Badlands

Badlands, Book 1

By: Morgan Brice

Narrated by: Kale Williams

Medium and clairvoyant Simon Kincaide owns a Myrtle Beach boardwalk shop where he runs ghost tours, holds seances, and offers private psychic readings, making a fresh start after his abilities cost him his lover and his job as a folklore professor.

Jaded cop Vic D'Amato saw something supernatural he couldn't explain during a shootout several years ago in Pittsburgh and relocated to Myrtle Beach to leave the past behind, still skeptical about the paranormal. But when the search for a serial killer hits a dead end, Vic battles his skepticism to ask Simon for help.

As the body count rises, Simon's involvement makes him a target and a suspect. But Simon can't say no, even if it costs him his life and heart.

©2018 Gail Z. Martin (P)2019 Tantor

Really good!

I've decided to listen to 1 'new to me' author once a month, and lucky me, I picked a good one to start!
The story was really interesting, I liked both Simon and Vic immediately, add in the secondary characters and the story, I was hooked.
The narration by Kale Williams kept me listening well into the wee hours. He is really good! I plan on looking for more audiobooks by either Morgan Brice or narrated by Kale Williams (both together would be an added bonus!👍)

Awesome Listen

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one. I love this author. The story truly comes to life digitally.

A wonderful book!

I loved the story and the two main characters. Their romance was really great. The murders were a little bit too gruesome for me, but I just skipped over those parts. Highly recommend.

Nice mystery

This is a mystery with little magic thrown in. The two main characters come from a palace of mistrust and skepticism of how they approach several murders and each other. I haven't read anything by this author but have now several books on my wishlist. Kale williams is a wonderful narrator, his voice is pleasant and there is enough variation to each character to tell them apart. This story takes place in Mrytle Beach SC. He doesn't try to layer on the accent which being from the south I appreciate. Some narrators miss the mark with southern accents so thick it sounds cartoonish or like a hick. Different states have their unique qualities and if you don't spend time with these people you may make someone from SC sound like a Texan. This is not the case with the native characters.

Fun mystery, great narrator!

Really enjoyed this! The story was compelling, loved Vic and Simon and I've always enjoyed listening to Kale Williams. Looking forward to more in this series.

It was an enjoyable read

It was a fun read. I don’t like most gay paranormal series because they focus too much on erotica, but this I enjoyed.

One thing that almost caused me to stop listening was the use of the word “clean” to denote that the characters were HIV negative. As an HIV positive man I consider that to be disgustingly offensive. The opposite of “clean” is “dirty”. I am not nor is my blood dirty. I have a virus that is suppers by medication to the point we’re I am undetectable so I can not transmit the virus to others.
I understand that sadly this term is thrown around within the gay community, which is worse. It was said twice and each time it made me cringe. Nothing can be done about it’s use but know that it is a demeaning way to denote HIV status.

Sweet Romance, Spooky Mystery

A pair of interesting gay men meet and fall in love. The problem is that they happen to be a cop in the middle of a harrowing serial killer investigation and a psychic medium haunted in more ways than one, respectively. While the premise sounds silly, the story is engaging and the characters just as much. Rather than simply tip its hand early and pinpoint the bad guy and endgame, this story keeps the reader/listener hooked with the budding romance, the dangerous crime, the supernatural spookiness, and yes, the hot sex. This is worth a listen to as the world of Badlands opens up with more than just a straight-forward story and a great deal of characters and additional details to take in.

Enjoyable start to the series

I'm a fan of paranormal "woo woo" stuff and I am a bigger fan of romance. This was my first Morgan Brice book and my umpteenth Kale Williams performance. I think Morgan did a great job of balancing the paranormal/suspense and romance between Vic and Simon and with Kale's crisp and at times smoldering deliverance I think I enjoyed this book more than I would have reading it myself. I am interested in the next book in the series but to be honest I'm not a huge fan of following the same couple past 2 or 3 books.

4 stars - I won't listen again

Love me some Angst!

This book had my attention pretty early on, I love paranormal books so it caught my attention. I’ve always liked in both books and movies the team of an out of the box consultant and a cop. And this one was a great addition, while also being unique in its take on things. Cant wait to see how the rest of the series plays out!

Good love lost-found story w historical elements

I've been trough the first 3 books. The thing I like about this series is that while the stories are recognizable across many tropes (lost-found, paranormal expert, cops/detective team, magic/paranormal experts, entrepreneurs, etc.) I like how the author brings all of them together. Since there are historical elements, as important to me was the author's attention to detail--it kept me listening. The author appears to be knowledgeable and whether the history is real or not, it's informative and holds your interest. The full cast of characters is interesting, diverse and there's equity all around more like urban reality than usual. This is a constantly expanding universe and the sex scenes are good. I also appreciate that the murders are very dark and even gory but the gore didn't pull me out of the story. The characters are done well in both the writing and narration. The setting is another plus.