I can never get enough!

This was wonderful I have to say, it's potentially my favorite in the series with all of the humor I've come to love of the series and all of the semi-horror.
I especially like the way the author ended the story with his notes and epilogues, and it has to be said that the reader (Nicholas Guy Smith) has done an excellent job of bringing the whole varied cast of characters to life.

6 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Fun but annoying, too.

Narrator mostly good, but why Johannes has a German accent (which sounds more Slavic) and Horst sounds like Jason Statham in Snatch makes no sense and is somewhat distracting from the narrative.

3 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Worth 10 stars

Either there needs to be an option for elite authors like Howard to be rated higher than 5 stars or we all should drop our 5 star reviews for other authors to 3. He’s that good.

1 persona l'ha trovata utile

YESSS!

Book 3, The Fear Institute, was good, but dragged a little. The Brothers Cabal is a true return to form. Hilarious, interesting, no philosophical filler. This time around, Horst Cabal takes center stage and he is hilarious. This is one of the rare books that will have you laughing out loud while listening to your headphones. Jonathan Howard has definitely carved out his own world for his Cabal series, and I can't wait to see what he thinks up next.

1 persona l'ha trovata utile

An excellent fourth installment.

Jonathan L Howard remains a delight to listen to, a delight somewhat hampered by the reader's tendency to mispronounce words.

hyper-British Victorian macabre adventure.

Another enjoyable hyper-British Victorian macabre adventure.

The fourth Cabal novel heavily features Horst Cabal (brother of Johannes, the Necromancer). Horst is, of course, a vampire who is brought back to unlife by a mysterious Ministry of Darkness in a strange attempt to get him to raise and lead a monstrous army to create a Monster Nation (or state, or local municipality).

Eventually, Horst and Johannes decide NOT to do this, and there is much battling and dry British quipping. As before, the writing is sharp, the characterization paper thin, and the action pieces confused and often out of place. It's still great fun as we get werewolves, werebadgers, evil Red Queens, shades, shape-eaters, and patricidal revenge plots.

High art? No. Guilty fun? Yes.

I don't write reviews, but....

I must say, I have listened to all the Johannes Cabal Necromancer books, but this one really tickled my fancy. I have really taken a liking to Horst, who as a funny and nice vampire is a most refreshing take on someone who did not want to be a vampire in the first place. The back and forth banter between the brothers is extremely amusing. I also have to say that Nicholas Guy Smith should have done the narration of all the books in this series as he really brings the characters to life.

Weird narration choices

I absolutely loved the narrator who performed the first book, with both Horst and Johannes and the Cabal Bros. Carnival. I thought Nicholas Guy Smith did well with the last book, but his narration of Horst and the Americans bothered me in this one. Hard to listen to but enjoyed the story as usual.

More Glorious Necromantic Shenanigans

As always, the inimitable Mr. Howard knocks it out of the park and into a gloriously decrepit bog of zombified delight.

Accents

Why does Horst have a cartoony Cockney accent? He should have practically the same accent as Johannes as they are brothers. It takes me out of nearly every scene the moment he starts talking.

Nicholas Guy Smith must not have listened to Christopher Cazenove's narration of the first book before taking over this series. In The Fear Institute (Smith's first entry as narrator), he gave Johannes a purely English accent. At least in this book, he brought in a hint of the German. But making Horst Cockney is much worse than that was. It sounds like he's doing a bad Michael Caine impression.

Smith does a good job on every other character, but Horst is like nails on a chalkboard.

Overall, the book is good. I don't like it as much as the previous entries, even though many seem to like it better than The Fear Institute. I also almost feel as though this book should be called The Brother Cabal as it focuses so much on Horst instead of Johannes.