White Trash Warlock

The Adam Binder Novels, Book 1

By: David R. Slayton

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Not all magicians go to schools of magic.

Adam Binder has the Sight. It’s a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another, a realm of magic populated by elves, gnomes, and spirits of every kind. But for much of Adam’s life, that power has been a curse, hindering friendships, worrying his backwoods family, and fueling his abusive father’s rage.

Years after his brother, Bobby, had him committed to a psych ward, Adam is ready to come to grips with who he is, to live his life on his terms, to find love, and maybe even use his magic to do some good. Hoping to track down his missing father, Adam follows a trail of cursed artifacts to Denver, only to discover that an ancient and horrifying spirit has taken possession of Bobby’s wife.

It isn’t long before Adam becomes the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, save his sister-in-law, and learn the truth about his father, Adam will have to risk bargaining with very dangerous beings...including his first love.

©2020 David R. Slayton (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Fun listen

It was a Fun listen. A delightful representation of the queer fantasy male. Try it.

White Trash Warlock

Definitely a different book. Enjoyed the story line. Enjoyed the difference in the elfin storyline. Very different love story, one I was not expecting, but it worked

loved

I loved this, getting ready to start the second one.
I wish we didn't have to wait so long for the third one.

simply amazing

this book is a definite must for both young and old, pure joy even if you don't prefer fantasy

Part 1

I don’t understand the rave reviews. The story is ok, but shallow. It meanders along, but rarely felt urgent to me. It sort of ends, not so much on a cliffhanger, but by running out of steam, leaving loose ends. I’m going to try the 2nd book to see if it resolves more, & see which expectations are met or not, because I can get it free. I wouldn’t otherwise. I do realize my review is “The food wasn’t great but the portions are too small,” in book form.

Content warning for past familial abuse revisited and miscarriages.

The structure is not usual in that it follows the POV of 2 brothers who are not co-equal protagonists; this is Adam’s story. I’m used to dual POV stories in romances. This was handled differently. That isn’t good or bad, but given both had POV’s, I would have been more satisfied had Robert/Bobby been more complex.

I don’t fully understand the the motive of “I have to save my estranged family at all costs” which drives a lot of the story. It’s not wrong, so much as rote and unreasonable. I thought it could have been handled better, and given more complexity, even made to be reasonable. But given the estrangement, the SIL is functionally a stranger. There’s a crisis going on that has resulted in human & supernatural deaths, Adam is already trying to help strangers. So why is it Adam attributes his need to help to family (again, estranged) and narrowing his motivation rather to family rather than expanding it more? He includes other people/beings but his focus of interest & motivation remains the SIL, who is basically a zombie through this whole thing. Her dissociation means neither Adam nor Bobby, her husband, need to include her or work with her as a person- they are only caretakers of her shell, not partners. Sure, they can’t partner with the evil spirit, and the author tried to have the brothers get closer focusing on that relationship. But to do that he made Annie a non-person. Then he randomly tossed in Vic, who is barely relevant to the plot, despite being tied to Adam. Which makes 2 romantic pairings that are underfunded emotionally. To be fair, Adam does talk to Vic honestly, which was a relief as a reader wanting them to work out (if he hadn’t I wouldn’t have finished). But Bic is absent for much of the book & their heart connection was more a curiosity. Removing it wouldn’t have substantially altered the plot. It was weird to have such a powerful piece of magic brought to existence only for it to not really matter. It kind of stood as a proxy for caring. But neither needed the link to like each other; neither used the link to save the day. For a book that is trying to rebuild & expand family, the emotional connections didn’t work that well for me.

One of my biggest annoyances though, was Adam’s judgment of his high school ex. One, boys need to stop hating the world and everything their ex meant to them when they break up. But they didn’t even break up! The ex vanished. Wouldn’t the obvious response be to worry about them? To wonder if something bad happened? They were in a locked facility- they had little consent over their actions. Thinking he was “betrayed” should have been way down the list of emotions. Every time Adam thought of his ex he was vengeful. Hurt, I get, maybe some anger. But he should have been worried & he wasn’t. It got under my skin every time it came up, which was often. Secondary to that is Adams obsession with his absent father. He seemed convinced that if he was reunited, the dad would somehow not be an abusive jerk this time, and answer his questions. Let. Him. Go. He’s not the kind of dad to answer questions that would make you feel better. Sure, track him down to stop him, but stop expecting that he’ll care about you. Please, I am begging authors (and men) to stop vilifying everyone who is only in their lives temporarily, except their evil dads who don’t deserve them, who they obsess over. It’s not about you. People leave sometimes, sometimes that’s a good thing. Get a grip.

Worldbuilding: Overall well done. I thought the overlay of “reality” & the supernatural was interesting. The way that the other side could be tuned in and out, and only be partially accessible was well done. The way the supernatural actually had impact in reality was good, and part of why I kept reading.

Steam: Low/no. Adam has a couple kisses.

Narration: Clear and pretty good. Not much in the way of Oklahoma accents, and attempts at such faded in and out, but it was easy to listen to. Sound quality was even.

Really good

At first I wasn’t sure if this was for me but then I couldn’t put it down and even shed a little tear at the end.
I’m def listening to the next book right after.

A Nice Surprise

I wasn't sure about this based on the title, but i really enjoyed it.

Amusing

This one was entertaining and amusing amusing. Some of it could’ve used a bit more story development but overall I enjoyed listening to it.

So fun!

This book was such a relief! It is just so much fun. It draws you in and keeps you from moment one. It was exciting and funny, and the characters are all so likable! Definitely recommend!

Wow! I’m committed!

I found this book while browsing the Audible Plus catalog. I honestly listened to it straight through with few breaks, I just had to know what was going to happen. I love Adam, I love Vic…very impressed with the inner dialogue that helps the listener understand the characters better. I ended up buying extra credits so I could purchase the books (there are two books so far) instead of just listening to them through the catalog.