Take the Body and Give Me the Rest

Dark Gods and Tainted Souls, Book 1

De: Julius Schenk

Narrado por: Tom Adams

Seth stood and watched the nightmare creature as it tore its past master into bloody shreds and tried not to let the gripping fear show on his face. He could feel the man's life force, his memories, his talents and hard won skills filling his own mind and body turning him into something much more than the lowly soldier he'd been just mere moments before.

©2015 Julius Schenk (P)2016 Victoria Watkinson

Good and disturbing.

What made the experience of listening to Take the Body and Give Me the Rest the most enjoyable?

You are dealing with a vary luck and young protagonist that has a lot to learn about life. The vary rapid growth of him makes the story fast paced and exiting if a little producible.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Take the Body and Give Me the Rest?

When he almost die do to the lust of his flash and the youth of his heart.

Which scene was your favorite?

The death of the thief and the whore

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The devil made me do it.

Any additional comments?

To the author I'm looking forward to the next installment

Building a better you through blood and bodies

I picked up the kindle version of this book months ago, but never had time to read it. The cover had caught my eye, and the title sounded interesting, so I grabbed it and planned on reading it as soon as I could. Then, I slowly found out that I no longer had time to read. Books were out of my purview. Then I discovered audible, and began my "reading" career, only as a listener now. One day, as I was looking for new books to listen to, I saw this book, by Schenk and thought that I had to grab it as it still called out to me. I got it, and listened to it all in one day. I knew I could tell a good book by its cover, because I really fell in love with the unique world that Schenk has created.

First off, props for the cover. It is creepy and demonic looking, and it looks like that poor fellow is having his sould sucked out by the beast behind him. It most assuredly grabs your eye and makes you want to see it, and is of high enough quality that it doesn't look cheesy or cheap. No, the cover is perfect for this book, and what is contained therein. I always appreciate a good cover, but do not add or subtract stars for their quality.

The writing is simply superb. It is rich, verbose, detailed, and emotional. The world is unique and new, but carries a familiarity that makes you comfortable there. It is a world that you get to see a good chunk of too, with our protagonist, Seth, on the run and being forced to flee on a ship for his life. Seth is a young man who is beaten, robbed, and sent into slavery for the simple crime of naivety. His master decides to steal his soul/memories/skills for himself and summons a dark creature to "take the body, but give him the rest", but Seth somehow manages to intrigue the demonic being, and it frees him and kills his master. Seth then goes on the run, fleeing from forces and people he can barely understand.

The book the becomes a shifting bog of quicksand in which Seth must be ever vigilant of where he steps lest he be swallowed whole. He never knows who he can trust, and the fact is he may only be able to count on himself when it comes right down to it. Still, he does make some friends when he frees some other men from slavery, and it looks as if there might be a bond there. The real trick is that Seth must learn to balance the hunger of his beast and that of his own, for there are people that beings such as himself find irresistible and simply cannot resist taking for themselves. Seth, however, might just be above such animalistic drives. At least it seems that way for now, but it looks like he is going to have a very long life ahead of him, and people change. Can you see just how much depth there is to his character? In the plot itself? This book drags YOU in, and I worry that it takes everything else and just leaves the body. You will be drawn in te longer you listen, too.

Tom Adams kills the narration. He plays Seth, the Demon, ladies, lords, and children and you barely notice that it is the same man talking. He is so full of voices, and has such emotional range. His intonations and inflections really bring Seth to life, and the man knows how to pace a story. He certainly keeps you riveted on the edge of your seat. I have never heard him narrate before, and I am glad I got to listen to him. he really made the book fun.

It looks like there are a few more books to go in this series. I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens next. To see if Seth can overcome his personal demon's desires, and what he will do about the dark brotherhood that seeks him. There are many possibilities and directions the story can go, and I do not have a clue as to what is going to come next! That is exciting.

Do not miss out on this wonderful new series. If you love fantasy or even horror then this book is for you.
If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

interesting choices

i liked the story quite a bit, the narrator however was plodding and over dramatic. i usually don't speed up the playspeed above 110 but this narration forced me up to 125. There is something to be said for slow gravitas in moments of drama but making that the default pace just threw the balance for me.

The story is very good though

i recieved a free review copy of this book

great cliff hanger ending

can't wait for next book. great beginning to a series solid anti hero. awesome start.

Swift, enjoyable and a great idea

Guess what happens in this book? Yup, there are entities that take a body, and give you the rest of the person - knowledge, skills, memories... for a price, of course. It's a great idea for world-building and boy, I like those.

The story itself revolves around Seth, who should have been on the "take the body" part of the equation, and suddenly found himself on the "and give me the rest" side. Some people of course didn't like that turn of events, and so a fast-paced chase ensues. Julius Schenk won't bog you down with details or long-winded descriptions, there's exactly enough information in the story to make you understand and enjoy all the plot twists. Tom Adams does a great job narrating, and has a very pleasant voice. Some people might want to turn up the speed of his narration, but I quite like it as it is, clean and well thought-out.

I'm glad I spent my credit on this book and can't wait for the sequel. Great job, Jules!

Unexpected gem!

I was almost ready to give up on free review copies, for most of the ones I listened to have been mediocre at best. The title and premise of this book intrigued me however so I decided to give it another shot. And boy am I glad I did! What a great story this is, I could hardly put it down and finished it in almost 1 day.

This is a strange but gripping mixture of fantasy, vampire story, zombie story and even a bit of Highlander. It also reminded me of LitRPG, not that it's a game, but in the way the story buids up and the MC grows in strength and capabilities.

It is very well written, with well-crafted sentences and grammar, and an interesting plot; it also ends great, with a cliffhanger on the one hand but not a badly done one where the reader is left with the feeling that his book simply cut off mid-story; that is not the case here. All of which make up for the one issue that I have, namely the fact that the - likeable - main character (and all others as well) is rather two-dimensional.

Narration was fun, the narrator tries to give everyone a unique voice. I'm not sure if the very friendly and mild voice for the MC was the best choice; it makes him come off a bit too soft here and there. Also, the narrator has a strong regional accent, which made some of the minor characters very hard to understand.

Anyway, I'm very glad I found this fun book and will definitely keep an I eye out for the sequel, for I have to know what new adventures the MC will be embarking on now, after this climactic ending & cliffhanger...
And I do hope the MC's character, thought processes, background and relationships (and others') will be fleshed out more in the rest of the series.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. I was not required to write a positive review and this reflects my honest opinion of the work.

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Looking forward to the rest of the series

To start this book was all around fantastic. A great fast paced story, and the narration by Tom Adams was a perfect fit for this story. His English accent fit the main character and the story very well and made it easier to get in the mindset of the time period. The range of characters from males, females, demons and children was so good that at times I didn't believe it was just him narrating.

The plot flowed nicely, had just the right amount of details for its length, and concluded with a great ending that makes me very excited to continue the series and see how it all turns out. My only criticism was that despite having many unexpected plot twists, the outcome for several of the scenes was predictable. That being said the story was very engaging and kept me excited until the end.

Disclaimer - Per my request I received a copy of this audio book for free and have voluntarily left this unbiased review but I'll be gladly paying to listen to the rest of the series.

Seems decent, spoiled by narrator

I got about an hour into the book, it seems pretty good but the narrator has a somewhat dull voice, and his characters blend together. I couldn’t keep listening.

An engaging, violent, dark fantasy

Take the Body and Give Me the Rest is a violent, entertaining, dark fantasy story with the feel of historical fiction. This is part of a series but also works well independently. The narrator has an engaging voice and does a good job with the book. Contains graphic violence and sexual content.

Oh yes

This was amazing. I really didn’t know what to expect. Very much an original story. Seth is a reluctant hero and evil person all at the same time. He struggles between what he feels and thinks is right and wrong. The story has me very much intrigued and drawn in. I can’t wait for the next book in the series. It is sure to be just as good if not better.
Tom Adams does an excellent job narrating. It’s been a while since I was blown away with a narrator. I hope he does the next book too.

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