Fractured Souls

By: E. A. Copen

Narrated by: Matt Cowlrick, Erin DeWard

Rogue wizard Josiah Quinn never met a rule he wouldn’t break. Even though he knows he’ll face plenty of backlash from both good and evil, he braves the fires of Hell to spring Satan’s captive daughter. But before they return to their lives, he’s got to track down the missing pieces of her soul....

As he attempts to unite the fragmented spirit of the succubus by his side, Josiah has one little problem: a power-hungry wizard aiming to rule the underworld. And since that handsome devil also happens to be his old flame, fighting to protect millions of innocent lives is like battling his own heart.

With New York City in the crossfire, can Josiah pull off the impossible before all Hell breaks loose?

©2020 E.A. Copen (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

It grew on me - and I'm not done with this series

When I started this book, I wasn't sure if I liked Josiah and was wondering if I'd regret my decision to listen. He initially came off as a bit of a callous, self-centered womanizer. As the book progressed though, it was possible to see that there was a lot more to him - not to say that he's the sweetest guy on Earth, but he definitely grew on me. (There are a couple of fun characters, including a talking tarantula. The talking tarantula was honestly the character that made me decide to continue on with the book when I wasn't sure if Josiah was someone I'd want to get to know).

The book is told in alternating first person POV, between Josiah and Khaleda Morningstar, a succubus he rescued from Hell just prior to the start of this book. Khaleda also frequently thought Josiah was a bit of a jerk too, even if he did rescue her. It was interesting seeing the contrast between what Josiah had going on in his head vs. what Khaleda thought he had going on in his head, (and vice versa). Khaleda definitely had her own issues, trauma to process, and flaws too. Although some readers might find miscommunication and misunderstanding tiresome, an ability to communicate well would not have been realistic for these two characters.

This book isn't a romance between Josiah and Khaleda though, even if (at the risk of a spoiler), there is a small amount of sex. (Khaleda is a succubus afterall). Instead, their relationship is a semi-reluctant allyship while they figure out how to tolerate one another and deal with their own internal issues in the midst of a rather large crisis. A part of the story that is almost a romance is one between Josiah and Daniel - all I'll say about that is that their feelings and interactions are seriously complicated and not exactly warm and fuzzy much of the time. Some people have a god complex - Daniel leans toward the other side, you might say.

As the book progressed, along with Josiah becoming more likeable, (at least I found him so), and Khaleda getting her head on straight, the suspense grew for the overall story arc too. I did not like when I had to stop listening for real life, because I wanted to see how things played out.

I had been meaning to read this book for some time, but I hadn't had a chance to get through all of the preceding Lazarus Codex books. I love audio books, (and find it easier to complete them while multitasking), so when this book came out on audio, I decided to take a chance and skip ahead. Having done so now, I definitely want to go back now to that series. This is not to say that I couldn't follow what was going on, but I think it would have added something.

With regard to the narration for the audio, the chapters from Josiah's POV have a male narrator (Cowlrick) and Khaleda's have a female narrator (DeWard). I personally found this jarring, as Cowlrick's voice for Khaleda was nothing like DeWard's voice, and DeWard's Australian accent left something to be desired, at least for me. I felt that Cowlrick did the various male characters' voices very well - I enjoyed those portions of the narration quite a bit, and for that, I would not hesitate to listen to another book with him narrating. (I will say that his female voices were on the deep side & I can't decide if they were good or bad, since DeWard's female voices were so incredibly different and it might have thrown off my perception). I might even listen to the next book, now that I've gotten used to the narration. For my own sanity, I decided to view it as Josiah telling the story from his point of view and Khaleda doing the same - and each mimicking the other characters' voices as one might do in real life.

All that being said, I definitely will be reading - or listening to - the next book. (And I've already started Lazarus Codex again to catch up.)

we didn't care for her voice, but likedctge story.

We would rather have sex scenes treated like Lazarus' or author Jim Butcher's. Details are not needed.

A Good Start

If you haven't read the prerequisite Laz books, this book is an OK start. Not bad. But, there's much to be desired. If you're a Laz fan (as I am), the book is a fantastic spin off series starring characters that you already know (and kinda like).

One area where I think this book misses the mark is the morality. This story depicts them as somewhere between heros and anti-heros. But, if you're a Laz fan, you know that neither of those labels fits either of these characters Josiah is a merc. Khaleda is an assassin. They do hero stuff when doing hero stuff achieves their objectives. They'd slip the villain hat on just as quick. Both of them live wholly within the Gray.

The narration style does take some getting used to. However, I think it had to be done this way to emphasize the fact that the reader is getting 2 perspective of 1 story. His female voices are crap. So, are her male voices. But, the range issues remind you that not only are you hearing what a character is saying. You're hearing how one character is receiving and perceiving what another character is saying.

Half of the performance was great

The male actor does a great job. However the female actor chews through the lines like there's no tomorrow. She mispronounces words so many times, it's clearly not a mistake, she just didn't look up how to say them correctly. She also over acts her ass off. It's cool having both parts being read, but not at the expense of being taken out of the story.

Great male narrator - female narrator is meh

I love Matt Cowlrick's reading for this book - he's a perfect choice that got me right into the action. He has a perfect voice for an embittered sort of noire detective / bodyguard / supernatural character. Unfortunately the female reader isn't that good - I expect more oomph from the SPOILER ALERT daughter of the devil.

While overall I do like the world the story takes place in, and Josiah (main male character) is a mix of Harry Dresden and John Constantine if he were written in the style of Sandman Slim by RIchard Kadrey, there are things I'm not so crazy about. Still, it's a decent start to a series that may be spinning off from another series,, but the sex and desire seemed limp to me. That being said, I'm not a huge fan of erotica, so you may feel differently.

One thing I wasn't crazy about with the writing is the female stereotypes lived out in the main female character. I kept thinking "gimme a break!"

I give Mr. Cowlrick 5 stars for narration, Erin DeWard 3 stars (2 for my personal taste, but your taste may vary), and the story 3 1/2 stars. It'll be interesting to see where the series goes.

Not the Lazerus Codex...

I was not a fan of this book. I bought it thinking it was the next book in the Lazerus Codex (shame on me) and found that it was entirely different even if the main characters came from that series.

I was looking for more intrigue and adventure but was bored quite a bit of the time.