The Dream Drinker

Blood Magic, Book 2

By: JT Lawrence, MJ Kraus

Narrated by: Roshina Ratnam

Why would a butler gatecrash a wizard funeral? It sounds like the first line of a joke, but what Jax sees when she gets to Abarim Manor is as serious as a heart attack. The butler’s employer, old wizard Blimaex Abarim, is being slowly tortured to death by contagious black magic, and she needs to stop the person responsible.

Jax’s sleuthing will lead her into jeopardy at every turn, as she has to navigate the shifting terrain of the Realm, including dealing with treacherous orcs, magical apothecary coffin dodgers, dark arts night markets, and the ever-present evil in human hearts. Add to the mix a rosé-swilling ghost in a gimp suit who refuses to leave the wizard detective alone, and Jax has more on her plate than a buffet dinner at The Copper Cog, Ferra’s steampunk pub for magical creatures.

To find and stop the dream drinker, Jax will traverse the darkest, most dangerous parts of the Realm. And just when she thinks it couldn’t possibly get any worse, the bloodthirsty vampires show up, and they want revenge.

A breakneck-paced mix of urban fantasy, irreverent humor, and detective noir. Fans of The Dresden Files and Jessica Jones will burn through this addictive urban fantasy series. Get it now.

©2019 Muonic Press Inc (P)2019 Muonic Press Inc

Enjoy the bad guys

The Dream Drinker villain was pretty neat. Enjoyed how he particularly played out. (no spoilers)
The details in Jax's past flesh in her character development a bit more here and were very welcome to see. I also enjoy the extra characters that are being brought in. There are loads of action too.

The only real complaint though is the shortness of these books (clocking in around 5 hours is a small book). There are plenty of things that go unanswered, to be taken up in the next book, though. I think it is a stylized choice for small episodic content over an overall story.

I am enjoying this series.
I was given a copy by the author. I left this review voluntarily and thank the author for the chance to see what will come in this series. I will buy the third book to see what comes next!

I need to know what happens next!

After that cliffhanger ending in book one (Highfire Crown), I was more than ready to dive into book two (Dream Drinker), so I could get right back to the wonderful story-arc in the Blood Magic series!
There's lots of action, and our protagonist (Jax) is a totally kickbutt woman, who has a Sweet, Magical Motorcycle for her "ride"! Despite all that, I honestly hafta say that I've not quite warmed up to Jax, and I'm not sure why... The story is told in first person, and sometimes I find that type of narrative a bit off-putting, or I suppose it could be, the number of times Jax mentioned "the magic burned through my body" or "my body" (this)/"my body" (that), or some extremely minor variation thereof. That number was truly cringeworthy... once or twice is fine, but after that look for some Dang Synonyms! I know that JT Lawrence wrote this under a deadline, but her editor should have caught this and set it right, that's what the author pays them for!
So that's the nitpicky stuff... again, the storyline is lots o' fun, and I do believe that Jax's character is growing and evolving as she finds friends that she can trust.
And, Oh Yes, I really need to know what happens next!

Enjoyable story and very good narration

The Dream Drinker works very well both as a sequel to The Highfire Crown and as a story in its own right. Following directly on the events from Book 1, the mechanism for a new mystery blends in seamlessly with everything else that's going on. Jax's ongoing problem with the serial killer continues and deepens in complexity in this book, as does her relationship with key players in this tangled web.
Roshina Ratnam's narration, as always, is well-executed and well suited to the material she's working with. I enjoyed this all immensely, and look forward to what the rest of the series will bring.
Highly recommended.

Entertaining fantasy world

I did not enjoy this book as much as the first one, but it was still a very entertaining fantasy world to read. I just think I read it at the wrong time in my life. I need to restart this series from the beginning as there were things I did not remember from the first book and I think that is what was causing some of my confusion during this book.

Honest review

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I loved book one and this was even better. I love the magic in this book and the dangerous crimes Jax has to solve. Now I want to know what Derrick did. I can only imagine.

Witches and Ogres and Vampires, Oh My...

This is a cute series, although there is some mayhem. The narrator has a perfect voice for the character.

This book has just upped this series for me!

Again, a nice fast paced book. Loads of action and I found it a lot easier to follow than book 1. Perhaps because I was used to the new characters and creatures.

I think my favorite character is ghost. I would love having my clothes washed and cleaned while I'm not home!

Naturaly, because this is a series, there is a huge cliffhanger at the end. Warning!!!! This one will be hard to ignore!

And again, thank you to the narrator for doing a great job!

EXCELLENT READ!

I absolutely loved it! This book is full of action, drama and suspense. The narration was excellent and kept me entertained. The author did an amazing job with the character builds and plot! I have read every series by this author and love her writing style! I can't wait to read the next book in this series! I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Forgettable Experience ...

This story was not as good as the first one; things that I found humorous then were encountered so often they became a tad irritating (especially with the narration). The premise and execution was okay, but by the time I got to the end, I had trouble remembering much of the story. Prior reviews recommend this series to fans of Dresden and Jessica Jones ... but it just doesn't live up to that billing. Structurally you can see the similarity; but the quality is worlds apart.

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