Chase the Dark

Steel & Stone, Book 1

By: Annette Marie

Narrated by: Melissa Moran, Tim Paige

Piper Griffiths wants one thing in life: to become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. There are three obstacles in her way.

The first is Lyre. Incubus. Hotter than hell and with a wicked streak to match. His greatest mission in life is to annoy the crap out of her, but he isn't as harmless as he seems. The second is Ash. Draconian. Powerful. Dangerous. He knows too much and reveals nothing. Also, disturbingly attractive—and scary. Did she mention scary?

The third is the Sahar Stone. Top secret magical weapon of mass destruction. Previously hidden in her Consulate until thieves broke in, went on a murder spree, and disappeared with the weapon.

And they left Piper to take the fall for their crimes.

Now she's on the run, her dreams of becoming a Consul shattered, and every daemon in the city gunning to kill her. She's dead on her own, but there's no one she can trust—no one except two entirely untrustworthy daemons. See problems one and two.

©2024 Annette Marie (P)2024 Tantor Media

Better than the original!

The quality of this new version is soooo much better than the original. Honestly I couldn't even finish the original audiobook and actually had to read the book.. which is hard for me. Yes, there are some changes from the original story but I'm not mad about it at all. Definitely worth the listen

Changes some time don’t need to happen

I mean she did read for the other books but this character was all Jorgina. There are pronouncing some words were a little irritating. A I loved the original written story. This one does have some changes that make is a little confusing on how things really happened. Don’t get me wrong I love this series and can’t wait for the new ones.

An Amazing ‘Refurbish’

I loved the original story, but there were some things that grated on me terribly; the extreme bratty behavior of Piper, the extremely awful behavior of her father Quinn- those bothered me so bad, I had to fight to keep reading (I’m glad I did, it was a fabulous story). And the original audible reader didn’t help either; I personally didn’t like the nasally narration.

The rewrite was refreshing and fun to read. The changes were all sensible and helped with continuity (especially considering Lire’s story.) The narrators are easy to listen to, also. Piper is still naive, overconfident, and pushy- enough to make me cringe with sympathy, and Quinn isn’t an insufferable a**hole, but a concerned father hellbent on sheltering, annoying but not impossible to sympathize with.

This story was always fun, and I’d eventually fallen in love with Piper even though I couldn’t stand her at first… but this rewrite has me super excited to read this story all over again!!

A New Take, not for me.

I want to start by reminding you reviews are subjective. This new take may be just what you are looking for. in my case, I've listened to the original version so many times I just can not get on board with this new one. I've listened to the full new version three times just to try and bond with the book. It's not going to happen.

As someone who adored the original narration of Chase the Dark and could practically quote it line for line, this new version just doesn’t land for me.

The new narrator feels mismatched to the roles. The inflection and tone often pull me out of the story: the female lead, once stubborn and strong-willed, now comes across as whiny and overreactive. The male lead’s voice, delivered through the female narrator, sounds exaggerated to the point of being hard to take seriously. And the secondary male lead, who should exude sensuality, instead comes off flat and half-asleep. It’s a stark shift in characterization that changes the entire feel of the book.

I also wasn’t a fan of the new additions to the story. Instead of enhancing the plot, they felt unnecessary and took away from the tight pacing and energy of the original.

Honestly, I’d be happiest if the original version were still available—even if just as an alternate option after the re-release. This really feels like someone redesigned my favorite pants and they're just not right anymore.

Can’t wait for book two!

This story dragged me in and wouldn’t let go. Interesting characters and slow burn romance. Loved it!