The Clan Calling

The Adventures of Jason Lex, Chronicle 2

By: Wendy Terrien

Narrated by: Brian Callanan

Sadie Callahan's life is as normal as it can be after helping her friend, Jason Lex, save the world, and learning cryptids like Skyfish and Bigfoot are real. Things go bad when Sadie comes home after school and finds a strange man with his hands on her grandmother's neck. Trained in Tae Kwon Do, Sadie strikes and forces the man from their house. Soon after the clash, people around her start behaving oddly. Is she somehow triggering their weird behavior?

Alone and unnerved after her grandmother falls ill, Sadie searches for ways to heal her but uncovers deceit and is forced to question everything she thought she knew. After being attacked, she's shocked to learn a heartbreaking family secret. Still reeling from the news, Sadie is shattered by tragedy but threatened by a new enemy and forced to make an ominous decision: run and save herself or risk her life and fight to save the lives of those she loves.

©2017 Camashea Press (P)2017 Camashea Press

Book 3, in spite of the Chronicle 2 in the title

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Interestingly, this was actually the FIRST book of the series I requested. There was a mixup with the URL in the email and I accidentally used a credit on the previous book in the series instead of this one. I thought this the second book in the series, what with "...Chronicle 2" in the title... but it turns out this is the THIRD book. It also seems to be a side tale, of Sadie, rather than a continuation of the overall story line from the last book. In fact, I think it takes place, chronologically, at the same time as the previous book, The League of Governors, though I'm not entirely certain if I have the timeline right in my head.

Anyway, the narrator continues to be excellent, and the story was still very entertaining. I just wish the author would be better at titling the books contextually and would be a little more deliberate in chronology so dullards like me had a clearer grasp of the order of things. At the very least so as to be clear if they come up in an Amazon suggestion list out of order.

A sequel with a different perspective

If you have not read book 1 - "The Rampart Guards" - then stop now, and go read or listen to them. Now! What are you waiting for? This book as well as "The League of Governors" will not make much sense without reading it.

The Clan Calling follows Sadie after Jason leaves with his Uncle to London. While I did not feel that this book had the intensity of League of Governors, it definitely had me more emotionally invested.

The character development of Sadie was done extremely well. We get to see a lot more to her than in the Rampart Guards as the book is from her perspective. I feel that the Author did a better job at making her feel more relatable than Jason was Rampart Guards. Not that she did a bad job with that, just that she did a much better job here.

There are parts I felt that moved a tad but slower than I would have liked but not to the extreme. It could have also been because I had just read League of Governors and the pace and intensity in that book were a bit higher.

As with the other books,Brian Callanan does an excellent job narrating and I would definitely listen to more books narrated by him.

**I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Sadie's Story

Much of this book takes place at the same time as THE LEAGUE OF GOVERNORS: Chronicle Two-Jason in the Adventures of Jason Lex. The main character is Sadie, Jason's best friend in his new town. Sadie is brave and daring, everything you could desire in a young heroine. The book does not shy away from some of the darker aspects of life, but the resolve is satisfactory (if not happy). As in the other books there are fun and not so fun monsters. This is a YA tale that will appeal to a wide audience.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Awesome YA Adventure

This is book three in The Adventures of Jason Lex series. If you haven't read the others, I'd recommend starting with the first book. This book explains what Sadie was up to in Salton Idaho while Jason Lex was in London. It doesn't contain any spoilers for Jason's story so it could be listened to after book one, The Rampart Guards. Sadie was my favorite character in the first book and I was happy to see her have her own story!

When the story begins, life has gone back to normal for Sadie. One day after school, she comes home to find her grandma collapsed on the floor and a strange older man with his hands on her grandma's throat. Sadie leaps into action and drives the man away. Sadie's grandma is taken to the hospital, but the doctors can't find anything wrong with her.

At home, strange things begin to happen to Sadie's grandma and everyone around her. Sadie starts to suspect that she's the cause of it all. When she finally learns a dark family secret, she's heartbroken and forced to make a choice between saving herself or staying to fight for her family.

Sadie intrigued me in the first book, she's a martial arts loving computer geek with a mysterious past. She was home schooled and couldn't leave the town limits. I couldn't add up all the little clues myself. When her backstory was revealed, I thought it was a great twist. I loved the two sweet squabbling grandmothers, and Brandon was too cute!

I do think this series is for older YA readers, even though the characters are fourteen they all dealt with some adult issues. One theme running throughout these books is that adults, especially parents, lie or are untrustworthy. There were a few heartbreaking moments that had me tearing up. It was a great read and the mystery had me listening all day, while hoping it wouldn't end.

The narration was excellent as usual, Brian Callanan did a great job with the character voices, especially Sadie's voice. They were consistent not just through the book, but through the entire series. He pulled me right into the story and kept me engaged the entire time. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Very Interesting World - With Some Caveats

Would you recommend The Clan Calling to your friends? Why or why not?

I am not the target audience of this book, but for the most part I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to a young adult audience with a few reservations. First this is a series which needs to be read in order. I haven't read the first book and found several references confusing. There was a small bit of review, but not enough, in my opinion. Second there are some fairly traumatic events at the end of the book and I was disappointed at how the author handled the reaction of the protagonist. There was no expression of guilt or regret, I don't want to give too much away, but I found it unsettling and it wasn't consistent with the emotions expressed earlier in the book.

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

I thought the narrator was very good. Each voice was distinct and emotive. I would definitely look for a book read by him again.

Any additional comments?

While I didn't love this book, I liked it enough to want to go back and read the first book. I think overall this could be a pretty good series. I do love the idea of a world where cryptids actually exist. I received this book for free in return for an honest review.

best one

This 3rd instalment is the best one yet, I guess because being a parallel story to book 2, we find out a bit more of what is happening in the background while Jason is in London, rounding out the storyline. I liked Sadie from book 1, she is the girl with brains and strong too. In this story, she finds out about her background, the truth behind her parents death, about her possible destiny.... now that is a twist I didn't expect. Her great uncle's eulogy at her grandmother's funeral was a tear jerker for sure. The budding attraction with Brandon is sweet. Loved the way the dogs are given highlighted roles, protectors till the end. I had to laugh at the verbal sparring between the two grandmothers, speaks of long time friendship.

The story ends well though, surrounded by family and friends she looks towards a bright future. I couldn't find if there will be more in the series, but I really hope so.

I recommend this series to fans of the fantasy/paranormal genre and not just the YA crowd.

Mr. Callanan's performance was just as good as with the previous books. The passion, the emotions and the many voices were consistent throughout the 3 books, bringing the listener right into the story and keeping the attention to the end.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and this review is voluntary.

A book focused on Sadie

This book follows on from book one but changes to following Sadie instead of Jason. It takes place in the same time frame as 'The League of Governors' which follows Jason.

I was impressed with this story, it took small details from book one and created a compelling story line about Sadie, her family, and her families history. Far from being a sidekick in the series this book set up Sadie as a key player in her own right.

It was compelling listening with many things not happening as I was expecting them to, I liked that it kept me guessing.

The narration is excellent, once again Brian delivered clear and distinct character voices and the delivery really helped draw me into the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the author and/or narrator and/or publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Good Story

Just finished the League of Governors which was happening at the same time as this book. It was interesting listen to what Jason's friends were doing while he was in London. It was a good listen with excellent narration. There is a bit of action and teenage angst with a couple of real tear jerker moments.

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

Great tie in "Book 2" in the Series

I had read this book second in order. I was at first confused by having 2 books in the series labeled as Book #2, but after reading it I discovered why. This book covers the activities of Sadie while Jason is dealing with the Board of Governors and ties in with the "other book 2". After listening to Jason's story this one tied in nicely and explained the attitude Sadie had at the end of Jason's book.

It filled in things nicely, though as with Jason's story there were some rather difficult issues for the main character to deal with. The story line is made for a YA book, I don't think younger kids would deal too well with the storyline. Overall it was a great read, the narrator did a good job of differentiating between the different voices so I never got lost during the story.

I still need to read the first book in the series to fill in what I have missed, but am looking forward to it.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A different shapeshifter story

Although this is book 2, the previous book only barely gets a mention, with this story concentrated basically on Sadie, and changes in her life, due to inherited powers she had, up until now been aware off.
I listened to the audio rendition of this book, enjoying it immensely, due to the diversity of voices used and the drama the reading enhanced .
I am looking forward to the next book in the series, to see if Sadie, together with her friends, can catch the current leader and prevent future assassinations being carried out to ensure that the current leader is not overthrown.