Melanie
Written on Aug 16, 2017
I was given the opportunity to try this audiobook. It was described to me as “Comedy fantasy in the vein of Deadpool.” I read the blurb (which is really funny) and decided to give it a try. I had listened to Jeffrey Kafer previously, so I knew I liked his work. I’m so glad that I decided to try this new-to-me author. I really enjoyed meeting Jackson and had a lot of fun with this story.
This book takes on the POV of the villain. Julian “Jackson” Blackwell, aka The Shadow Master, is a consultant to villains everywhere. He is a great strategist and uses this ability to help other villains become the baddest villains that they can and rule their realms. However, when you work with villains, you can’t trust them, no matter how loyal they may seem or what you’ve done for them in the past.
Jackson ends up getting backstabbed by one of his clients (shocking from a villain, right?). He is stuck in another dimension with little access to his powers. He must then work with heroes (You can imagine how hard it must be for a villain to partner with a single hero, much less a group of them) in order to save himself.
This story is full of great pop culture references (especially of the geeky kind) which will make you laugh out loud. Jackson is a great character who is only out to serve himself. He is prone to long monologues (because what villain doesn’t like to hear himself talk) and that doesn’t even include his inner monologues, which are sometimes broadcasted when he’s in his own realm. Oh, there is also some great family drama from Jackson’s sister and nephew.
I’m very much a character driven reader. Give me good characters, and I will generally enjoy the story. This book is full of great characters that are well developed and suited their parts in the story perfectly. As per normal for me, my favorite character was a secondary one, the receptionist, Sophia. While she doesn’t have a large part in this book, I really liked her. I felt she was the perfect fit to help out Jackson. I hope to see more of her in the next book (and I will be on the lookout for the next book).
This book is full of a dry humor, geeky pop culture references, some good dick jokes and a punch to the Oxford comma. I love the mix of the real world and the fantasy worlds that Jackson visits. It is a great escape to have a villain as the main character. I just have to say, check it out.
“Jackson Blackwell, I repeat, how do you plead?”
“I heard you, Lord Protector. I’ve just been ignoring you.” I said as bored as possible. “Lesser beings do not deserve my full attention.” Apparently my chosen approach was asshole.
Narration
Jeffrey Kafer does a great job with this book. I might start off sounding a little dry, but as you get to the know the character, Jackson, you learn that it is Jackson that is dry, not Jeffrey. Jeffrey is plenty expressive with some of the other characters. I think he does a phenomenal job with the voices and tones of all the different characters in this book, even if he does make me cringe a bit with the voice of Jackson’s sister (which I’m sure is completely on purpose on the narrator’s part). I think he really nailed the pacing of the story, speeding up and slowing down as needed for the scene at had. This is the first full length novel I’ve listened with Jeffrey Kafer as narrator (the other book is Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews, which is only two hours long), but it is sure to not be the last one.
**Audiobook was provided to me by the narrator. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the narrator.