Shadow's Messenger

Aileen Travers Series #1

By: T. A. White

Narrated by: Natasha Soudek

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Life as Aileen knew it ended when she woke up in a morgue sporting a new set of fangs after a wild night out. Now, as a courier for the supernatural world, she balances figuring out this whole vampire thing with making enough to support her ice cream habit.

When a job goes disastrously awry and ends with a body on the ground, Aileen finds herself in over her head as she draws the attention of a powerful creature intent on her death.

Aileen will need to separate her allies from her enemies before it's too late. To survive, she'll work with a being she swore to avoid at all costs - a powerful vampire who may hold the key to her survival. Or the flame from which her world burns.

©2016 T.A. White (P)2020 Tantor

Entertaining!

This was pretty entertaining. It was slow to start as the story built, but once the action started I was enjoying it. There is no romance in this first book. I'm not sure if the whole series is that way or not. I will find out since I plan on reading the rest of the books.

It's mainly following our heroine who is only a 2 year old vampire. She has little knowledge of her world and you get to see her learn bits and pieces as she investigates a recent rash of killings of humans, vampires and werewolves.

I like Aileen's guts. She stood her ground no matter how much more powerful a being was she encountered. That's a big part of what made this so entertaining. I'm off to read book 2.

Good story, good narrator

Love a good narrator! This one is.
The story I wasn’t so sure about, I like the main character’s growth, was worried she’d be a doormat throughout but she stood up for herself which is great.
Story is supernatural with some different monsters you don’t usually hear about and I liked that change pace.
May not be for all but worth a listen to find out.

I loved this book!

I wasn't sure about this book. I thought it was going to be one of those YA vampire romance books and that I would not like it. I have never read anything by this author and wow I really liked it. As soon as I finished this book I purchased the second book in the series. I hope the rest of the series will be availanble on Audible soon. I thought the nararrator was going to be terrible by someone elses review I read, but I actually really liked the narrarator. Just buy this book very entertaining.

I dug it

I'm going to go download book 2 in the series now. Thumbs up from me👍

Torn on what to rate this series

I do not think there are any spoilers in this but I am on book 3 so read on at your own risk.

I like the main character. In general I like a woman that tries to make her own way in the world. I like that she can still be scared or sad and not a bad ass all the time. I do wish she would think things through a little more sometimes. She and the interesting mysteries in the books have kept me reading. Even when it is sometimes pretty clear to me who was at fault.
So here is my problem. The way the other vampires treat her is very wrong (to me). I understand there are supposed to be rules but it basically feels like abuse to me most of the time. She says no so they threaten. She says no so the kidnap. She says no so they make her ability to help someone contingent upon her bowing to them and giving up pieces of herself. It is rarely a compromise it is normally shoved down her throat one way or the other.

Then the whole you are just a dumb female newborn attitude drives me up the wall. You are insignificant and weak. How dare you have opinions of your own or want to lead your own life. Yes it is good to see her fight against this but most of the time they steamroll her or manipulate her. I have liked books with alpha guys in them (Kate Daniel series) but most of the time the heroine is able to stand her ground. I am about to go rant more in my review for book 3 if you want a little more detail but there will be spoilers in that for sure

my favorite series of all time

I have read and read this series so many times finally its on audible. I wish the narrator was Nicole poole then it would have been perfect!!!

Good Twists!

The performance was good. Not my favorite (I would have interpreted it very different if I were reading it myself) but good reading. Exciting plot- unexpected twists, excitement, the dream of romance, and detective work with a good splash of humor.

Baby Vamp Adventures.

I’m becoming a huge fan of T.A. White. After reading Broken Lands and the Firebird Chronicles loving both of them, I figured I would give this series a try. Super glad I did I enjoyed the ride, while this wasn’t my favorite of the three, I know that I’m going to devour the next few books in the series. While there has been some bad reviews for this series, I don’t agree with them at all. This was a fun adventure with a snarky heroine (my favorite kind.) The narrator was good, but the first time I heard her I was unsure how I felt, but she grew on me.

Great story w excellent narration

The narration elevates the story. Looking forward to the next book. Great plot and characters.

The story was great - narrator not so much

I had previously read the Aileen Travers series and really enjoyed it. So I was happy to see it come out in audio. However, I ended up returning it; The narrator sounds like a whiny teen and I finally gave up. If you like Natasha Soudek ignore this review. But if you don't care for her narration, don't give up on the series, try it in print.