The Wolf at the Door

The Big Bad Wolf Series, Book 1

By: Charlie Adhara

Narrated by: Erik Bloomquist

A former FBI agent is partnered with the enemy in this suspenseful male/male shifter romance from debut author Charlie Adhara.

Hunting for big bad wolves was never part of Agent Cooper Dayton's plan, but a werewolf attack lands him in the carefully guarded Bureau of Special Investigations. A new case comes with a new partner: ruggedly sexy werewolf Oliver Park.

Park is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf oversight organization working to ease escalating tensions with the BSI. But as far as Cooper's concerned, it's failing. As they investigate a series of mysterious deaths unlike anything they've seen, every bone in Cooper's body is suspicious of his new partner - even when Park proves himself as competent as he is utterly captivating.

When more people vanish, pressure to solve the case skyrockets. And though he'd resolved to keep things professional, Cooper's friction with Park soon erupts...into a physical need that can't be contained or controlled. But with a body count that's rising by the day, werewolves and humans are in equal danger. If Cooper and Park don't catch the killer soon, one - or both - of them could be the next to go.

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Charlie Adhara (P)2019 Tantor

Unusually great story / Unusually poor narration

TLDR: skip the audio book version and just get the Kindle version.

It's really a bummer how bad the narration is, because this story (and indeed this series) is _amazing_.

From other reviews I expected the narration to be too fast, but (as other reviewers commented) you can fix the speed by setting the playback between 0.9 and 0.95x. I did this and it did fix the speed.

Unfortunately there are other issues with the narration. The narrator barely uses any inflection (he sounds bored?) which was a bummer. But the real deal-breaker for me is there is no vocal difference between the narration and the dialogue, and within the dialogue there is no vocal difference between any of the characters (male or female).

I wasn't long into the audiobook before I was totally lost as to what was happening. I had picked up enough of the story and the author's style to realize the book was good, but I just couldn't follow it from the narration. So I bailed on the audiobook and got the kindle version, which I devoured.

Storyline is great. The dialogue is really cleaver. But what is really stood out to me is the tension/angst/chemistry between the two MCs is just... palpable. This was my first time reading Charlie Adhara, but it won't be my last. Can't wait to get the next book in this series! (But since the narrator is the same for the next book, I'll skip the audiobook and go directly to Kindle)

Good story

I like the narrator. The story was good. Nice character development. I Leaves you guessing

Great voice acting and amazing story

I've listened to the whole series like 4 time in 2024 alone. The VA I first found him a bit rushed, but throughout the series he grew to be more comfortable and does such a great job 🤭

Full of twists and turns

This story was great. Lots of plot twists so it really keeps you guessing. I thought I had it all figured out, but there were a few surprises in the final chapters that I really didn’t see. There were a lot of names and world building in this book so the audio got a little confusing to follow. The performance was fine, but the performance didn’t offer a notable difference between the two MCs voices. It got confusing. I had to buy the book to follow along.

Worth the listen!

For all the comments about how fast he reads.... just change the tempo to .95x.

He may not do multiple voices like I am used to...but he reads the book with the right inflection and emotion. I followed along and enjoyed every moment of the story.

Every narrator is different so I don't like to compare. I like his version of narrating, even without multiple voices for the characters.... HE IS NOT MONOTONE.

I repeat....Every narrator has their own style, and he made this book enjoyable.🙂🙂

AMAZING!

Get this book you will not be able to put it down. It is my favorite book series I have listened to it more times then I can count and I have already pre-ordered the 2 newest books. I can't wait to listen.

The best romance novel I've read

I normally find romance novels quite poorly done and uninteresting, but I was very surprised with how much I enjoyed this read. It was a lovely break between my more scientific textbook consumption and left me eager for the next in the series. The main characters can still be cringy in their "love-making" and inability to say what they mean, but instead of it being a giant turn-off, it comes across as having room for growth and the chance to better themselves as the series goes on. Plot was decent, though I think the "who dun it" was easily answered early on by simple process of elimination, but that's not to say that it made the story any less interesting. I actually may listen to this book again, something I hardly ever do, because I believe the author's style and literation was extremely well done. Specifically my favorite sentence was early on, when Cooper notices ruts in a lawn caused by car tires and compares them to graves as a stone angel looks on. Now, off I go to start the second book!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Wow. This book was perfect. A perfect blend of investigative story, perspective, and romance.

My only complaint is I can't buy it in paperback...

Interesting!

I didn’t get why everyone was complaining about the narrator’s voice/cadence. After I read their comments I totally got it.
I like this story though, it’s not your typical paranormal cookie cutter story. I’m going to give the next book a chance and we’ll see what happens with that.
I won’t spoil it for anyone but I must admit that I had absolutely no idea who done it!!!
Happy reading

Very well written story. listen at 0.9x speed

the narrator is a bit too quick, but listening at 0.9x worked fine for me. alot of the charecters sounded similar, but the story as a whole is very well written with actual world building ehich is uncommon in this genere.