Narrated by Arika Rapson
I don’t know what it is about shape shifters and dream walkers that fascinates me so much. It’s been that way since I began reading urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Vampires are awesome, but give me any kind of shifter, and I can almost guarantee I’ll be hooked. If you add the dream walking element, it’s nothing less than a sure thing. So, it should come as no surprise that I loved Unleashed
The Amoveo are a dying race. They are made up of ten clans, each clan representing an animal. When an Amoveo starts to go through puberty, he or she shape shifts for the first time. If, by his or her thirtieth birthday, a mate hasn’t been found, powers lessen, and the Amoveo eventually die. There are also evil forces intent on destroying this race of very gifted people.
Malcolm Drew of the Eagle Clan has known for some time who his mate is supposed to be. For years, he has tried to connect with her in the dream realm, but has had little success. Things are about to get a whole lot simpler. His mate is moving back home and home just happens to be right next door to Malcolm.
Samantha Logan knows nothing of the Amoveo. True, her father was of the Wolf clan, but both of Sam’s parents died when she was six months old. Sam was raised by her grandmother, who told her nothing of her heritage. She has lived the life of a human and is a struggling artist in New York City. However, something is drawing her back to her childhood home. Sam believes she wants a fresh start. Needless to say, she has no idea just how different her life will become.
Unleashed was my introduction to narrator Arika Rapson. Initially, I found her style rather brusque and unappealing. However, it didn’t take long for me to warm to her narration. She is definitely someone whose narrative style is understated. She doesn’t sound flat or uninterested but neither is she overflowing with emotion. Some might say this is a drawback, but it’s something I prefer.
Malcolm speaks with a slight European accent. I was unable to pin down exactly where he was supposed to be from but that was all right as Sam, too, had difficulty identifying the origin of his accent. This leads me to believe the author wanted it that way. Rapson is very consistent and the accent never falters.
Davis, Malcolm’s butler, is supposed to be British. Rapson gives him no accent at all. I’m not sure why she chose not to but I wasn’t too disappointed.
I was disconcerted, however, by the way Rapson chose to depict Sam’s character. She’s an artist, a dreamer, a woman who has been searching for something all her life. Rapson doesn’t show us any of that. Instead, it has to be inferred from the author’s words. Rapson gives Sam a very no-nonsense way of speaking and she often sounds annoyed, even when that isn’t the emotion that should have been conveyed. When she finally realizes that she is Amoveo and that Malcolm is her mate, Rapson allows her to soften a bit. Even so, I found the narration to be untrue to the character created by Humphreys.
Rapson’s ability to read straight narrative with no dialogue is wonderful. As I said before, she sounds very matter-of-fact. She doesn’t gush or pour any emotion on too thick. I just wish her character depiction was as good as her reading.
Unleashed was published in print format in 2011. Tantor released the audio version in May of 2013. Hopefully, the other books in the series will soon be available in audio format. A different narrator might be needed though.
Shannon
Narration: B-
Book Content: A
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Escalated fighting
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Unleashed was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.
Thank you so much for this lovely review of UNLEASHED :)