The Shadow Above the Flames

By: Daniel Swenson

Narrated by: Steve Campbell

Fossil fuels are gone.

Five years ago, hungry for energy and profits, the Union Forest Corporation embarked on an aggressive search for alternative power sources. In their quest they drilled too deeply, releasing a long-forgotten evil that’s been terrorizing the planet. As frightening as the dragon is, the executives at Union Forest are more terrified of losing corporate secrets than losing human lives. Somewhere in that drilling site, there’s a data core that they desperately want back.

After giving years of service to the military, Henry Morgan just wants a normal life. But between nagging feelings from his past and a strained relationship with his brother Rick, “normality” always feels just out of reach. When Henry learns that Rick is among the force of elite commandos sent by Union Forest to battle against the demon at the drilling site, he’s forced back into the roles of soldier and protective older sibling. He’ll do everything he can to save his brother...including risking his own life at the hands of a ruthless corporation.

©2017 Daniel Swenson (P)2017 Immortal Works

Review Shadow Above the Flames

Daniel Swenson has done a superb job of writing a novel with the right balance of action, suspense, mystery, and intrigue, ( along with a very impressive dragon). He tied together each subplot and brought the book to a satisfying conclusion. Steve Campbell narrated this with great talent. Easy to follow and know which character was speaking. The emotions were palpable. Over all I am very glad to have received a copy for review. I look forward to his next novel.

The Shadow

I enjoyed this one.There was a lot of suspense and action.A well written book.Steve Campbell was a fine narrator.“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

This is one great book, I am so glad I got it.

This is a book everyone needs to read, could not believe it's his first book.

A different sort of adventure

The plot builds, thickens in its description, then twists to build to a crescendo!
Recommended to 17 +

I was given this audiobook for free, and I give my evaluation for free.

I really wanted to love this, but alas...

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free, and asked to give an honest review. Initially, I felt that the kindest thing I could do would be to not leave a review at all, but that felt like kind of a cheat, so here comes my two cents...

I really wanted to love this story, we have a crack military team and cyber expert facing off against an Apocalypse Dragon... A Dragon!  And, seriously I laughed out loud when this group of grown, Macho-men-soldiers squealed like girls and ran away from Mutant Squirrels... But what this story really needed was an editor who wasn't nodding-off asleep over an empty coffee cup... an editor that would've pointed out that changing POV's is fine as long as that new POV isn't almost word for word, the same as the previous POV...  an editor that would've pointed out that incessant repetition of keywords will drive a reader CrAzY !!! 
A good editor would have dug this gem of a story out of rough matrix, but alas, such was just Not the case!   Sad face...

Waking a dangerous monster

The Union Forest Corporation has been digging for some time in order to find more available power sources. But five years ago they went too far, and awakened a dangerous and terrible monster, and now the corporation wants to silence this terrible truth and slay the dragon This is the story of two brothers who risk their lives to get rid of a powerful menace.

The premises of this book were so interesting, but it failed to deliver. This is your typical classic dragon book but in a modern setting. The plot was well built, but I the character development was poor. There were constant POV changes, being the story told by both brothers alternatively. The problem here is that both characters sound exactly the same, talking and thinking, so I found it difficult and tiresome to follow the story and identify POV.

As in other military fiction books, there are many secondary characters, and if the main characters were not very developed, the secondary ones were just mere drafts, and I was not very moved when there were casualties.

I struggled to finish this book, since I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and I didn’t become very invested in the story. Another issue is the constant repetitions and reiterations. The book could have benefited from an editor and transformed in a more polished product.

Steve Campbell’s narration was correct. He did a wonderful job regarding character’s interpretations, but I would have preferred their different voice tones to be a bit more subtle. It felt a bit overdone, in my opinion.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.
Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.
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Not My Cup of Tea

I was given this story for an honest review. On that note, while the story, thankfully, didn't have any real issues and it flowed nicely, it just didn't hold my attention. I love stories involving out of the ordinary type situations, like this story; I just had a hard time getting through it.

The narrator did a pretty good job. My only issue with him was the way he pronounced certain words. I have no clue why it bothered me so much but whenever he'd say words like "been" or "against" he pronounced them exactly how they were spelled, for example, "been" was pronounced as "bean." He sounded like he had an English accent so I don't know. Otherwise, he did a good job with the variety of voices/accents. I'd listen to him again.

A Dragon story set in the present.

Loved the way this author integrates a story set in this day and age with a Dragon millennia years old. The narrator did a magnificent job of telling this story. I couldn't stop listening. I received this audio book for free at my request and voluntarily reviewed.

Similar to Reign of Fire NOT!!

When I first saw this book my instict was to say that it was a rip off of Reign of Fire, the movie with Christian Bale. Afte listening to it, however, I would say there are only tangential similarities. Dragon? Yep. Flys around burning stuff? Yep. That's about it though. I was surprised to learn that this was Swenson's first book. He does a good job, with some incidental things that could be annoying if you didn't know that there is a squel coming out. It seems like some people doing reviews were complaining about plot points that went nowhere. I do believe that a lot of that stuff will be covered in the next book, or the one after that!!!

I also liked the fact that the Dragon didn't just show up and start tearing up the place. (Well, ok, it does in the prologue) but, there were other more malign monsters for the protagonists to fight. There were alternate dangers that made it feel like a fantasy world draped over a modern setting. The writing flowed and was easygoing. The story was well paced, and deserving of a sequel

Now, Campbell (who seems to also be breaking into the narrating business) does a great job. He conveys the emotions of the characters, drives home the desperation they feel, and conveys the dangers they face like he was in their place. You'd never know that he was just starting out.

I would say that Swenson and Campbell make a fine team, each bringing things to the table that helps to create a great modern fantasy tale. I just wish they hadn't beaten Ireland up so much.

A Fantastic Read

I love the modern take on the infamous dragon in the modern world. It is nice to see new and upcoming authors.