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  • Cronin's Key

  • Cronin's Key Series, Book 1
  • By: N.R. Walker
  • Narrated by: Joel Leslie
  • Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (57 ratings)

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Cronin's Key

By: N.R. Walker
Narrated by: Joel Leslie
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Publisher's Summary

NYPD Detective Alec MacAidan has always been good with weird. After all, his life has been a string of the unexplainable. But when an injured man gives him cryptic clues, then turns to dust in front of him, Alec's view on weird is changed forever.

Cronin, a vampire Elder, has spent the last 1,000 years waiting for Alec. He'd been told his fated one would be a man wielding a shield, but he didn't expect him to be human, and he certainly didn't expect that shield to be a police badge.

Both men, strong-willed and stubborn, are still learning how to cope with the push and pull of being fated, when fate throws them another curveball.

Rumors have spread quickly of turmoil in Egypt. Covens are fleeing with news of a vampire who has a talent like no other, hell-bent on unleashing the wrath of Death.

Alec and Cronin are thrown into a world of weird Alec cannot imagine. What he learned in school of ancient pharaohs and Egyptian gods was far from the truth. Instead, he finds out firsthand that history isn't always what it seems.

©2015 N. R. Walker (P)2017 Tantor

What listeners say about Cronin's Key

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

May be the most perfect book read or written

I am not a fan of paranormal books usually and avoid them as I find my eye rolls hazardous to my health.
But I'm a big fan of NR Walker and have had many people tell me that Cronin's Key is one of their favourite books - so bowing to this author's brilliance, I decided to dip my toe into the paranormal waters once again and hope for the best.
I'm not sure if the decision to 'read' these books via the Audible first influenced my engagement or not, but now that I have also read the kindle version (and re-listened to the Audible again) I can say definitively that it doesn't matter. Paranormal or not, this is now in my top 5 books. Ever.
Certainly Joel Franklin's narration was once again outstanding and his depiction of accents in this book was simply brilliant. As soon as I heard Cronin's scottish lilt, I fell in love. It sounded like David Tennant whispering sweet nothings in my ear and I was lost.
But the story itself - completely original, deeply engaging and had me hooked from the first sentence.
NR Walker's use of historical events, places and people to embed within her vampiric tales was simply stunning. I now get a private glee whenever I see any of the depicted historical places, events or people and it immediately brings Cronin, Alec and the crew to mind.
There is everything to love in this book and nothing to detract. It may be the most perfect book written.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Delighted and surprising

In-depth, fascinating and a touch of anxiety to boot, loved it! Now, book 2!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow...what a story.

Love it ❤️❤️
Reminds me of watching the original movie The Mummy for the first time.
Love the adventure, the danger, and the funny wit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Was fun

Great Gay love story. Really enjoyed it. Not porn but a vampire and human bound by destiny

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Horny human and apologetic vampire fight their urges for each other while the world is ending

What to expect:
A story heavily focused on fated soul mates (a rather a**holey human cop, and a permanently apologetic ancient Scottish vampire) and their unexpressible/repressed sexual attraction to each other, while there’s a small background threat of the world ending which they should be actively preventing. Expect a main focus of the story to be on meeting your soul mate and wanting to keep them as close to you as possible at all times.

Story: great start, very engaging, fast pace, and good potential for depth of character and world background. This is soon overshadowed by horniness and apologies. The interesting dynamic of the two main characters becomes two dimensional and tiresome as it devolves into codependence between a human adult (who behaves like a horny teen) and a possessive millenia-old vampire who can’t stop apologising for every small inconvenience to the human while growling possessively).


Performance:
I struggled with the ‘breathy/raspiness’ style of the narration for the main character. It stopped me from listening to this audiobook the last three times I tried to start it. However, after a few chapters I somehow adapted to it really quickly, so if the story seems up your alley, I would suggest persisting over the initial speed bump if the narration doesn’t work for you.

I will try the next book, as there’s some good potential here.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hooked

Loving this series I’ve stumbled upon. What a cool world has been created! The humour is spot on too!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Just perfection.

I Love this series, love this author, just perfect, you won't regret buying from N.R.Walker.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

white men should not do non-white accents

i love NR Walker, who always manages to balance interesting, captivating stories with romance without the stories feeling heavily weighted one way or another.

i think Joel Leslie does a great job with white ppl accents, even his scottish is pretty decent.
However his "japanese" accent sounds like a racist trope and i found myself uncomfortable listening to it. his "arabic" doesn't really sound arabic either.
white men really need to stick to white ppl accents.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Oh My Goodness

This book was fantastic. The way Joel Leslie narrates is pure theatre. It is like listening to a play. Fully recommend.

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