Bodacious Creed and the San Francisco Syndicate

The Adventures of Bodacious Creed, Book 3

By: Jonathan Fesmire

Narrated by: Brad Holbrook

Investigator James Creed has finally settled into life in San Francisco with his found family, the Brotherhood of the Golden Cog. Though he misses his adult daughter, he has a criminal leader to track down—an outlaw who murders innocents, enslaves the downtrodden, and uses machines to alter the bodies and minds of his many victims.

Months ago, the leads dried up. Creed despairs of ever collaring his enemy, the infamous outlaw Maxwell Gregg, until he spots an illegal automaton on Christmas evening. It’s exactly the sort of technology his nemesis deals in.

The clues keep coming. Mechanically enhanced women stalk the red-light district of the Barbary Coast, and a young rancher leads Creed to the site of a mass grave. Known members of the Evil Eye Syndicate are spotted during the day.

Creed gains an unexpected ally—the mysterious Dockside Poltergeist, a vigilante who stops kidnappings and murders along the Barbary Coast. Now, the two are intent on Creed’s target. But, time is running out and there are dark forces also hunting the undead investigator—forces intent on putting him back in his grave.

Can Creed stop his nemesis before the outlaw catches up to him?

©2022 Jonathan Fesmire (P)2023 Jonathan Fesmire

Western justice!

I was drawn to read the book by the name Bodacious Creed. Once I started, I was happy to see he was as interesting as I hoped, plus his backstory — wow.
This is the third book in the series (could be read as standalone), so Bodacious has already been through quite a lot, and it doesn't let up here. This story is a good old fashioned Western mishmashed with some steampunk. I liked the juxtaposition of old fashioned justice and techy gadgets, which are all explained.
There is a ton of action as you might expect, and the pace never drags. Even with all the action, there was time taken to develop the relationships among the characters so we got to know them better. It's a well-written story that kept my attention the whole time.
There were also interesting side characters like the Dockside Poltergeist which I found entertaining.
Brad Holbrook did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life.

Entertaining & Fun!

Not my typically type of read, but this story was fun and entertaining from start to finish. I would love to read more in this series. Excellent audio narration that really brought the characters to life!

The best yet!

I have read all three books in this series. My first point to make is that the narrator did an excellent job. I do hope he returns for any subsequent books in the series, if there are to be any. Secondly, the story kept me intrigued all the way through. I did not find any parts to be dry or boring. I do love the main character of James Creed and appreciate the introduction to new regulars to the series, but I also miss reading about Anna. My hope is that she returns as a main character in the next book. I keep assuming there will be a next book because of the way the book ends. It leads me to believe there will be one. I've also observed that the writer has improved a great deal since the first book. He kept me attention the whole way through. I would have had the entire book read in one day had life but gotten in the way. Here's to hoping there will be a 4th book in this series!

B C #3

Enjoyed this continuing story with Bodacious. Great book, kept my attention all the way to the end, amazing audio delivery, loved it. Will be reading again. Every chapter was received amazingly. I do recommend you give it a read. Side note, I love the locations in this book as they take place mostly in the areas I grew up in. Good narration by Brad Holbrook.

A Zombie, Steampunk Western? Yes Please!

Billed as a “Zombie, Steampunk, Western” this final installment of the Creed trilogy has everything you might expect from that (excellent world building). Here we get an undead ex-lawman turned investigator trying to figure out who is kidnapping and killing street walkers … and apparently reanimating them mechanically before putting them back into service. The book picks up and continues a plotting introduced in book two, The Jade Lake; although you don’t need to read it all from the beginning to enjoy the book (although you will probably want to go back and read them after this one). In addition to a very likable MC in Creed, the supporting caste of characters were also very relatable and enjoyable. Finally, the mystery/investigation aspect of the story was also very well done and intriguing and Creed chases down each clue.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#TheSanFranciscoSyndicate #TheAdventuresofBodaciousCreed #FreeAudiobookCodes

A good ending for the trilogy

I thoroughly enjoyed this third installment of Bodacious Creed. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has read the first two installments. I would caution anyone who wants to start with this 3rd book that there is much you will miss by not reading the first two.
The presentation of the book was well done with different voices for different characters and after a short while you knew who was talking by their voice. However, as good as the narrators speaking voice was, I felt it lacked emotion. It was almost monotone. Dispite this I still feel the reading was done well and was easy to follow.

Part of a series but stands on its own

The author has done a great job making sure you know about that happened in other books, in the event you’ve not read/listened to them (though on flaw is sometimes it’s referenced a little too much at times). While I rarely like these ‘genre’ I found myself sucked into the story. I do really like this authors style of writing even if the voice of the author sometimes feels menotonous. Once I’m into the story it just seems right.

Steampunk western

Not a bad book by any means. It’s your basic cowboy story, with the added aspects of a steampunk story. People have implants that aid in their vision and give them added strength. There’s also a bit of alternate history here. The narrator did a nice job reading this one. Although at times it sounded like he was actually reading, those were few and far between. The character voices were different enough that you can tell which character is speaking. The story is a typical western story. Revenge, gunfights, guys in black hats, that kind of thing. As I am not a big fan of westerns, ( I went in thinking it was an “Indiana Jones” type of thing) I was pleasantly surprised by the story.

excellent listen with flashbacks of Wild wild West

excellent listen cyborg sheriff turned into heroic vigilante fighting against the Tong then a shadowy supervillain

throughout the story, I kept getting flashbacks of wild wild West, a 70s show set in 1870s where proto secret service agents roam about West breaking up crimes and conspiracy.

great fun, bit over the top yet laconic protagonist. look forward to next audio release

Excellent Western Steampunk Novel

I enjoyed this third book in "The Adventures of Bodacious Creed" series. Bodacious Creed has settled down in San Francisco. He continued to search for the criminal leader who had become his nemesis. I enjoyed the worldbuilding. I liked the characters of Bodacious Creed and his friends. I liked the new character of the vigilante known as the Dockside Poltergeist. I appreciated the twists and turns that kept me entertained. Brad Holbrook's narration was great, and his performance kept my attention. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.