A Looming of Vultures

Ruritanian Rogues, Book 1

De: Richard Storry

Narrado por: Jake Urry

While an ugly war with its neighboring realm continues to rage, the insulated members of Ruritania's upper class laugh and dance their way through their superficial lives. Some people, increasingly disillusioned by the pointless conflict, start to consider how the King might be persuaded - or forced - to end it.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of items of great value are going missing from those attending these high society gatherings. At whom will the finger of suspicion point? Who can be trusted? With so many competing, yet intertwined, agendas, what will be the outcome of this looming of vultures?

©2016 Richard Alan Storry (P)2017 Richard Alan Storry

Highly Recommended!!!

Ruritanian Rogues Book 1 “A Looming of Vultures” By: Richard Storry is a bit outside my normal genre, however, I really enjoyed the story. There’s loads of action and suspense, with enough humor to keep things fun and a twist to keep things interesting. Narrated by: Jake Urry who does an amazing job bringing individual characters to life. Highly Recommend!

double crosses

The games the idle rich play to amuse themselves at the expense of others!! What can one expect? But, more serious crimes are afoot. In the scheme of things Rudy was the lesser of the evils for his deeds and a hero of sorts (along with Willy). The twist at the ending had me on the edge of my seat in anticipation! I enjoyed Willy's spunky nature in dealing with Rudy. Very amusing story. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The narrator did a great job bringing it to life.

Great Story, Great Twist.

This story was very interesting. Initially it started out like it was going to be all about royalty and the lavish events they throw. Then it began to morph into a who-dun-it mystery. But it is not a who-dun-it. I can't say more without giving it away, but the plot twists and morphs and in the end, I found myself smiling and anticipating where the flow of the story would go. Very well thought out progression, I am definitely looking forward to book two.

The narration was executed very well. Jake Urry did a fantastic job with the many different voices and characters. His narration really brought the story to life.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of mysteries or anything with a twisty plot and surprise endings. I also like the short bookend story about the Vulture and his flight for food.

I requested a free review copy of this audiobook and I am leaving a voluntary and honest review.

Entertaining Story

I received this audio book for free in return for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I love mysteries and read them often. This plot for this was kind of all over, but the author did a fairly decent job of wrapping it all up.

There was one think I found really irritating. I hate it when otherwise seemingly intelligent people do something really stupid and the rogue thief in this book had one stupid habit that I think an intelligent person would never do. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot hinged on this stupid mistake so I see why the author did it, I think it would have been a better book if the author would have spent more time and figured out a more subtle way of accomplishing the same goal.

The narrator was very good, lovely, velvety English accent, although it probably would have been more accurate to have been a German accent throughout based on the heritage of the people. It didn't bother me as I much prefer listening to an English accent rather than a German accent.

Women didn't add anything

Storry has written a very fun and suspenseful novel! I enjoyed the quirkiness of the two main characters. They have a suave kind of vibe to them and have a lot of fun in this novel! I enjoyed the suspense with the crimes, to see if they would get away with it all. I laughed a lot during this story, which isn't what I was expecting. But I was glad for the laughs. It made the overall experience much better. It flowed pretty well, although I do have to knock a point and a half because of the women. They were very boring and didn't seem to add anything to the story except to exist. I'd like them to be more vocal in Storry's future works. I give the novel a 3.5/5.

The narration is done by Jake Urry! Who is amazeballs! I love his voice. And honestly I could listen to him narrate really anything. Urry has a lot of skill and this story showcased a large range of it. I hope that I get to listen to him in more works going forward. If you're looking for audiobooks just to listen to because of the narrator I highly recommend Urry! Seriously, he can read anything and I will sit for hours! 5/5 stars!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jake Urry. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A tale of two thieves

A baron with a penchant for taking what he wants in the dead of night as a gentleman’s hobby. A manservant who is along for the thrills and to keep his master safe. Along comes a challenge that can’t be ignored in the form of a safe full of gold deemed uncrackable by the makers. As the crime unfolds a plot to assassinate the king is uncovered, due to his nature he cannot reveal what he knows. What an two rogues do? Listen and find out. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Clever plot and endearing characters

Ruritania, a country described as laying somewhere East of France and the North of the Mediterranean, has been for a long time at war with Germania. In the midst of this tumult, the upper class is worried about some thefts occurred recently, and the best way to prevent them.

It is not specified when the events in this book occur, but the mention of electricity as a novelty and only within reach of the king, it could translate into late 19th century or early 20th. Being Ruritania an imaginary country, I couldn't help by try to guess in what countries it was inspired. Some names sounded Russian, but other could also have been Prussian. I know this is not relevant to the story but I always wonder about these things!

This book was really enjoyable. The characters were very well depicted, and each one had their own quirks. I especially liked the weird pair formed by Baron Rudolf and Wilhelm, with their never-ending arguments to the point that they resulted really endearing. I didn't share the motivations of the characters but I could understand them and I think Storry did a really good job in creating very vivid characters with down to earth imperfections that made them real.

The plot was cleverly exposed and had a nice pace. The book had me really entertained for more than the first half just to be surprised with interesting twist. I guess this is exactly what happened to the upper class of Ruritania, too busy with meaningless things (but important to them) to be able to see what was really in front of them.

Some things were not explained, like how the bad guys managed to do what they did, but this is part of the charm of this story, which feels sometimes like a fairy tale. I loved every moment of this it, and I enjoyed being distracted by a clever plot, like the people from Ruritania.

Jake Urry's performance was, as always, wonderful. He really brought the characters to life giving the impression of facing real people. He set the right atmosphere with his poweful and velvet-like voice, transporting me to a far away country. Urry has become of of my favorite narrators!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jake Urry. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A looming of Vultures

Don't judge a book by it's cover and this one falls under this category. I was pleasantly surprised by this book, it was not what I expected at all.
It had plenty of action and suspense which had me turning the page. but it also had some humour, something I love in a book and a twist that kept things interesting.

Theft, intrigue, & a plot that won't quit

**I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Jake Urry. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.**

The last few years, I’ve been primarily focused on reading/reviewing romance novels of the fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal variety. But every once in a while, I find myself in the mood for something vastly different. Enter “A Looming of Vultures” and it’s 4-ish hours of humor, suspense, and mystery.

There was a surprising amount of plot in this book, considering how short it was. Mr. Storry even managed to throw in a plot twist that I aaaalmost didn’t see coming, it was so subtly hinted at in a previous chapter. The pace of events was perfect for the story he had to tell and his characters were interesting and nicely developed. There was also just enough detail devoted to scene-setting and just enough background information given to paint a good backdrop for the events of the story. Ruritania was made real enough that I found myself wanting to check a map to see if I could find it in Europe somewhere!

As a thief and an aristocrat in a country suffering through war, Rudy could have been so easy to dislike…but I loved him. He’s clever, funny, inventive, and unapologetic in his desire to have the pretty/valuable things that belong to other wealthy individuals. His interactions with Wilhelm were hilarious and he was surprisingly courteous to his servant, despite the general attitude people like the General displayed towards their staff. Rudy and Willy seemed to have a lot of history and a good working relationship with one another. Wilhelm seemed to be the character that “doth protest too much” and it was surprisingly endearing rather than the annoying character trait it could have been. The other characters played their parts well and gave us a glimpse into the current atmosphere of Ruritania.

Several months ago, I listened to another Richard Storry/Jake Urry collaboration (“The Cryptic Lines”, which I reviewed here) and was really, really impressed. Mr. Storry is a very talented author and though it appears his works tend to be on the shorter side, he manages to present incredible details, developed characters, and interesting plot twists. He knows how to balance the elements of whatever mood he’s trying to set so that it isn’t too…monochromatic. There are subtleties that give his work texture and flavor and dimension, if that makes any sense. He also allows his reader enough freedom of imagination to make it easy to ‘picture’ what he’s writing. Mr. Urry has a voice that is PERFECT for suspense, action, and intrigue, and his accent lends just the right touch of both elegance and gravity. The audio quality of his narrations is spot-on, with not random volume changes, awkward pauses, or distracting background noises to interrupt the spell he’s weaving over the reader. I hope he narrates the rest of the Ruritanian Rogues series!

Bottom line: Everything about this story was just right: the length, the narrator, the balance of suspense and lightheartedness, and that one little plot twist. The addition of the vulture at the beginning and the end definitely set the tone and was a rather creative use of a normally off-putting creature. I highly recommend this book, especially in audio format, to anyone who loves a good intrigue!

Oh, and Willy’s Chocolate Tiffin recipe is included at the end, so that’s pretty awesome. 😊

the book has everything

such a good suspense book I liked the book very much and I listened to the second book as well and the two books are so good I want to listen to them again and again I enjoyed those books very much

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."