southern accent. He even adds some gas to the already bright burning fire by performing parts of the heated dialogues with something that could even pass off as religious fervor.

I enjoyed Prelude and I am looking forward for the next three audiobooks in this dark urban fantasy series. The author's writing style is easy to follow and the narrator does a great job with bringing all the characters to life in the listener's mind.

A word of warning: this is not a book for young adults or those faint of heart! Themes like emotional and sexual abuse, brutal events and other disturbing situations appear during the almost 5 hours of this audio production.

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