Deacon

by Kit Rocha

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

4.5 stars

We are back in the world of Sector One and Gideon’s Riders. The Riders are a group of soldiers who are an extension of Gideon’s will. They look at themselves as having one foot in the grave, because they are willing to die for Gideon and Sector One.

Deacon has a bad history before he came to Sector One and became a Rider. He is now the leader of the Riders. Gideon knows is past, but the other Riders do not. When it comes back to haunt him, he must fess up to the Riders. He even steps down while they have a chance to decide if they still want to follow him.

Ana is the only female Rider. Her father was a Rider and will be sainted soon. She has a lot of weight on her soldiers. The other Riders have no idea how much the pressure is on her. She feels the weight of every little girl who looks up to her.

The Rider’s generally don’t have real relationships. The idea was to prevent them from leaving someone behind when they die protecting the sector. Plus, Ana is very concerned about people thinking she’s sleeping her way into the Riders.

Again, this is a fun combination of romance, action, mystery and really great characters. I love seeing this all play out. Watching Deacon regain the trust of his Riders while facing his past was a lot of fun. Watching Ana struggle with the pressure of being the only female Rider was exciting as well.

There is a great heart-to-heart conversation between Ana and Gideon towards the end of the book. She confesses how much pressure she feels being the only female Rider. He also talks with her about defying leadership in public. That she can still disagree, but that you have to show a united front, so have those discussions at another time. Ana really grows as a leader in this book.

Narration
Tatiana Sokolov continues to do a great job with the narration of this book. Her pace and tone are always perfect for the wide variety of scenes in this story. She does a good job with the male voices, of which there are many. Her female voices are great. If you haven’t tried her, I highly recommend you give her a try.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.