Hell on Wheels

Black Knights Inc., Book 1

By: Julie Ann Walker

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Black Knights Inc. - Behind the facade of their tricked-out motorcycle shop is an elite special ops team assigned the jobs too hot for anyone else to handle.

Ex-Marine Nate "Ghost" Weller is an expert at keeping his cool - and his distance - which makes him one hell of a sniper. It's also how he keeps his feelings for Ali Morgan in check. Sweet, sexy Ali has always revved his engine, but she's his best friend's baby sister ... and totally off limits.

Ali's never seen anything sexier than Nate Weller straddling his custom Harley - or the flash of danger in his eyes when she tells him she's in trouble. First, something happened to her brother, and now she's become the target of a nasty international organization. With Nate, her life is in the most capable hands possible - but her heart is another story altogether.

©2012 Julie Ann Walker (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"In her riveting debut, Walker delivers a mystery laced with red-hot romance." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Horrible, uncomfortable narration!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book itself to someone, but absolutely not the audible version. It was absolutely miserable. I ended up reading the book instead of listening to it.

What did you like best about this story?

The book had action, adventure, suspense, romance and humor. It was intense!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator's idea of identifying the voices of the different characters was to do a high pitched, childlike squeaky, baby voice for the heroine and a growling, grunting whisper for the hero. It was so horribly uncomfortable to listen to that I ended up reading the book and never getting even 1/4 of the way through the audio book. The narrator's voice was pleasant and enjoyable when she was reading actual text. It was her attempts to distinguish the speaking parts with different voice patterns that detracted from the book. I thought that perhaps I was being unreasonable, since this was my first audio book purchase. So, I brought the audio in and played it for several friends. All reactions were the same...horribly uncomfortable to listen to. A childlike baby voice for the heroine??? And a serial killer's grunty whisper for the hero??? This book should be re-recorded or removed from audio publication completely. If there was a way to give it less than 1 star, I would.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

If this narrator is used for future books, please advise her that her speaking voice is pleasant enough to carry the book without trying to do voices specific to the characters.

i really like this book.

What made the experience of listening to Hell on Wheels the most enjoyable?

I would listen to this book again. I can't wait for the next book. Very good

Good enough to want to read another

My first time reading Julie Ann Walker ever, this book is Good enough to want to read another. I hope she can keep my interest in books to follow.

Batman is that you?

The reader's only option for male voices appears to be Batman with varying levels of gravely roughness. This makes an otherwise good book nearly a joke. If I hadn't gotten this at a discount for owning the kindle version I would have requested a refund. Don't waste the credit, get the kindle version and enjoy that instead. never this reader again.

Tconno

story was very good but I didnt like some of the voices the narrator used at times

Seemed like a YA book with cursing

Book would have been fantastic without the blonde (main character) who acted like a 16 year old. She was 28. The dialogue with the other characters was entertaining. I think the narrator needed some help with the deep, low, quite voice. She made him sound like a smoker on a ventilator. Ali (main character) was thinking to herself WAY too much. It became distracting and frustrating. I skipped many of her monologues.

Ali ruined it for me, otherwise it was really good. The story progressed at a nice pace. The side characters brought comic relief. I do want to read about the other characters. I won't be reading this one again.

Disappointed in narrator

The story was good and the characters strong but the whole point of audible is to listen and enjoy. I had a very hard with the voices the narrator used for the men. It made the whole book a disappointment. I like the author though so in the future I will just buy the book or at least make sure I hear a sample first before I purchase another read by this narrator

It was okay

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes and no. I wanted to know what happened in the book. I don't like to just quit reading.

If you’ve listened to books by Julie Ann Walker before, how does this one compare?

It's okay. Maybe I need to take a break because the characters are getting on my nerves.

Did Abby Craden do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes.

Did Hell on Wheels inspire you to do anything?

Nope

Any additional comments?

I can't tell you how fed up I was over the main characters, Ghost-Nate and the female. I can't remember her name and I don't care. She's worthless!

Interesting Narration

Would you try another book from Julie Ann Walker and/or Abby Craden?

I liked the story but, oh my, the narration was hideous, The voices of the main characters were very difficult to listen to, the main female voice was similar to Minnie Mouse, very childish and annoying, and some of the male character voices sounded very unrealistic and forced. Abby Craden's normal voice in the 3rd person was much easier to take, pleasant even, but her attempt to launch into other variations of tone of voice was most distracting and spoilt the audio book experience for me, it is for this reason that I cannot recommend it.

Pretty good start to the series

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. It's the first I've read by this author and I liked it enough that I've already bought the second book in the series to read next.

Ali is a very nice woman. She's the sister of one of the Black Knights and was crushed by his death. She's very sweet but TBH, there were a few times when she seemed too soft and sweet but as the story progresses she does show some spunk and backbone that made me like her. Sometimes she came across a little ditsy too but through most of the book she was working on major lack of sleep so it's kind of excusable. Regardless I liked Ali. She met Nate years before through her brother but he always acted like he didn't like her which is too bad because she's always been attracted to him. When strange things start happening to her after her brother's death, she knows she has to go to Nate and the Black Knights for help.

Nate is a good guy but he can be a jerk, especially when it comes to Ali. He's been attracted to her since he first met her but couldn't go there because she was his best friend's little sister. He's acted like a jerk towards her to keep her at arms length but this becomes a problem when they find out that she's in serious trouble due to something he brother was involved with. Nate does have what he thinks (faultily) is a solid reason that him and Ali could never be together so he keeps pushing her away. The problem is that by doing this he's just hurting her more.

There's a mystery to uncover and there's some exciting times trying to track down what Ali's brother was involved in and why someone's after her. Nate and Ali do the back and forth dance pretty much the whole time...one step closer, two back. They give in to their attraction but then Nate pulls the butthole card on Ali the next morning (because of his "reasons"). Things aren't easy for them and on either the personal or professional fronts but they do manage to get the needed info to stop the bad guy and bring the danger to Ali to an end. Unfortunately, as soon as things are settled, Nate disappears and Ali can't get a hold of him at all. Fortunately, someone interferes and helps prompt a resolution that ends happily.

This was a very good story. The characters aren't prefect in their actions but then who is really. I still liked them even with their flaws. The action plot was interesting but not so complex that it pulled away from the rest of the story. I enjoyed this story and will be reading the next book in the series. I'd recommend this book. Thumbs up. :D

*Note - I listened to the audiobook version of this. The narrator was alright but her male voices were very growly. I got used to it after a while but at first it was a little weird.