Sophia Rose Reviews: A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris, narrated by full cast

 

A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris, narrated by full cast

#2 Gunnie Rose

Post-Apocalyptic Thriller, Alternate History

Publisher:  Graphic Audio

Published:  12.16.20

Time:  5 hours 16 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: Dramatized Adaption

Source:  Library borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris returns with the second of the Gunnie Rose series, in which Lizbeth is hired onto a new crew, transporting a crate into Dixie, the self-exiled Southeast territory of the former United States. What the crate contains is something so powerful that forces from across three territories want to possess it.

Lizbeth Rose is hired onto a new crew for a seemingly easy protection job, transporting a crate into Dixie, just about the last part of the former United States of America she wants to visit. But what seemed like a straightforward job turns into a massacre as the crate is stolen. Up against a wall in Dixie, where social norms have stepped back into the last century, Lizbeth has to go undercover with an old friend to retrieve the crate, as what’s inside can spark a rebellion, if she can get it back in time.

Author Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse mysteries and Midnight, Texas trilogy) is at her best here, building the world of this alternate history of the United States, where magic is an acknowledged but despised power.

Performed by Colleen Delany; Robbie Gay; Amanda Forstrom; Yasmin Tuazon; Stephon Walker; Bradley Smith; Ken Jackson; Michael Glenn; Alejandro Ruiz; Elizabeth Jernigan; Steve Wannall; KenYatta Rogers; Karen Novack; Nora Achrati; Nanette Savard; J.W. Rone; Jefferson A. Russell; Michael John Caesy; Richard Rohan; Nick DePinto; Dawn Ursula; Christopher Walker; Eric Messner; Rose Elizabeth Supan; Carolyn Kashner; Duyen Washington; Joe Mallon; Scott McCormick; Ren Kasey; Kimberly Gilbert; Ryan Carlo Dalusung; James Lewis; Lolita Horne; Elliot Dash; Chris Davenport.

 

 

Sophia Rose's Review: 

Continuing on a little while after the events of An Easy Death, Lizbeth has hired on with a new gunnie crew and their job takes them on a train ride into the country of Dixie where the Antebellum Southern culture holds sway.  Before their ways get her too twitchy, a hold-up of the train, the arrival of Eli, and a conspiracy bringing betrayal and the need for a deft gun hand make A Longer Fall jump right back into the action and suspense Charlaine Harris and Graphic Audio edition regaled me with for the first installment.

 

A Longer Fall is book two in the Gunnie Rose alternate history series and is strongly tied to the first book so needs to be read in order.

 

I was very taken with Lizbeth Rose in book one and the world Charlaine Harris created.  I liked the smoldering attraction and partnering of Lizbeth and the Russian wizard, Eli.  I was so glad that A Longer Fall expands on the world by taking the setting to ‘Dixie’ that formed in the southeast of what was once the US and brings back Eli as Lizbeth’s working partner and lover.

 

The job was guarding a mysterious box and it seems everyone knows the significance of the box except Lizbeth.  Her job ad her team got shot to smithereens, but she grits her teeth and determines to finish the job while wondering what Eli has to do with the box as well as other interested parties who are also hanging around the town.

White male dominance and slavery are the way of life in Dixie and Lizbeth can barely contain her reaction to it all.  She cinches herself into the garb of a genteel lady and bites her tongue to get the job done.  Eli’s twinkling humor at her predicament doesn’t help. 

Eli respects and appreciates her for who she is without all the fancy trappings.  In A Longer Fall, he shows this by backing her up when she’s doing her job and doesn’t hesitate to want her backup when he’s leading their mission.

 

He’s up against his own struggles because after his father’s betrayal of the Czar, Eli and her family are in a precarious position and he has to pull off his current task to help reinstate them to their place.

 

The Graphic Audio edition with sound effects, music, and a talented full cast made a good tale so much more.  I can’t recommend listening to the Graphic Audio version enough.

 

The combo of historical with magic and the intrigue they’re up against came to an exciting head.  Their romance has progressed to the point of attachment, but Lizbeth is disheartened because she feels like Eli is way out of her league as a Russian aristocrat.  I’m eager to push into the next installment and see what happens next for Lizbeth and Eli.  The series is holding strong and I recommend it to those who love a mashup of various genres and a lot of pulse-pounding excitement.

 

Author Bio:

Two thousand twenty-three will mark Charlaine’s forty-second year as a published writer. She has written two stand-alones, and her series include the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, the Lily Bard mysteries, the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasies, the Harper Connelly urban fantasies, the Midnight, Texas novels, the Cemetery Girl graphic novels (with Christopher Golden), and the Gunnie Rose books, set in an alternate history America. Charlaine has also written many short stories, and together with Toni L.P. Kelner she edited seven themed anthologies (and had great fun). Her books have sold over 39 million copies worldwide.

The television series “True Blood” was based on Charlaine’s Sookie Stackhouse novels. Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is still showing a series of movies created about the Aurora Teagarden character, and for two seasons “Midnight, Texas” was on the air. Two of her other series are in production.

Charlaine belongs to several professional organizations and is an avid reader. She and her husband live on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River with their rescue dogs. Charlaine has the joy of being a grandmother, and she attends the Episcopalian church.

Website:  https://charlaineharris.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose