Where Loyaties (and various characters) Lie

I was given a copy of this audiobook for free for an honest review.

Where Loyaties Lie by Rob J. Hayes, narrated by Matthew Jackson.

Pros: Exciting story with gripping (and grasping!!!!) characters. The sea is salty, the battles are brash and bashing. The characters are conflicted. The sex is part of the plot, not merely gratuitous.The actions moves from plans to battles and negotiations. The protagonist Drake is mixed in his actions, yet he is following a prophecy that was passed along by his brother. His brother also sends a woman with magical powers to watch his back. Keelin Stillwater didn't really want to follow Drake, but the circumstances seem to give him no other choice. So he does. They are pirates, so they both do exciting piratical deeds, but they both try to live with themselves. So like many a contemporary situation, "it's complicated"--which is definitely good.

Cons: I'm not really over-joyed at the Narrator. Matthew Jackson's voice keeps taking me out of the story into noticing his accents and projecting volume. There is graphic sex. I think it manages to stay outside porn, but it's close. Imagine scenes from the movie Flesh and Blood with Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh, except fewer minutes in the acts themselves. This will be off-putting for some listeners, and a feature for some listeners. The last negative to mention is that this is book one of a two book series. It ends with two and possibly three cliff hangers. While the book is very good, it is not stand alone. Not even a little bit.

Still, this reader / listener will be getting book two to continue the story.

A Requested Title the Library Doesn't Own

A patron came in today and asked if we had a book. I had to say that we didn't but we have a similar title. The patron said they didn't want the new book by that author, they wanted the original book that was published in the 1950s called:
To Kill a Hummingbird.

The patron asked since we don't have it, could we order it. I explained no, and why. Even though it should exist, that book doesn't.

Straits of Hell = Pages of Paradise

Pages of Paradise may be a misnomer, trying to be too clever, but Straits of Hell (Destroyermen series #10) is an excellent book. Full disclosure, I received a free ebook pre-release copy for a fair and accurate review. However, by way of evidence of sincerity, I bought the audiobook from Audible.com. It's good enough to own twice, and I expect to re-read it, as I have done with previous titles from Anderson's Destroyermen series.

Matthew Reddy and his surviving Destroyermen are now stationed on different ships around the Alliance Fleets in this alternate Earth. They are battling on two different fronts with allies from indigenous peoples as well as humans from other arrivals from other time periods in Reddy's earth's history.

Enemies similarly include Japanese from World War II, where the old Asiatic Fleet destroyer USS Walker came from; sentient reptiles called Grik; and other humans from different Earths in the past, relative to World War II. The writing about these groups and their thoughts actions just grabs this reader and yanks him along. These enemy characters are complicated, not mere cardboard cutouts to provide opposition in the plot.

Obviously, at number 10 in the series, much has happened before the events of this book. All things being equal, I'd recommend that readers start the series with book 1, Into the Storm. Nevertheless, if a reader is willing to start "In medias res," this book can carry the extra weight. What are characteristics that make this a compelling and worthy read?

As mentioned before, the characters are interesting and complicated. They are put in dire situations and have to overcome being outnumbered, plans that are more clever than they expected at the time. Another facet of these books is research and re-development of technologies that existed in the World War II time frame, but were unknown in the alternate Earth that the Destroyermen arrive at. Much of the technology has been developed in previous books, but the struggle to improve and manufacture items needed for war goes on as a plot thread. Finally, showing characters working hard to create a more ideal civilization including multi-species interests and entertains.

Straits of Hell is worth your reading time and your book dollars--as is the rest of the series.