Crane (Legends Saga Book 1)

By: Stacey Rourke

Narrated by: Karen Krause

The Horseman is unending, his presence shan't lessen.

If you break the curse, you become the legend.

Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane's disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep.

What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?

Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse.

But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides?

©2014 Stacey Rourke (P)2015 Stacey Rourke

Headless Horseman - Legacy or Curse?

Crane is a new twist in retelling of the Headless Horseman. Centuries later, Ireland Crane, a descendant of Ichabod Crane, is the first Crane to return to Sleepy Hollow and in returning has reawaken the curse. The story is told between the present (Ireland) and the past (Ichabod). As Ichabod Crane and his two friends, Washington Irving, and Rip Van Winkle have defeated the Headless Horseman and the person who is controlling him, someone from the present has risen the Headless Horseman.

In triggering the curse, Rip Van Winkle has awaken from his sleep to help a Crane descendant to defeat the Headless Horseman again. In helping Ireland, Rip has to revealed the truth in Ichabod's mysterious disappearance in any hope that Ireland could defeat the Headless Horseman and to keep Noah from the line of fire.

This story is quite perfect Halloween read to revisit the tale of the Headless Horseman. This is a story bordering of what is fiction and what is fact. Not only does the story show the past repeating itself, it also shows where sacrifice had to be made to keep the curse from manifesting itself. There is quite a bit of humor and wits in story. The readers/listeners are going to get a kick of humor toward the end.

Of course, the story continues with Ireland, Noah, and Rip. They may have defeated the Headless Horseman but someone has a grander sinister plan in stored for Ireland and the Headless Horseman. I can't wait to see what happen next with Ireland and Rip and will Noah remains by Ireland's side.

The narrator, Karen Krause, provided a matter-of-fact voice for Ireland. I love the bantering between the officers and Ireland at the beginning of the story when Ireland was considered a suspect. Rip is just hilarious in how the narrator portrayed him. Readers/Listeners need to think in the legend context of Rip Van Winkle's personality.

I was given this audiobook by the author/narrator/publisher via Audiobook Blast in exchange of an honest review. I was not compensated or influenced in any way for writing this review.

Crane #1

Karen Krause does a great job narrating this book.In Crane,we meet Ireland Crane,a descendent of Ichabods.She makes her new home in Sleepy Hollow and people start dying.She tries to find out WHO is bringing this old legend to life.With help from a recently awake Rip Van Winkle,she finds out.
This audiobook was provided to me at no cost for a fair and honest review

Exciting

Crane is a captivating tale. The characters and world building are on point! The narration truly brings the story to life!! I am looking forward to seeing where the Author takes this thrilling series

Clever, fun take on the Headless Horseman story

If you could sum up Crane (Legends Saga Book 1) in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, funny, amazing

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Absolutely, the story, moving back and forth between the original in the 1790's and the present day got progressively more exciting and scary.

What about Karen Krause’s performance did you like?

She was perfect! Her characterizations made it very easy to follow who was talking, and her depiction of Ireland made her very real. She knows how to do humor too, which isn't always the case with narrators.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Hang on to your head, it's going to be a scary night!

Any additional comments?

I was just so impressed at the humor, originality, and story line of this book. I want to re-read it already.

Legend of Sleepy Hollow has returned!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

We follow the murder's of the Headless Horseman in both times. There is more to the story than simply a headless man cutting off heads. There is also a question I'm curious to see explained in relation to the Headless Horseman.

How to control him.

There is indication of a talisman, which is in two forms. But also, there seems to be control in way of 'payment' (per say) which is used. It seems to me others could use this 'payment' method to make a deal and control the Headless Horseman at any time.

I'm curious to see how this plays out in the series and explained as time goes.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It has a bit of sweet to the end. Acceptance.

As the story here is finished, there is more to come. A mystery of who knows about the control of the Horseman. Ireland needs to find out. I'm curious as to what Ireland comes across with Rip as they search to find out who knows the secret that was buried in tales about the Headless Horseman.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Karen has vocalized this story in voices slightly different for each character in sound and persona. I got a kick out of her drunken slurring in the first chapter.

We do get a story from past and present, in which Karen has different sounds in speech for different time frames. The dialog for the characters in the past is something I didn't ever grow accustom to, though did feel to get better toward the end of the book. Each word spoken felt stiff and as if it was a sentence of it's own. I know it's of a time that is speech is proper and people watched what they said, but there didn't feel as if there was a flow to the words spoken.

The story and narration of the rest of the story (past and current) along with dialog in present time were read with flow.

truly creepy bloody Sleepy Hollow retelling

This was a truly dark and creepy re-telling of the Headless Horseman fairy tale, told from a split perspective. We are presented with a "behind the scenes" story of Washington Irving's historical time of the original tale, as well as a concurrent contemporary tale as strange events are visited visited upon the modern descendant of the original Ichabod Crane, a woman named Ireland Crane. She moves to Sleepy Hollow and becomes embroiled in the horrific deaths that are happening, seemingly caused by the Headless Horseman. Ireland is helped by Rip Van Winkle (the original compatriot of Irving and Ichabod Crane, not yet dead) to try to stop the horror.

Full of twists and turns, this is a satisfying horror tale. It delves a bit too deep into torture porn for me, and I had to shut it off and stop listening or fast forward through a few grisly parts. The plot is well-tuned and surprising. There is a fair amount of humor in both the historical and contemporary stories, and Rourke's writing is visceral and quite polished. I loved the backstory she created around the historical tale (we all thought we knew) of the Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane and Katrina Von Tassel.

The audio narration by Karen Krause is excellent. If you like twisted, bloody, dark re-tellings of fairy tales, check this out. Perfect for Halloween reading!

NOTE: This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Crane

This Crane book was actually good, truth be told I thought I wouldn’t like this, but in the end, I am actually intruding, and wants to read part 2 and part 3 when I get a chance. The story is good, and the storyline keeps you wanting more and more as you get deeper and deeper in the book.

Violent but Good

(Sorry about the name spellings. I heard the audioversion.)
Summary: Ireland Crane moves to Sleepy Hollow/ Terrytown to get away from a disastrous romance. What awakens in her when she gets there is much, much worse.

Additional Comments:
- There’s a good deal of snark in the lines of dialogue and in the protagonist’s thoughts. It adds a much-needed lightness to an otherwise gripping but very, very grim, dark, horrific plotline.
- Content warnings: language, graphic violence
- Characters: excellent. One can truly sympathize with Ireland. Noah’s kind of a flat character, but he’s still awesome. Rip is funny, but he doesn’t play much more of a role than inept conscience.
- Although the main character’s supposed to be a school guidance counselor, she does and says some stuff that makes me doubt she’s ever been in earshot of a school.
- Plot: Good but there are some leaps of logic required that have nothing to do with the fantasy side of the story.
- Narrator did a nice job.
- It’s an interesting twist on the legend of the headless horseman.

Conclusion: If you can handle gruesome, go for it. There’s even some fun to be had in this bloody tale.

*I received a free copy of the audiobook. I chose to review it.*

Kept me guessing.

I enjoyed this story immensely. I have never read or watched the story of the headless horseman. I’ve heard references to it over my lifetime so I had a very limited idea of the original tale. This added another dimension to the story than others who are more familiar might experience. The story itself kept my interest from beginning to end. At times I got a bit confused about who was who, but I think the main character did as well. Overall it was a very entertaining story.

Amazingly entertaining!

Overall Rating: 4.75

Goodreads Rating: 5

Rating Breakdown:

Originality: 5
Genre based ratings:
Fantasy: 5
Paranormal: 5
Horror: 3
Retellings: 5
Character Development: 5
Plot: 5
Narration: 5



I received this audiobook from Audiobook Blast (dot) com for free in exchange for my honest review. This review is my own opinion, I have not been paid or bribed or blackmailed into giving it.



I want to point out, if this is the first review you have ever read of mine, that I do not write *book reports*. I feel that you can read the synopsis of the book on Goodreads, Amazon or Audible, and get a really good idea of what the book is about. My reviews are my opinions, thoughts and feelings, what I liked and what I disliked about the book, or in case of audiobooks, about the narration as well. I try not to give away spoilers, but in some cases, I can’t always help it. If I am going to give a spoiler, I try to state that I will give a spoiler. I do try to give clear cut examples when necessary when explaining my opinions or thoughts.



Originality:

Where do I even start in this review? It has been a while that I listened to a book that was so captivating in a way that had me completely enamoured that I wanted to listen to it until I was finished. In one sitting. Whether I was working or not, cooking dinner, washing dishes, cleaning my house. It did not matter.

Stacey Rourke writes beautifully. I liked that it bounced from past, with Ichabod, to present, with his heir, Ireland. At first, the bouncing back and forth threw me off, but as the plot kept thickening, it began to make sense. Rourke takes the story we all know and creates this magnificent retelling into events that relates it to Ichabod’s heir who happens to end up in Sleepy Hollow after a miserable break up. As Ichabod’s story’s timeline continues, it relates Ireland’s present storyline, and then the big AH-HA! moment occurs, and I felt like I couldn’t listen fast enough!

As far as where it lines up with other books in the same genre, this is a great retelling. I think, in my opinion, you shouldn’t mess with a classic, because it is a classic for a reason. Rourke did something absolutely amazing with Crane, however, so I had to give it a 5 star rating in the retelling section of my rating breakdown (above). Another top rating for Goodreads is that it is classified as horror, and I cannot fully see why. Yes, I guess in some aspects I can understand why it would be horrorish, but to be a “top” genre listing, I would have expected more “horror”. There was really only ONE big scene that was “gruesome”, even though there are multiple deaths/murders in the book (without giving anything away, as a reader/audience member, you are only present truly for two of the deadly events, but you only know who the Headless Horseman/Haitian is for one of them). I just dont classify that as “horror.” When I think “horror,” I think early Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K Hamilton that caused me to lack sleep at night. Or, in it’s day, H.P. Lovecraft stories. I felt the death in this book was just as exciting as the rest of the story, and when the audience finds out the AH-HA, “whodunnit” moment, it becomes that more exhilarating, because, me personally, I didn’t expect it or see it coming. In line with other fantasy and paranormal genres, Crane has enough fantasy and paranormal aspects to keep the reader enticed and enjoy and it deserves a 5 star rating.



Character:

I think there was excellent character development throughout the entire story. Each character had their own weaknesses and growth. Ireland went through a horrible breakup, in many books these days, a 24 year old female would have sulked around feeling sorry for herself, but not Ireland. Ireland Crane got herself a new ‘do, a kickass new tattoo, a new job, moved to a new town and started a new life. Of course, her life wasn’t exactly what she was expecting. The town was sketchy and deaths started happening the moment she got there, but hey, it sure beats the life she left! Right?! I mean, a couple days after she moves in, her landlord is beheaded, she throws coffee on a really hot “maintenance man”/property owner, nearly gets fired from her job, meets the Rip Van Winkle, discovers the Horseman is out to get her AND her cheating ex fiance hunts her down trying to convince her she needs to get over seeing him sexing up on some fluzey in their bed. Ireland Crane is pretty badass in my book. And I barely even scratched the surface. However, even if Ms. Crane is the main character, she is not the only character. I couldn’t really find any flaws in the the development or character sketches of any of them. I felt each character played their importance. There weren’t really any “unnecessary” characters or character interactions.



Plot:

Crane starts out on the ground running. I can’t really think of a time where it was ever slow. There wasn’t ever really a dull moment where I was looking at the watch, thinking to myself, when is this book going to be over? All I kept thinking is, “Is Raven on Audible yet?”. (Which it is not by the way….however, the first 3 books in this series is out in book format). The entirety of this book keeps a pace that is steadily increasing and does not taper off. It ends exactly where you expect book to begin, with the Raven stating “Nevermore.” So I am extremely excited. It is one of those books I want everyone to read or listen to! I gave the plot line a 5 star rating for the fact that 1) I didn’t get bored. 2) It kept a fast past. 3) It not only keeps your interest, but it continually peaks your interest. Rourke keeps introducing characters, items, stories, etc that you want to find out more about. 4). This book is not that long. For the audio version, it is 8 hours in length. I just listened to another audiobook that was the same length and it took me over a month to listen to. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, I am still not done with the review. I started this book and finished this book, within a couple of days (unfortunately, life happens sometimes and I can’t read or listen as much as I would like). I finished the book about 10 minutes ago and this review is almost finished. That is how much I enjoyed this book. If an 8 hour book takes me 30+ days to listen to and another 2-3 weeks to attempt to finish a review, then it probably isn’t going to have a high rating, but if an 8 hour book takes me a couple of days, and I finish the review the exact same day I finish listening? Then I probably absolutely loved it. :) That is a good plot line if you ask me. An author that can keep you that engrossed in a story, is worth a listen or read.


Narrator:

I fell in love with Karen Krause. This was my first book of hers, and I do hope it is not my last. She brought every character to life. She has a true talent for voices. Each one was significantly different, that you would think it was an “all cast” production. She delivers each snarky punch line to it’s fullest extent. I loved her so much, I told her on twitter, just so she knows. I appreciate that Mrs. Krause was kind enough to provide this audiobook for free. I look forward to the remainder of this series, and I may need to go hunt down other books she has been a part of bringing to life!



Overall:

Finally, my last words that I will leave with you. I know this review seems weird, compared to some of my others that I have written in the past, but I just don’t want to give anything away. The Headless Horseman has really never been one of my favorite stories. Truly. I remember seeing the cartoons when I was younger, and I am familiar with the story. But it was never my favorite. I haven’t even seen the Johnny Depp version (which, by the way, I got a chuckle out of the reference in Crane). Ms. Rourke has made me want to give the Horseman a fair chance. She made me want to get to know Ichabod and Katrina the same way she has allowed me to get to know and love Ireland and Noah. So that has to say something, right? Also, the covers of these books are GORGEOUS!!!!!