A Ferry of Bones & Gold

Soulbound, Book 1

By: Hailey Turner

Narrated by: Gary Furlong

When the gods come calling, you don’t get to say no.

Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.

Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.

Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble - to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.

In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best - cheat death.

©2018 Hailey Turner (P)2019 Hailey Turner

omg when is the next one coming out

this was a great book I loved every minute of it action a love story can wait for the next one to come out

Story and writing are amazing. Narration is....eh

I love this series so much. And I loved the previous narrator for the Metahuman novels so I was excited to dive into these. The narration is....so flat. Every sentence has the same inflection and cadence. There's little to no emotion in a book that I know is packed with heightened ones so it was really disappointing to hear such an amazing book read so flat and as if the narrator wasn't even interested. Even the intimate scenes were....meh.

The story and the series itself though? Stellar. Amazing. Hailey is one of my auto-buy authors now and I cannot wait to read more by her.

Federal Agent! Drop your magic!

Let me begin by apologizing to my ninth grade English teacher. I wish I’d paid more attention to the Greek Mythology lessons. I wish I’d memorized the Gods and all the stories they were in. Alas I didn’t and that made this book more challenging for me. If you’re like me and not familiar with most of the mythologies from various civilizations, no worries, they’re explained clearly, if quickly.

As for the rest? Vampires, Werecreatures, Witches, Mages, Soul Takers, Seers and every other creature imaginable and they all inhabit New York. Now, I’ve visited New York City and found it full of a huge variety of people. I was totally overwhelmed. I don’t know how I would’ve felt knowing I was in and among these creatures. In the world of this book, it appears the human population are aware that the creatures that go bump in the night are real. Like I said, I don’t think I’d be comfortable with that. Each to their own.

Patrick is a mage and I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know what that meant. As he was immediately thrown into a case where he was an agent with the Supernatural Operations Agency, his role was made clear quickly. If you’re not familiar with paranormal books, don’t worry, you’ll get a good education. If you’ve read books like this before, you’ll be completely comfortable. The book makes it clear Patrick is one of the good guys but with demons running amok, it isn’t always clear who his true allies are. And when Gods are involved? Well, anything can happen.

This is an action-packed book. Almost from the beginning, with Patrick tracking a serial killer, the adventure begins. There are several fight and chase sequences that blew my mind. Ms. Turner’s vivid imagery brought me into the center of the chaos and, at times, the scenes were unrelenting in their action. I loved it.

There is a bit of romance in this book which I also loved. Jono was a human who became a werecreature and was banished. He lives in New York with a group of friends but no pack. Patrick is an ex-military agent who works hard and has a few acquaintances but no true friends. These two men are like oil and water until they scent each other and then hot times ensue. I like how their relationship has progressed by the end of the story and I can’t wait to see where their new bond takes them in the next book.

Gary Furlong is an incredibly talented narrator. I am currently listening to another book he’s narrated where he’s using a British Dialect. Truthfully, he does New York as solidly as he does Britain and I’m hard pressed to know which side of the pond he inhabits. A bit of mystery to go with the true talent. (I suppose I could do some investigation, but I like guessing…)

I do quickly want to mention the uneven point of view in the book. I assumed it would be entirely in Patrick’s POV but several random chapters were in Jono’s. I could understand why the author felt she needed to do this, but it made the story feel a little forced at times. Not a big deal and I’m hoping the POV is more even in the next book although it may not be. This issue certainly didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

I liked the book and can’t wait for the sequel. Here’s hoping it comes to audio soon.

Magic, Guns, Gods, & Werewolves...am I in Heaven?

Not knowing what I was getting into, I absolutely loved this story. Being introduced to Patrick's world and the interlink between Patrick and Jono was delicious to observe. I liked how the author interweaved the backstory into the actual story, adding to the drama and intrigue. The introduction of a cast full of characters was a bit tenuous at times, but trust that the writing styles of Hailey Turner will provide the needed information. In the beginning, I wasn't sure I was going to like this story. At the half-way point, I was literally trapped in the drama involving God's and the like. An addendum here...loved Hermes! By the end I was enthralled and wanted the story to continue...which I see that it does in the next book, which I must start to read/listen to as soon as possible. The narration by Gary Furlong was the icing on this story.

Great 1st Story in this Series

Patrick is a special agent for the SOA. When the immortal Zeus goes missing and dead bodies are turning up the Gods call to him to stop the killings and to get Zeus back. This is all due to a soul debt he owes them for them saving his life when he was a child. The fates throw a hot gorgeous were-creature in the mix and tell him to not leave him alone as Jono is the next target of the Dominion Sect. The narrator did a great job.

Good

I haven't heard Gary Furlong before, but I'll be buying up the next book with him. I enjoyed this book and I really liked the audio version. Gary has great distinction between voices and I never lost track of who was talking

Law Enforcement + Werewolves + Magic = Awesome

I'm loving this first book of a new urban fantasy series.

Patrick is a special agent for Supernatural Operations Agency. He was supposed to go on vacation but he just had to take that phone call and he ended up in New York on another assignment. That's where he met the hot packless God pack werewolf, Jonothan. The romantic subplot is a little bit on the slow burn side, but once they got together, it was HOT AF.

The world-building is great. As the story goes on, it's also unfolding Patrick's backstory. And what a backstory it is! I find it interesting how the Greek Pantheon (which is has big part of Patrick's struggle) is mixed with Norse mythology and other cultural mythology. The mix is seamless.

I'm floored with Hailey's imagination, first on Metahuman Files, and now with this new urban fantasy series. I can't wait for more.

Gary Furlong brought the characters life with his narration. Excellent job!

Good story-ok narration

I bought this book because I've heard so much about it. I even read about it in another book I'd read. I like the story, but the narrator made it difficult to get through the book. The dialogue is great. Whenever the characters are speaking, you can tell who is talking, the accents are good, and the emotions are right. It's the rest. The storytelling is very monotone and this book has A LOT of storytelling and very little dialogue. Even the character's thoughts are monotone and all sound the same. Also, there were several mispronounced words. As a side note, the author uses the word "preternatural" about 200 times in the book. If I read any more in the series it will be in book form, not audiobook. I just can't torture myself that way.

This Book. Oh, this book.

I have a new favorite author to add to the many I enjoy, along with a fabulous narrator. Together they made this book into a blockbuster movie complete with action, complexity and some seriously heated moments that I never once thought about skipping through. I didn't want the story to end. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a book two.
You want to listen to this. Oh, my goodness. This book.

Good story, rushed & monotoned narrator.

The narration nearly ruined this one. The speaker was monotoned, which isn’t necessarily always a bad thing; however, here, the narrator was rushing between sentences. This made it difficult to distinguish between a change in characters or a pívot in the POV or the plot.

Several times, I had to pause & rewind to assess which pronouns referred to whom.

Otherwise, a fun story. Probably a story better read than told.