Narrated by Greg Boudreaux
Assassin by Accident is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries series where each installment stands alone and can be read in any order. It’s also tied into E.J. Russell’s rather large Mythmatched Universe which as far as I can tell encompasses three different series. While some reviewers have stated that having familiarity with the Mythmatched world could be helpful when tackling this book, I wasn’t confused by the characters or worldbuilding here, even though I’ve read none of them. Characters from other series do show up, especially in the epilogue, and I’m sure it would be fun for the listener to catch up with them, but enough info is given to carry this particular plot along without a problem.
The story opens with Nevan Quirke in a Portland alley, trying to catch precious raindrops on his tongue and skin. The listener gradually learns Nevan is a Welsh Water Horse, a shifter who thrives in wild water (rivers, lakes and streams) but who is at present is under a gaes that won’t allow him to “drink anything from his own hand” or “submerse himself in wild water” until he completes his quest. A gaes is a spell that binds Nevan to a nasty earth mage who has kidnapped his adopted sister Lulu, and he can’t disobey any of the stipulations until he completes the contract. Nevan is wishing he’d asked the mage a lot more questions before proclaiming he would “do anything to get Lulu back,” but it’s too late now. Nevan stipulated he’d only do one quest, but in his panic he didn’t ask what that entailed, and now he finds himself going to meet a guild assassin at a coffee shop with the instruction to help the assassin kill a child. Nevan is distraught, but doesn’t know what else to do but go along.
Seb Ardelean is at the coffee shop to meet a contact about a new job. When Nevan hears Seb ordering the complicated drink which is his key to identifying the assassin, he approaches Seb and asks if “are you here for the job about the child,” and when Seb says yes, Nevan rushes him out the door and half-drags him towards The Carnival of Mysteries where the assassination is meant to take place.
Nevan and Seb soon realize there’s been a mix-up, though Nevan can’t tell Seb any details due to the gaes. Fortunately, Seb overhears the mage’s long-distance projection yelling at Nevan about the delay in fulfilling the contract and is able to put together enough details to understand what’s happening. Seb’s protective instincts towards children compel him to help, and he and Nevan must figure out how to get Lulu back without anyone dying, and without Nevan breaking the gaes, which would mean him becoming the mage’s slave for eternity. Although the time frame of the book is short, just a couple of days, the author finds time to develop the relationship between Seb and Nevan in a way that feels fairly natural.
Given that this plot entails children in possible danger, it proves to be fairly lighthearted and low angst. There is humor woven into the narrative and the characters are people (or supernaturals) you can root for. When things start to look bleak there always seems to be a convenient person or object to help, and Seb, who seems to have more than a little of the Mary Poppins about him, is good at figuring out ways around the crippling stipulations of Nevan’s gaes. In fact, my only real quibble is that even though there is a lot going on in the story most of the obstacles in our heroes’ way are gotten over a little too easily.
I’ll admit that seeing Greg Boudreaux’s name as narrator for this book made me jump on it with little hesitation. After checking out a few reviews of this new-to-me author’s other books I was definitely on board to give this one a try. I’m pleased to say Greg’s performance meets every expectation I have for a great narration. His character voices are outstanding, his timing and vocal inflections are spot on – even with this rather large cast of human and non-human characters. Occasionally, I paused the audio to think about what I’d just heard, comparing the bare sentences with how they sounded with Greg reading them. It’s easy to hear how E.J. Russell’s storytelling comes alive with Greg’s voice-acting. Something as simple as “I’m hungry” can be read in so many ways: angrily, demanding, plaintively, or sad. It’s the narrator that interprets the author’s meaning and makes it happen for the listener, and Greg Boudreaux is one of the best.
The author has built a comprehensive and interesting alternate world, pulling from the mythologies of many countries to populate it. E.J. Russell’s storytelling is clever, humorous and fun, and my interest is piqued enough that I’m planning on picking up a book in one of the connected series, especially since they all seem to be narrated by Greg!
Carrie
Buy Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell on Amazon
