Ruby's books: Audiobook Tour Book review: Evil's Unlikely Assassin by Jenn Windrow

Author: Jenn Windrow
Narrator: Chelsea Stephens
Length: 8 hours 49 minutes
Series: Alexis Black, Book 1
Audience: Over 18
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Irreverent Publishing
Release Date: Jan. 23, 2019
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: Audiobookworm Promotions
Blurb (from Goodreads):

"Evil's Unlikely Assassin is a promising urban fantasy debut that features all that's great about the genre--action, attitude, and ass-kicking." -Jaye Wells, USA Today bestselling author of The Sabina Kane and Prospero's War series

Vampire Alexis Black is on a mission - to rejoin the human race.

Coerced into signing an ironclad contract by an Angel-with-attitude, Alexis must hunt down and assassinate at least one vampire, werewolf, or creepy crawly every night for fifty years to become human again. Too bad the contract didn’t mention the badass vampire who now rides shotgun in her brain, insatiable bloodlust, or her new I-hate-everything-with-fangs sidekick. If she can fulfill her end of the bargain, her humanity is restored, if not she will be destroyed.

But when a revenge-seeking bloodsucker threatens her city, Alexis must risk everything to ensure there’s a humanity to return to. Since her vampire nature is her greatest weapon to defeat the monsters that threaten her friends and future, Alexis must choose to accept her inner beast or watch those she loves die.

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

*Disclaimer: This book contains mature content. As such my review may contain reference to material intended for a mature audience.

It's been a while since I was last surprised, truly surprised by a book with and about vampires. Even though vampires are my favorite supernatural creatures to read about, it's rare that I get to be truly taken by surprise by the stories they're a part of, but that's just what happened with Jenn Windrow's book.

Evil's Unlikely Assassin tells the story of the Alexis, a vampire assassin. She hates being a vampire so much, that she agreed to work for an angel and kill vampires for the next 50 years in order to gain back her humanity. The thing I liked most about Alexis was that she wasn't as in control of herself and her actions, due to another vampire sharing her body. I truly loved that about her story.

I also loved the fact that we get to see a vampire hating her race so much, that she's willing to do whatever it takes to become human again, but she's not willing to die in order to escape her current situation. It isn't until the life of someone very important to her is threatened that she is willing to die in order to save them, and I really really loved that scene. I have read about vampire assassins before, but I've never read about a vampire that hated their nature so much. It was an interesting topic to read about, to be honest.

I liked the pacing of this story. There seemed to be action non stop, and even in the scenes that were more laid back the pacing seemed to be consistent and intense. I liked the sass and the humor, but I also enjoyed the gorier scenes, the dramatic ones. There were a lot of scenes that were pretty graphic, especially when Alexis and her sidekicks were fighting some vampires and that scene got very graphic.

There were a few surprises I did not see coming, even though looking back I probably should have figured them out beforehand, especially since I listened to this story on audio and there's something extra added to the story when it's in audio form. Anyway, I really enjoyed the story overall. The only thing that pulled me back a little bit was the fact that the story starts almost in the middle of things, and we get very little direct information about the backstory of Alexis, how she became an assassin, how she was made a vampire and a number of other details. The story does eventually touch upon those things, but it's something that happens throughout the story and it's mostly through brief mentions and it's up to the reader to piece those details together. While I enjoyed the mystery that was created by this choice, there were times when I would have wanted to know what happened before to better understand what is happening now in the story.

Speaking of the audio aspect, I have to say I may have found one of my favorite narrators. Chelsea not only manages to make these characters come alive, she makes it so that there's so many different tones of voice and accents and rhythms of speech that at times I forgot there was only one narrator. I can only hope that she narrates the sequel and all the books in this series.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and it was a great series starter. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series. So if you're into vampires and good old urban fantasy series, you should check this book out.

Jenn Windrow is an award winning author of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. Vampires, Greek gods, and a bit of Freak Show fun for everyone. She loves characters who have a pinch of spunk, a dash of attitude, and a large dollop of sex appeal. Top it all off with a huge heaping helping of snark, and you’ve got the ingredients for the kind of fast paced stories she loves to read and write. Home is a suburb of it’s-so-hot-my-shoes-have-melted-to-the-pavement Phoenix. Where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and a slew of animals that seem to keep following her home, at least that’s what she claims.

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Chelsea Stephens has a long time love and appreciation for the performing arts, with experience in on-stage acting, singing and voice over. Her love for reading books and the pursuit of the story led her to narration. She enjoys unfolding characters and bringing listeners into new worlds. Chelsea is an experienced voice actor with a talent for mystery, fantasy and YA novels. She's a mom to a gaggle of young ones living in the Midwest with her lumbersexual husband.