Unhidden

The Gatekeeper Chronicles, Book 1

By: Dina M. Given

Narrated by: Cate Strey

It's not always easy to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys, especially when a trained killer may be falling in love with her evil hunter. Emma Hayes, a former military Special Forces operative turned mercenary for hire, finds her tightly controlled world turned upside down when she becomes the target of attacks by powerful supernatural creatures. Emma must use every skill in her arsenal to stay alive as she tries to solve the mystery of why she has been targeted.

Her list of enemies keeps growing - from Zane Shayde, an evil Mage, to a secret branch of the US government - and she doesn't know if there is anyone left she can trust. To complicate matters further, Emma is inexplicably drawn to Zane in a way she does not quite understand, even knowing her life is forfeit if captured.

Who is he, and why does he have this effect on her? How can she fight someone who calls to her body and soul? Emma is left haunted by questions, doubts, and fears as to why she has been targeted, when they will come for her next, and how she will possibly survive against an enemy she doesn't understand.

©2014 Dina Given (P)2015 Dina Given

A fantastic action-packed debut novel!

I did not know this was Dina Given's debut novel until after I listened to this audiobook. This is a fantastic debut - I was surprised to find that out! This was a good start to an urban fantasy series featuring lots of different kinds of creatures, mages and magically gifted humans. At least I think they are humans - I wasn't really clear on Emma's abilities (and neither was she, for good reason). Ms. Givens did a really good job with her world building, particularly regarding the development of all the different creatures. I would say there was more world building than character development, and I think that is because our main character, Emma, was suffering from amnesia and doesn't remember anything other than the last 10 years, the time period after she was in a coma from what she believes was a car accident. So because Emma has a memory issue, we don't get a whole lot of her back story in this book. I think that will be rectified as Emma's memory comes back in future books. I liked Emma as a character; she was a strong female lead and I don't think she got on my nerves at all in this book. That always makes me happy because there seems to be a prevalence of wishy washy female leads in books today and sometimes you just wanna shake the spit outta em. Not Emma - she was a kickass heroine who was loyal and had a big heart.

This book had tons of action, mystery and a touch of romance. I absolutely loved Zane - and you will like him if you like those darkly troubled and conflicted male love interests, the ones you just wanna get your hands on and fix all their problems. I hope Emma finds a way to fix Zane - and I have a feeling she will fight for him. I hope so, I can't wait to read about it. I also liked a number of the secondary characters, particularly Eddie.

The book doesn't not end with a cliffhanger per se, but its an open ending so that you can tell the story is not over. We still have more mysteries to figure out, memories to uncover, and problems to solve. I am looking forward to the rest of the series, so I hope Ms. Given writes fast. As I sit here and think about it, the writing style reminded me of Devon Monk's Magic series - the pacing and detail of the story was similar. I have a feeling that this series will build and build to the big bang finale, which is how I felt about the Devon Monk books.

As for the audiobook specifically, I really like this narrator (Cate Strey). She was engaging, animated, and switched up her voice pitch and inflections for different characters/creatures. The story and narrator kept me entertained as I ran around town today and came home to do yard work and clean the house. I love a good audiobook to take my focus off mindless tasks.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 2 flames

Urban Fantasy Perfection

Unhidden

I loved it. I am huge sucker for Urban Fantasy and sarcastic female leads and this book delivered both.

Emma was seriously bad*ss. A soldier kicking butt and taking names for the Special Forces. I loved her spunk and had so many laugh out loud moment while reading.

She is unceremoniously thrown into the world of Vampires and Demons and Fae, oh my. LOL she has to fight against time to save earth from being overrun with the baddies.

Great story, action and suspense. I was hooked until the very end and can't wait to see what direction this series will head.

The narrator was BRILLIANT! She read all the voices and accents perfectly. She did such a. Great job.

The power of supernatural vs the stupidity of man

Would you try another book from Dina M. Given and/or Cate Strey?

yes, she complimented the characters quite well.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It needs a more then killing finish required. It needs end of the world like finish.

Which character – as performed by Cate Strey – was your favorite?

Emma was but the funny sidekick of Jacob was just as good.

Do you think Unhidden needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes. It needed the killing finish it requires. I also think Emma not knowing her full potential needs to be realized. To meet her mother also needs to be realized. Now that she has a better grasp on what she has lost .(Memory aside). And the beings she has to deal with.

Any additional comments?

The self disgust in Emma made me mad . Because of her training and actual job, she became squeamish in certain circumstances that should have made her Ideal for the shit that came down. She should have shot the legs out her ex-boyfriend well before he became a real problem..

Pretty good book

It was a really good book! I Can't wait for the next one! Go Dina!

OK STORY LINE......

A little bit of a confusing story. editing seemed off sometimes, The narrators voice was to fast which made it really annoying, and difficult to tell a difference between characters . I might read the next one but only if it a different narrator.

Amazing

This is exactly how I love and NEED my heroines to be in books. None of that virgin, never been kissed, blushing nonsense that the market is saturated in right now. The heroine is not human, she’s sassy, strong, never whiny, seriously why can’t more authors write their FMCs like this? What is going on??? Anyways Dina Given - you are amazing and thank you for writing women right.

Narrator is a train wreck...and not in a good way.

What disappointed you about Unhidden?

Okay - I'm an avid audiobook listener as I make my daily commute. That hour in the car (one way) is generally enough time to get through rough patches in any story; however, not in this one. The narrator talks so fast that you cannot understand her in sections and attempts dramatic speech in others that is ... just ... awful. I've attempted to listen to it on four separate occasions, but now I'm giving up on it. Maybe, in written format, it wouldn't be so bad; however, I am not willing to throw any more money away on this book.

Has Unhidden turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not really. I love Urban Fantasy as a genre; however, I won't be purchasing any more of Ms. Given's books or Ms. Strey's narrations.

Would you be willing to try another one of Cate Strey’s performances?

NO!

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Unhidden?

I honestly didn't get through it so I can't make that assessment. I suppose it would be the waking up next to a stranger bit because it definitely didn't fit into the grand scheme of things.

Any additional comments?

This book left a seriously bad taste in my mouth. Whether it was the fact the narrator was so bad and read the text too fast for comprehension or the fact the story just didn't...work...I'm not sure. Either way, I'm walking away from this book with the idea that there are some series that I don't need to attempt in audio format.

Awful

Poorly written. A preteen might like it maybe . Reader was awful but she really didn't have much to work with

Unoriginal

Unoriginal story, poorly conceived characters (annoying) and world building might expand in the next book but I'm not interested enough to find out.

I enjoyed the narration.

Not a book, just sentence after sentence.

What disappointed you about Unhidden?

You can actually miss several chapter's and not miss a thing.

What was most disappointing about Dina M. Given’s story?

What story line there was , was all over the place.

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

Cate Strey... did her best with what she had

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

n/a

Any additional comments?

no