Trust & Treachery

Echoes of Sol, Book 1

By: Charissa Dufour

Narrated by: Ian McEuen

When space freighter pilot Calen Macleef accidentally wins Larissa “Bit” Earnest in a lucky hand of poker, his main concern is what his gruff and uncompromising brother, Jack, will say about it. Jack Macleef is the captain of the ship in a world where space travel has only recently become the norm and space piracy abounds.

Painful memories of prior abuse surface for Bit as she finds herself on a freighter full of rowdy, ungentlemanly merchant marines. Jack works to find a safe place for frightened Bit among the ungentlemanly crew, but good looks and innocent ways continually charm the men.

With tension and danger running high, each begins to wonder: Will they survive the pirates...and each other?

©2015 Charissa Dufour (P)2018 Charissa Dufour

Excellent Listen

Very engaging story, I can hardly wait for the next books in the series to come out on audio.

Very different and interesting start.

I really enjoyed the story, although it was a little brief. Definitely looking forward to book 2.
The premise catches your interest from the start and is rather unique. You care about the characters and the plot moves along at a nice even pace.
The narration was done very well. Mr. McEuen has a vast oeuvre of voices to help differentiate the many characters present.

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

lost souls found friends

Bit was a lost young soul that had been bound since childhood. She was now someone free. She was from under the thumb of one life and tossed in to another. She finds a new journey. This was a very quick read/listen and it was a bit, no pun intended, pacing adjusting. Found interesting character, space life, comradery, and a possible friendship. The audio narration allowed for this story to move by quick and make some dots connected without the barrier of trying to read it on paper.

Compelling

This book has an interesting space opera romance full of compelling plot twists.

One of the main characters, Larissa, is a sympathetic and complex person. She is passed from her owner to another man via a poker game. This transfer puts her on a spaceship full of strangers.

As the story builds, Larissa comes into her own as a strong and complex female.

This is a great start to the series.

The narration by Ian McEuen is quite good. His voice, and command of the story makes for an enjoyable audio book.

A Winning Hand for a New Future!

Trust & Treachery: Echoes of Sol, Book 1 written by Charissa Dufour. The narration is provided by Ian McEuen. The total running time of this audiobook is 3 hours and 57 minutes. In that time the listener will be immersed in a new world created by Ms. Dufour. A future where intersystem space travel is now a common occurrence. Also in this future, there is a system of indentured servitude. To pay your debts you can sell yourself or your children into this system.

This story holds the listener's attention from the beginning to the end. Calen Macleef accidentally wins Larissa “Bit” in a poker game and has to take her to his brother Jacks Space Freighter the Lenore. The crew is larger and the journey this trip is to Mars. Jack allows Bit to stay with the ship. This was a very enjoyable story that falls into the science fiction genre. Every listener/reader puts there own viewpoint on a story. Those that believe there was an undercurrent of romance will see it. Those that believe this was an elaborate but subtle start of a reverse harem story will see that. Or the listener can go by the title. The trust from the title-An abused and a battered young woman learns how to trusts men and herself dealing with them. Treachery-The ship deals with treachery during the voyage.

The narration by Ian McEuen is outstanding in this audio production. This is the first performance that I have heard from Mr. McEuen. The narration he provided was brilliant. Each character received a unique voice while conveying the emotions the characters were experiencing at that time. Jack, Bit, and Odin are all especially memorable. The production quality of this audiobook is also the highest quality. I heard no problems during the entire performance. There were not any detectable flaws that I was able to hear during the entire performance such as loops, breaks, or buzzing. The production was crisp and clear. Charissa Dufour delivered an excellent audiobook production. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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This could have been terrific

There is no doubt about it, Charissa Dufour is a writer. She has the talent and her skill at immersive writing and deep viewpoint that she could be amazing if the current publishing world had not failed her. In my opinion, This book wasn't ready, and the old school publishing world would have caught that and set a higher bar for her to jump over before getting this in print. The book isn't sure if it wants to be, a romance or a science fiction adventure.

There are writers, like Sherilyn Kenyon, who manage to do both brilliantly. This book is simply too short and its romance at the same time too dispersed among different male leads to feel like it achieved anything (though if it had been better handled it could have been intriguing to see a romance character actually have to deal with the affections of many suitors with different merits and flaws. I had gotten excited to see this play out, for a moment, but it just didn't work, as it stands..

The setting is as generic as can be. The cast needed to be condensed or the book needed to be lengthened, probably both.

It just didn't work for me.

That said, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. Charissa Dufour has the talent and chops, if she will broaden her writing skills and set herself, personally, a higher standard to excel in all areas, to be one of the finest writers alive today with a strong career.

I for one hope she does it. I would love to read the books that she is clearly capable of writing, if she does.

Just getting started

Charissa Dufour is really onto something with this story and characters. It just ends too soon. I really like to see a character slowly grow into their own. All I can say is TYPE FASTER! I listened to this all in one sitting and book 2 is not available! OH THE HUMANITY! I'll keep an eye out!

good audio book

couldnt put it down and i found it really good to listen to it
the voice was right for this book
loved it
five star audio book

Short but enjoyable

I was given a copy of this book for free and am posting this review of my own free will.

Usually I don't read book that are this short, but since I was offered a free copy, I figured I'd give it a shot. I actually really enjoyed it! The pacing was good, narrator was excellent and the main character was interesting. I'd definitely be interested in continuing this series.

Good story

Good story that serves as a nice introduction to the world it is set in. It is full of action, but it is the well written characters that really make the story good.