Anubis Nights

The Fourth Jonathan Shade Novel

By: Gary Jonas

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

A dead sorcerer in the underworld named Henry Winslow, a contemporary of Aleister Crowley and former member of The Golden Dawn, steals a spell from the Forbidden Texts in order to fulfill the prophecy of the Thrice Born. He divides himself into three aspects and goes back in time to steal the Emerald Tablets of Thoth from the Great Pyramid of Giza. He wants true immortality and to change the course of history.

Jonathan Shade's old friend, Sharon, shows up with the master of time, Chronos, to send Jonathan and his team into the past to find and kill Winslow.

Jonathan and Kelly arrive in Egypt during the reign of King Tutankhamun. As they appear from nothing, they are mistaken for gods, but when Tut is murdered during a chariot race, things get out of control.

At stake is, well, everything. Because if Winslow succeeds, the world as we know it will no longer exist, wiped from the sands of time.

©2014 Gary Jonas (P)2016 Gary Jonas

Three Shades of Time Travel. The gang's all here!

What made the experience of listening to Anubis Nights the most enjoyable?

The on going adventures of paranormal investigators that I have grown to enjoy. Home-based in the greater Denver, Colorado area who time travel to catch up with a complex bad guy. References to aforementioned Denver locales, Aldous Huxley, the Three Stooges - nyuk, nyuk, nyuk... Lord of the Rings, Egyptology, popular culture.

What other book might you compare Anubis Nights to and why?

The other books in the Jonathan Shade series - Modern Sorcery, Acheron Highway, Dragon Gate... there are eight books in the series. Some haven't been translated to Audible books yet. But soon I hope.

What does Joe Hempel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joe Hempel has narrated the entire series. so far. You can hear it in his body of work here, he enjoys this series. He embodies the traits of the great voice work talents. Versatility in his choices of character representation, prep work / familiarity with written substance and the narrative skills to keep it flowing in an entertaining way. He has something more too, he has the uncanny ability to put across the essence of a writer's characters and story. He brings them to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is the beginning of a new direction for the series. I like it! There are still the elements of humor which have made the whole series very good. And it expands the books to different interesting locations and historic avtors in the locations.

Any additional comments?

If you're not familiar with this series, take a chance. I think you will enjoy it immensely. Gary Jonas has a sly wit in his writing. Adventurous, and Jonathan's "posse" work well together.Joe Hempel provided this audio book. Thanks, Joe! Much Appreciated!

Magic in the past as Jonathan works.

Which character – as performed by Joe Hempel – was your favorite?

Joe Hempel is the voice of Jonathan Shade as he returns in this fourth novel. He feels to really be Jonathan to me with his emotion, sarcasm, and more that hits the mark with Jonathan's words. Joe's audio is clear and flawless to my ears. Not much more I can say but I enjoy his narration of Jonathan.

Any additional comments?

I like that we start with the characters where they are and how they feel now. Terrible things have happened to a few characters in the end of the last book, and they are dealing with the results. In seeing them now we also get a reminder of what happened, and how horrible it was for them.

Jonathan is definitely back to himself and moved through much of his concerns in the last book. I have to smile when the crew act up together. They all have an individual sense of humor that they all thrive off of, bringing more out of each person. When Sharon tries to explain about Henry Winslow they frustrate her with their wandering focus and jokes. But it's funny 'watching' them act as kids at this moment but know very well they are understanding and will get the job done when time comes.

This novel is in a different format from the previous books. We get POV from different characters - Jonathan, Kelly, Brand, and Rayna. They are in different areas and times in the world looking for our man who's in three aspects, this format lets us see what's happening in those places until they reunite. There is a lot of story of the different characters in their time, waiting for the others to arrive. All find troubles they need to struggle through, and stay alive, along with personal struggles too. I enjoyed the journey through time with Jonathan and friends. Jonathan and Kelly are in Egypt, Brand with Esther in 1870's, and Rayna in 1929. We start in Egypt and meet King Tutt. Cool!

I really started to worry that things would not work out or come to the end I was expecting. Gary is known for this in his previous books. So when I started to get nervous, I was also getting excited to see his twist to the ending ~ something Gary does not let me down at. The ending comes at us fast, and we are left on a bit of a cliffhanger here. The overall missions are not completed in this book and it leaves you looking for the next book (which is out in ebook and print). We do get through Jonathan's time frame completely though.

Oh, I'm waiting for the next book in audio, even though the ebook is out... hmm... maybe I'll get the ebook? lol. I will be looking for the rest of the books!

Brilliant. Well written and narrated.

A very complex storyline. Well performed by joe Hempel who is one the best narrators I have heard. Gives distinct voices to both females and males. Jonathan Shade's voice was very good. I like the whole storyline and though there is a cliffhanger at the end it keeps me all geared up for the next book.

Anubis Nights

I received a free audio copy of this book to write a review.

The fourth book in the series. Jonathan Shade and his friends, Kelly, Brandon and Rayna are transporting into different realms of the past. Jonathan & Kelly end up in Ancient Egypt chasing Henry Winslow from the under-world.

While I did not like the way the author ended this book I knew from the beginning that it would be broken into multiple books in the series.

I enjoyed this one as much as I did book 3 and look forward to more in the series.

Another fun Jonathan Shade novel

This is the fourth Jonathan Shade novel I have read and I really enjoyed it. I loved the sarcastic wit of the main character. All the characters are pretty fun. I highly recommend reading the previous books in the series before starting this one as it is more a continuation, rather than a stand alone book. There are fantasy, humor, and supernatural elements throughout the book. One thing that really made me like this book is that part of it takes place in Egypt, and anything about Egypt fascinates me. Beware, though, that this book ends with a cliff-hanger. Now I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book.

I listened to the Audible audio version of this book narrated by Joe Hempel and I liked his narration. He does a good job giving a unique voice to each character, his pacing is great, and he makes the story come alive.

Overall, this book (and the rest of the series) is a fun read, and if you enjoy paranormal fantasy, I recommend this book.

A Weak Addition To The Series

Author Gary Jonas has written his fourth Jonathan Strange novel, “Anubis Nights,” which begins book one of a three novel length story. Gary Jonas novels aren’t that long to begin with yet the cost of his books is the same as authors whose work is two and three times the length of his. To my way of thinking, all three novels that comprise Mr. Jonas’ latest story should have been offered to us as one book. I know people need to make a buck and the consumer is always going to be the one business sticks it to, so I’m not really shocked by the choice of making this story stretch across three books. I don’t have to like it though

With that being said, The Greek titan Cronos and the river Styx ferryman, Charron show up to recruit Jonathan and his friends for a mission to go into the past and murder a sorcerer named Henry Winslow. Henry has managed to steal a convoluted spell that has split him into three different time periods in the past in order for him to carry out all the requirements for gaining immortality. To start with, I didn’t buy the entire premise for this novel. A Titan, which is suppose to be one level above the Gods and one who is a master of time can’t go back in time to thwart one human? Come on. Mr. Jonas tries to address this obvious question anyone reading his novel would ask, but I just didn’t buy his explanation. He should have used a character not so powerful to make things more plausible. On top of that, Jonathan and his friends accept the job without really working out definitively, how they are to get back to their present time once they’ve successfully completed the mission.

Based on the first three books, the Jonathan Shade character should have been too sharp, too cynical to just accept at face value what he was told by Cronos and Charron. Mr. Jonas also changed his writing style for book four. Instead of a first person point of view story he has adopted a multi-person, point of view, story telling style. I can understand the decision to do that since the group had to break up into three groups to go to the three different time periods in order to stop Henry. I would have preferred the original first person perspective of Jonathan Shade and have him go to each of the three time periods to stop Henry. The choice of splitting the team up forces them to have to carry the novel when the novel turns to either of the two time periods Jonathan Shade is not in. For me, each time that happened, I was less interested and the book just wasn’t as good.

Overall, Mr. Jonas tends to write short, fast-paced, enjoyable, urban fantasy, action novels. This one is his first long novel that I’m aware of. Since the story is broken into three separate books, it forces you to critique the same story three times. “Anubis Nights” is not an awful novel, it just doesn’t stand up to the first three stand alone books in the series. If you are already a Jonathan Shade fan, you will probably want to read/listen to “Anubis Nights.” If you’ve never read a Jonathan Shade novel, don’t start with this one. Start with any of the first three books. My personal favorite of the first four books is book two, Acheron Highway.

Finally, this audio book was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an honest review, courtesy of Audio Book Boom.

A fun trip back to Ancient Egypt

What made the experience of listening to Anubis Nights the most enjoyable?

Loved the originality of the idea of dividing into aspects and visiting different times in history simultaneously

What does Joe Hempel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Joe's audio is clear and flawless to my ears

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book was great

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher

4 star story, 5 star narration- love this series!

I am a huge fan of the this series so far, and I bought this one as soon as I could after seeing it was released in audio. That being said, this book was my least favorite of the four books I've listened to. I'm not great with history, and I feel like the setting wasn't the best for me. However, I definitely still enjoyed the story, and seeing what our awesome cast of characters have gotten into this time. The characters are all split up in different time periods during most of the book, so we get to see things from a few different perspectives. Some very interesting romantic relationships occur, and I enjoyed one in particular but I don't want to spoil the story for anyone else.
    Joe Hempel provided the narration for the audiobook version again and as always, was completely perfect. If you have never heard this man's voicing before, you are missing out! I love the collaboration of Joe and the author, Gary Jonas, and I hope they continue to work together many times in the future! The book ended with an awesome cliffhanger, and I'm dying to know what will happen next. I highly recommend this series, and the audiobook version in particular. Go buy the first book in the series now, you will not regret it!

Jonathan's team splits up

"Anubis Nights" is the fourth book in the Jonathan Shade series, and it's quite different from the previous book I listened to, which was "Modern Sorcery." Obviously, a lot has happened to Jonathan in books two and three! In this installment, Jonathan and his friends are searching for a man who used time travel to go into three different vastly different times and places to find an ancient artifact. What he (and they) do in those places affects future events, so the potential for confusion and paradox is great. And even if they accomplish their mission, will they be able to get back to their own time?

Not everything is resolved by the end of the book, so be prepared for the story to continue.

I received a free copy of this audio book through AudiobookBoom in exchange for an honest review.

Definitely a fun and entertaining story!

Any additional comments?

This is the first book I listened to in this series and although I think it’s best to have read the previous three, I was still able to follow the story. I found this audiobook interesting, suspenseful and highly entertaining. The characters have a great relationship and the banter between them felt natural to what most of us do with good friends or rivals. The story is unique and the historical references added a lot to the plot. I also really enjoyed the narrator, Joe Hempel. He has a great way of delivering the story and he made the story easy to follow by giving each character a unique voice. This made it easy to follow the story. I highly recommend this audiobook. I also have to mention that this audiobook was given by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.