Great prequel - Jarvis’s origin story!

This is the fourth book in the series but is actually set up to be the first one in the timeline. This book could be a standalone if it needed to be, but it doesn’t since there are three more after this!

Anyway, it’s cool to see where and why Jarvis becomes a PI (spoiler alert - doesn’t like his day job!) and his process in his new line of work. Filled with action and the mob, it’s another Jarvis thriller that is action punched after we get through the leaving of the old job and making of the new.

5/5 stars and I can’t wait for the 5 installment!

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The Birth of Jarvis

Truth is... it was kinda fun waiting for this book having read the next 3 ahead in the series. Unlike some, I enjoy the origin story concept often used when books and movies run out of things to write. However this is not the case with this writer. This was the birth of the Jarvis character, written first and held in a vault to age like a good whiskey. As much as I've enjoyed sipping from the writers other stock, reading choices allowed insights into the Jarvis character that reveals how and why Scott is who he is. I again enjoyed the quick wit, and gritty methods the writer uses to rocket you through the story. I listen to it 2 days back to back. On several occasions I received stares, from random bystanders, for my outburst while listening to the book. keep them coming Mr.Cook.

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I'm hooked on this series

this isn't something I would normally pick but after getting a free copy of this I proceeded to get the rest. listen to it... totally worth the credit!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Good listen

A good listen, good action, if your looking for action this is one for it. The narrator was a good choice to read it, the voice matchs the story.

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Excellent origin story!

What a fantastic origin story for what was already an outstanding series! Learning about why Jarvis became a P.I. makes him even more likable. And they story is a great one as a stand alone if you haven’t had time to dig into the series yet. You’re gonna like this one!

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another winner!

great action and characters! really entertaining!! the storyline was interesting and the humorous dialogue excellent.

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Just another modern detective mystery

Although this is listed as book 1 of the series, I felt lost at times as I listened. There seemed to be assumed knowledge of characters and past events as though I jumped into the middle of the series. (Who is Jessica Stuart?) I found this quite frustrating.

I also felt this story is just too contrived and unrealistic. When a law officer is terminated from a police department, I'm sure his/her badge must be turned in. Jarvis gets too injured yet functions too well. And his rationalization for becoming a private investigator just doesn't make sense. Then there's the obligatory romance. There's lots of action and some suspense, but there's really nothing new or compelling here.

My reaction to Lee Strayer's performance is mixed. He did attempt to give distinctive voices to the characters, but some sounded too similar to one another. And I don't think he used accents in places where it might have been appropriate to do so. Perhaps he felt he could not perform them well. I heard a couple of brief instances of duplicated audio, but overall, his narration is satisfactory.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Slow and Unbelievable

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

Part of enjoying a story is enjoying the characters and being interested in their adventure. Unfortunately, neither was true, for me, in this book. I found the MC Scott to be too snarky, too sarcastic and too flippant all the time that it began to grate and I just couldn't take him or his "expertise" seriously. The dialogue was very stiff and at times, struck me as odd. The plot moved very slowly - half the book was spent with MC Scott being dissatisfied with being a cop and opening up a private eye business - which he did not seem to like as he was being hired to investigate cheating spouses. The second half of the book is where the "action" starts after Scott is hired by the FBI [actually his love interest] to investigate mafia-type criminal activity because there were no investigators with sufficient experience to be able to handle such an investigation [this stretches credibility - the bureau is filled with nothing but investigators with various levels of experience not to mention the legal ramifications of hiring a civilian to conduct a criminal investigation. I could believe the FBI hiring Scott to advise their investigation but not conduct it.]. The story, to me, strained its credulity several times. For example, when Scott gets involved in a fire fight, resulting in several people's deaths [bad guys]. The cops arrive and Scott, being a former cop, provides a perfunctory statement confessing to the homicides and leaves. Nothing more is said or done about it. At another point, Scott is working undercover and tells a "mafia" employee his plan to take down the operation thirty seconds after meeting him to elicit his help and then leaves the employee alone. So, is it realistic that this employee will keep this information to himself after just meeting Scott? Or provide this information to his boss who is paying/protecting him?

The narrator, Lee Strayer, did a good job with the narration.

Finally, book 1 is out and a winner

It's good to finally hear the story of how Jarvis became the wise cracking PI we all know and love. Lee Strayer adds his powerful narrating skills to really bring this one alive. Full of humor, insight, action and twists, this is a fine start to this series, which I feel only gets better with each book...