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Swing Shift #1
Swing Shift
Reports to write, forms to fill, coffee to drink, leads to run down. Gus’s life was a tedium and boredom he’d grown comfortable with. One that he sought out after he’d come back from his tour of duty. A Detective in the Paranormal Investigations Department. A job he could work day in and day out in relative peace. One cold and forgotten cup of coffee at a time. It was an environment that made some sense to him. At least in comparison to civilian life where almost nothing did. On top of that, it gave him a chance to hide what he was from the rest of the world. An apex predator that made the entirety of the Paranormal world fear him. His very species was often killed as soon as they were found out. By government and citizen alike He’s a Boogieman. A name that made humans laugh, and vampires curse. It was a strange life to be sure. Now though, Gus’s stable non-life is about to be kicked over. Whether he likes it or not, he’s about to be handed a case that’s going to mess up his already screwed up life. Warning and minor This novel contains graphic violence, undefined relationships/harem, unconventional opinions/beliefs, and a hero who is as tactful as a dog at a cat show. Read at your own risk.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2019
1288 people are currently reading
666 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 267 reviews
May 19, 2019
So much to love but ultimately a frustrating book
The story has so many great elements. The setting was fascinating, the characters engaging and the plot was exciting. Sadly, the writer really let the story down in a number of ways.
Some of the worst issues were:
-The story is very light on physical description. It made it difficult to picture the characters and their environment.
-There was no heat between the main characters. They worked well together but there was no emotional ties or sense of physical attraction.
-New information about the world was being constantly inserted randomly throughout the entire book. I appreciate the author’s unwillingness to info dump but he went too far in the opposite direction. It left the first half of the book feeling disconnected and somewhat chaotic. I found it hard to understand character motives and personalities properly. This also left me with the constant feeling that I was reading a book from an established series. I actually stopped reading early on so that I could see if there were other books I should read first. Sadly, there wasn’t.
-The story was full of loose threads and unexplained facts. The whole concept of contracts was intriguing but only vaguely explained. Melody’s need for a harem was referred to but never followed up. We were never told how the final crisis was dealt with. How many people were killed? How many were captured and how were they punished? The whole drama was just ended without any attempt towards a resolution. I think ultimately, that was what annoyed me most of all.
I’m not sorry I read this book but I am disappointed that it didn’t reach it’s potential.
The story has so many great elements. The setting was fascinating, the characters engaging and the plot was exciting. Sadly, the writer really let the story down in a number of ways.
Some of the worst issues were:
-The story is very light on physical description. It made it difficult to picture the characters and their environment.
-There was no heat between the main characters. They worked well together but there was no emotional ties or sense of physical attraction.
-New information about the world was being constantly inserted randomly throughout the entire book. I appreciate the author’s unwillingness to info dump but he went too far in the opposite direction. It left the first half of the book feeling disconnected and somewhat chaotic. I found it hard to understand character motives and personalities properly. This also left me with the constant feeling that I was reading a book from an established series. I actually stopped reading early on so that I could see if there were other books I should read first. Sadly, there wasn’t.
-The story was full of loose threads and unexplained facts. The whole concept of contracts was intriguing but only vaguely explained. Melody’s need for a harem was referred to but never followed up. We were never told how the final crisis was dealt with. How many people were killed? How many were captured and how were they punished? The whole drama was just ended without any attempt towards a resolution. I think ultimately, that was what annoyed me most of all.
I’m not sorry I read this book but I am disappointed that it didn’t reach it’s potential.
June 10, 2019
I should have guessed at the first mention of "Boogieman" that this was written by a twelve year old, or at least someone with the mentality of one. I kept reading because it had some potential, and the main characters of Gus and Vanessa weren't too bad. I should have quit at the introduction of Melody--the most annoying character I've ever had the misfortune to read. The nature and purpose of her "contracts" was never adequately explained either. There were so many potential storylines that would have made this worth reading, but the author just abandoned them for clunky dialogue and childish fantasies of what relationships are gonna be like when he/she grows up (yes, grown-ups date all their coworkers and talk about sex allllll the time, and live together and watch movies and cuddle and drink beer). It was like it was written by two different people, or just one lazy author: came up with some really great ideas then didn't have the energy, imagination, or skill to follow through with them. Even the main storyline, which I stuck around for, didn't end up being anything. This was a setup for a series (because apparently that's all anyone writes anymore). This series I have zero interest in reading. A male fantasy harem of beautiful, busty, powerful women who still, inexplicably, need protection from the big strong Boogieman. This got a 4+ star rating from over 900 people. The author must have a lot of friends.
May 10, 2019
WOW!!!!!
Ok I loved this book. The author has continued to turn out books that are interesting and entertaining. This book was no exception as it was fun to read. The characters are interesting and I enjoyed how the author worked to slowly introduce new characters and give them some interesting backstory so you would be sucked into the story. Overall another homerun from the author.
Ok I loved this book. The author has continued to turn out books that are interesting and entertaining. This book was no exception as it was fun to read. The characters are interesting and I enjoyed how the author worked to slowly introduce new characters and give them some interesting backstory so you would be sucked into the story. Overall another homerun from the author.
September 3, 2019
This could have been a good book, if it wasn't for the fact that that this is a just a teenage boy sex fantasy. The main character is wanted by all women. All of them are ridiculously beautiful and want to sleep with him as soon as they see him. He can't help it, they are just drawn to him.
The story has potential, but is ruined by all of this.
The story has potential, but is ruined by all of this.
June 2, 2019
Rating 4.0 stars
I really liked this book. I have a love/like relationship with William Arand and Randi Darren (and yes I know they are the same writer). I tend to love everything from Randi Darren but not be that interested in William Arand writings. The styles are very similar so it is hard to put into words why the discrepancy. Both books have Harem elements but Randi Darren takes it a step further. William Arand books have the element but never take it to the next level. I guess the best analogy would be Randi Darren books are rated R and William Arand books are rated PG-13. The main characters are all similar, they are somewhat loners at the beginning but are competent if not excellent with what they do. There is usually some special talent that is hidden from everyone else. They always end up surrounding themselves with beautiful competent women. I guess one of the reasons I don't like William Arrand's characters as much is because his main characters are less believable. My main comparison is between Wild Wastes and Super Sale on Super Heroes. I just felt Felix from Super Sales on Super Heroes was just too young and new to what he was doing to act so confident.
In a Randi Darren book the main character would come up to a woman and tell her how beautiful she is and they would go have sex or something. In a William Arand book, the main character would go up and tell a woman how beautiful she was but then get surprised when the woman responds. If you walk up to a woman and tell her she is beautiful, you are hitting on her. William Arand main characters don't seem to realize that.
While both Darren and Arand writings are great in the day to day story telling. The overall story seems to be lacking in my opinion in Arand books. The big picture question of why the character is doing what they are doing never makes sense to me, where I don't have that same problem with Darren books.
With all that being said, I have finally found a Arand book that I really liked. Those two annoying problems I wrote about above for previous Arand books are gone. The main character in this book Gus was a little bit older, maybe 30, and I felt was completely believable being as competent as he was. I also understood his goals for the story. Gus is a detective for the PID and explores paranormal crimes. He looks human and everything thinks he is human but in reality, he is a boogieman in hiding. Boogieman feed on fear and have been hunting to almost extinction. In this world the normal humans no nothing about the supernatural world. The main reason for that is that all the supernatural creatures are given IDs that mask their true nature. Something is happening with those IDs though and they are starting to fail, so it is up to Gus to solve the problem. Along the way he meets up with a human detective who ends up being his partner and another woman called a contractor who drops everything in her life to be with Gus and help him in what he is doing. She of course is the best character in the story.
I highly recommend this book if you are either a Darren of Arand fan.
I really liked this book. I have a love/like relationship with William Arand and Randi Darren (and yes I know they are the same writer). I tend to love everything from Randi Darren but not be that interested in William Arand writings. The styles are very similar so it is hard to put into words why the discrepancy. Both books have Harem elements but Randi Darren takes it a step further. William Arand books have the element but never take it to the next level. I guess the best analogy would be Randi Darren books are rated R and William Arand books are rated PG-13. The main characters are all similar, they are somewhat loners at the beginning but are competent if not excellent with what they do. There is usually some special talent that is hidden from everyone else. They always end up surrounding themselves with beautiful competent women. I guess one of the reasons I don't like William Arrand's characters as much is because his main characters are less believable. My main comparison is between Wild Wastes and Super Sale on Super Heroes. I just felt Felix from Super Sales on Super Heroes was just too young and new to what he was doing to act so confident.
In a Randi Darren book the main character would come up to a woman and tell her how beautiful she is and they would go have sex or something. In a William Arand book, the main character would go up and tell a woman how beautiful she was but then get surprised when the woman responds. If you walk up to a woman and tell her she is beautiful, you are hitting on her. William Arand main characters don't seem to realize that.
While both Darren and Arand writings are great in the day to day story telling. The overall story seems to be lacking in my opinion in Arand books. The big picture question of why the character is doing what they are doing never makes sense to me, where I don't have that same problem with Darren books.
With all that being said, I have finally found a Arand book that I really liked. Those two annoying problems I wrote about above for previous Arand books are gone. The main character in this book Gus was a little bit older, maybe 30, and I felt was completely believable being as competent as he was. I also understood his goals for the story. Gus is a detective for the PID and explores paranormal crimes. He looks human and everything thinks he is human but in reality, he is a boogieman in hiding. Boogieman feed on fear and have been hunting to almost extinction. In this world the normal humans no nothing about the supernatural world. The main reason for that is that all the supernatural creatures are given IDs that mask their true nature. Something is happening with those IDs though and they are starting to fail, so it is up to Gus to solve the problem. Along the way he meets up with a human detective who ends up being his partner and another woman called a contractor who drops everything in her life to be with Gus and help him in what he is doing. She of course is the best character in the story.
I highly recommend this book if you are either a Darren of Arand fan.
May 29, 2019
Baited and switched
I stopped reading at the 46% point.
I had to make a note about a quarter of the way into the book. The writing is just great, no exaggeration. The characters both para and normal are the people you meet at the diner, in an office or on the street. They're described the same way that most everyone would probably see them, I think.
The main character is a veteran, who doesn't sport a "military nickname", repeat oorah! three times a chapter (ever really, just like a normal person) and leaves small "thank you" gifts for his cleaning lady - at work. This is really a nice monster.
Unfortunately as I read more of the police procedure, the story and the background assumptions got more and more gruesome. Reading people's minds while questioning them, is pretty unethical and just bad. That a powerful family member (with a great elven lawyer) is going to plea bargain for a twenty year sentence seems implausible. This story happens in the alternate US, where in this reality a well represented teen who kills several people by automobile, is sentenced to an expensive, state paid for, rehab? hospital because he suffers from being raised in privilege courtesy of the "Affluenza defense". The disconnect made for hard reading.
Then a werewolf clerk is tricked into implicating herself (while having her mind read and without any representation offered or available), then she's arrested immediately with a guaranteed unspecified prison sentence for a non-violent crime? It does reflect current U.S. policing and legal practise (Miranda rights have never helped a dead suspect) but can't the alternate world be just a tad more just or maybe even human?
I liked the story for the first quarter of so of the book but the underlying assumptions of guilt and the policing procedures (with the openly stated justification that mind reading is OK, because the suspects are criminals and anything non case related can be sifted through later), was the real horror story. Watch "Broadchurch" for a visual on how many "not the killers" had their lives casually destroyed or died at the hands of good detectives.
Another reader explained the book better, when she wrote that it's another teenage boy fantasy. That certainly explains the MC doing nice things (because we're all the hero of our stories), his callousness (because there's no teenage moral center) and of course the harem (the mandated hormonal reward in a teenage male fantasy).
This book turned from great paranormal premise (I loved the bogeyman) into a typical cop story in which the police are the good guys (whatever they do is correct -ethics need not apply) and they also get multiple hot chicks, because (you guessed it) they are good guys. That's the ultimate hack writing. Talk about crushing my paranormal buzz.
I stopped reading at the 46% point.
I had to make a note about a quarter of the way into the book. The writing is just great, no exaggeration. The characters both para and normal are the people you meet at the diner, in an office or on the street. They're described the same way that most everyone would probably see them, I think.
The main character is a veteran, who doesn't sport a "military nickname", repeat oorah! three times a chapter (ever really, just like a normal person) and leaves small "thank you" gifts for his cleaning lady - at work. This is really a nice monster.
Unfortunately as I read more of the police procedure, the story and the background assumptions got more and more gruesome. Reading people's minds while questioning them, is pretty unethical and just bad. That a powerful family member (with a great elven lawyer) is going to plea bargain for a twenty year sentence seems implausible. This story happens in the alternate US, where in this reality a well represented teen who kills several people by automobile, is sentenced to an expensive, state paid for, rehab? hospital because he suffers from being raised in privilege courtesy of the "Affluenza defense". The disconnect made for hard reading.
Then a werewolf clerk is tricked into implicating herself (while having her mind read and without any representation offered or available), then she's arrested immediately with a guaranteed unspecified prison sentence for a non-violent crime? It does reflect current U.S. policing and legal practise (Miranda rights have never helped a dead suspect) but can't the alternate world be just a tad more just or maybe even human?
I liked the story for the first quarter of so of the book but the underlying assumptions of guilt and the policing procedures (with the openly stated justification that mind reading is OK, because the suspects are criminals and anything non case related can be sifted through later), was the real horror story. Watch "Broadchurch" for a visual on how many "not the killers" had their lives casually destroyed or died at the hands of good detectives.
Another reader explained the book better, when she wrote that it's another teenage boy fantasy. That certainly explains the MC doing nice things (because we're all the hero of our stories), his callousness (because there's no teenage moral center) and of course the harem (the mandated hormonal reward in a teenage male fantasy).
This book turned from great paranormal premise (I loved the bogeyman) into a typical cop story in which the police are the good guys (whatever they do is correct -ethics need not apply) and they also get multiple hot chicks, because (you guessed it) they are good guys. That's the ultimate hack writing. Talk about crushing my paranormal buzz.
December 30, 2019
“Swing Shift (Swing Shift #1)” is an entertaining take on the paranormal harem storyline.
I picked this book up because of the narrator - I just love Andrea Parsneau and I’m trying books I wouldn’t normally listen to just because of her narration. So, as you may have guessed, “Swing Shift” is not a lesfic romance.
MC Vanessa does have a girlfriend, though, so all is not lost! Unfortunately, her girlfriend Wendy is not the nicest of people….partly because she’s a werewolf, though she hasn’t told Vanessa. There are lots of paranormals living amongst humans, but they keep themselves secret because the humans vastly outnumber them. When incidents arise that might expose the paranormal world, the Paranormal Investigations Department (PID) gets involved to quiet things.
MC Gus is a world weary detective with PID, and tries to live a quiet 9-5 life. Vanessa gets temporarily assigned to work with him by his captain, though they both promise to erase her memories of the PID “soon”.
Their task is to find out why some normally calm paranormals are suddenly becoming extremely violent, exposing themselves to the human world.
The harem starts when Gus meets the powerful “contractor” Melody, who is perhaps more than a bit insane, and who decides she loves Gus and intends for them to marry. Oh, and she recruits Vanessa and an elven dryad sorceress (aka a nymph), to join her with the harem she is building around Gus.
Gus is pretty nonplussed about the whole harem thing, but everyone pretty much goes along with the domineering Melody, which all-in-all is actually pretty hilarious.
Everyone keeps putting off having sex, although Melody reminds everyone she can’t wait for the time when they can enjoy a threeway or a fourway together!
Meanwhile, the mystery is actually well done - it’s very entertaining. Many of the side characters (especially Gus’ mother) are terrific too. If you like paranormal action/mystery stories where romance and sex are not in the forefront, you’ll enjoy this story. 4.3*
July 21, 2019
A quality Urban-Fantasy with a Harem element 4 stars.
Set in a contemporary Urban-Fantasy version of a US full of Para-Humans who live out their hidden lives just like you and me. Gus is one of those Para-Humans, or so it seems. In truth he is a Boogieman. A Para so infamous, even the rest of the Paranormal world fears and hates hem. Usually he shuffles around papers and does paperwork at his PID job (Paranormal Investigation Division). By accident however he and a regular homicide detective get involved in a rather weird case that just keeps on going.
I really enjoyed this novel. Gus is your standard (hidden power) protagonist and the story is fine, the real selling-point however is the side characters and especially Melody. She practically stole every scene she was in and her brand of insanity was just hilarious. The harem aspect is handled rather well by making it just as weird for everyone involved.... Well except for Melody of course.
I really do hope this novel turns into a series. I liked the premise and it is clear the world has far more to offer.
Solid UF hope there will be a sequel.
Set in a contemporary Urban-Fantasy version of a US full of Para-Humans who live out their hidden lives just like you and me. Gus is one of those Para-Humans, or so it seems. In truth he is a Boogieman. A Para so infamous, even the rest of the Paranormal world fears and hates hem. Usually he shuffles around papers and does paperwork at his PID job (Paranormal Investigation Division). By accident however he and a regular homicide detective get involved in a rather weird case that just keeps on going.
I really enjoyed this novel. Gus is your standard (hidden power) protagonist and the story is fine, the real selling-point however is the side characters and especially Melody. She practically stole every scene she was in and her brand of insanity was just hilarious. The harem aspect is handled rather well by making it just as weird for everyone involved.... Well except for Melody of course.
I really do hope this novel turns into a series. I liked the premise and it is clear the world has far more to offer.
Solid UF hope there will be a sequel.
May 20, 2019
When two of your favourite genres mix, you will be happy no?
I love urban fantasy and recently started loving Harem genre. And this is the book that mixed well, well Logan jocobs already did bloodmage but this is kinda of awesome because I like Williams writing more. This is a very good detective urban fantasy harem story. I just loved Trish, she is too freaking awesome!
Note: Even though the book is harem it doesn't have any sex scenes!
I love urban fantasy and recently started loving Harem genre. And this is the book that mixed well, well Logan jocobs already did bloodmage but this is kinda of awesome because I like Williams writing more. This is a very good detective urban fantasy harem story. I just loved Trish, she is too freaking awesome!
Note: Even though the book is harem it doesn't have any sex scenes!
May 10, 2019
That sure was good!
I really enjoyed these characters! Gus is a paranormal detective with a secret. Literally running into Vanessa and Melody, Gus begins to piece together parts of a case and how to solve it. Highly recommended.
I really enjoyed these characters! Gus is a paranormal detective with a secret. Literally running into Vanessa and Melody, Gus begins to piece together parts of a case and how to solve it. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2019
Hate the harem thing
Decent book overall, but the harem thing smacks of serious narcissism and ruins it for me. Good plot and plenty of action, otherwise.
Decent book overall, but the harem thing smacks of serious narcissism and ruins it for me. Good plot and plenty of action, otherwise.
May 7, 2019
Another book by Will!
So, this time our MC is an agent which means more action in which he is directly involved. Also the main heroines follow a certain pattern, pattern which is often present in Williams books. Melody is the Andrea (SSOSH) of this series, Vanessa is a mixture of Hannah (Otherlife) and maybe Kit (SSOSH) and Patricia...well I’m pretty sure she comes from Wild Wastes and is Meliei’s sister. She hinted at that once or twice so I’m relatively positive that’s the case.
This also brings me to another element I want to mention which is the placement of the story in the universe. Thanks to Patricia I feel like this is taking place a little bit after SSOSH and I hope we will see more characters from previous series.
Overall I really like this new book, Guss seems like a good guy and his harem despite being small compared to other books, already had some interesting adventures. Melody is my favourite and I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next book. So guys if you are already a fan of Arand/Daren books you are gonna like this one. Hope you have as much fun as I did reading this book and I also hope you didn’t mind my speculations.
Have a great day and enjoy the book.
Pancakes!
So, this time our MC is an agent which means more action in which he is directly involved. Also the main heroines follow a certain pattern, pattern which is often present in Williams books. Melody is the Andrea (SSOSH) of this series, Vanessa is a mixture of Hannah (Otherlife) and maybe Kit (SSOSH) and Patricia...well I’m pretty sure she comes from Wild Wastes and is Meliei’s sister. She hinted at that once or twice so I’m relatively positive that’s the case.
This also brings me to another element I want to mention which is the placement of the story in the universe. Thanks to Patricia I feel like this is taking place a little bit after SSOSH and I hope we will see more characters from previous series.
Overall I really like this new book, Guss seems like a good guy and his harem despite being small compared to other books, already had some interesting adventures. Melody is my favourite and I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next book. So guys if you are already a fan of Arand/Daren books you are gonna like this one. Hope you have as much fun as I did reading this book and I also hope you didn’t mind my speculations.
Have a great day and enjoy the book.
Pancakes!
December 6, 2019
Note:
Really nice balance of characters, relationships & plot.
Really nice balance of characters, relationships & plot.
July 31, 2019
William D. Arand finally writes a good guy hero
I just can't keep away from William D. Arand / Randi Darren books. By the end I can't tell who I'm more disgusted with, Him for writing that trash or me for reading it.
Swing Shift is a bit different. The MC is decent man, and the plot is kind of clever.
Yes it devolves into a harem, but it's the least misogynistic harem of all his books so far.
The wold building is shaky and often vague. The characters suffer attacks of "the stupid" just in time to advance the plot by not being able to think of painfully obvious solutions. William takes liberties with the English language that lead to confusion, And the faceless enemies are always one step ahead and capable of launching coordinated attacks across the country but can't open a phone book.
Never the less, I had fun reading this, and I do think that Mr. Arand deserves an extra star for branching out and not writing another villain, criminal, murder, rapist Main Character.
I just can't keep away from William D. Arand / Randi Darren books. By the end I can't tell who I'm more disgusted with, Him for writing that trash or me for reading it.
Swing Shift is a bit different. The MC is decent man, and the plot is kind of clever.
Yes it devolves into a harem, but it's the least misogynistic harem of all his books so far.
The wold building is shaky and often vague. The characters suffer attacks of "the stupid" just in time to advance the plot by not being able to think of painfully obvious solutions. William takes liberties with the English language that lead to confusion, And the faceless enemies are always one step ahead and capable of launching coordinated attacks across the country but can't open a phone book.
Never the less, I had fun reading this, and I do think that Mr. Arand deserves an extra star for branching out and not writing another villain, criminal, murder, rapist Main Character.
February 1, 2022
A great read, wonderful world the author build in here, the great appeal for this genre is the existence of a society build under the 'normal' society, how this myths and fantasy mingle with the modern world in such an interesting way. I liked the characters introduced, no one was 'too much', the only complain I have is truly that Melody didn't have that much screen time at the end (and obviously the lack of debauchery sex scenes), outside of that it was great. I am eager going to keep up with this series.
June 12, 2019
It was nice to have a new fantasy creature to learn about, we all know about elves, dwarves, dryads and such. This was something different and refreshing. I am not a big fan of detective stores but the characters were enjoyable.
March 22, 2023
Елементарна фентъзи-фантастика детективска историйка с мистични и окултни елементи.
May 21, 2019
Definitely readable
The harem was unnecessary, but the mystery and action were pretty good.
The MC was okay and I liked Vanessa. I liked how you could connect the dots in the mystery part, the conclusion wasn't sprung on you with a bunch if evidence at the end.
Melody was a lot and my least favorite part of the book. Overall an okay book even better if you like harems, I don't 2.5.
The harem was unnecessary, but the mystery and action were pretty good.
The MC was okay and I liked Vanessa. I liked how you could connect the dots in the mystery part, the conclusion wasn't sprung on you with a bunch if evidence at the end.
Melody was a lot and my least favorite part of the book. Overall an okay book even better if you like harems, I don't 2.5.
May 19, 2019
An appropriate title
Saw the plot and was like not interested. But nothing else was out so why not? Like his other books (except dungeon deposit) I enjoy them so maybe this one? The entire book I flip between enjoyable and bore. The world is undefined but if you read the rest it can be overlooked. By the end I knew this would be one that i skip the next book.
Saw the plot and was like not interested. But nothing else was out so why not? Like his other books (except dungeon deposit) I enjoy them so maybe this one? The entire book I flip between enjoyable and bore. The world is undefined but if you read the rest it can be overlooked. By the end I knew this would be one that i skip the next book.
May 20, 2019
Misleading reviews.
The story is "ok" kind of boring. The harem angle is bull, there is 0% sex. It's a bit of a let down
The story is "ok" kind of boring. The harem angle is bull, there is 0% sex. It's a bit of a let down
May 23, 2025
4.5 stars actually.
This is a great book. Great world building, great magic system, cool monsters ("paras"). Story telling also very good. Definitely going to buy the second one (are there more coming out?).
Only thing that bugged me, was the telling of a scene, where the Contractor has to recharge her magic contracts (the idea is that she sort of rents magic abilities and has to pay for them by doing things that both parties of the contract agreed upon. Can be something easy and nice - like helping someone, or solving sort of a crossword puzzle, or maybe even just paying for it, but it can be something really really nasty, or something about sex - the payment seems to relate to the magical ability being rented).
Since she has quite a few abilities rented, she has to recharge a lot in different ways. We get told so, starting with the easy ones. Then comes a bad one (relating to pain and suffering) and we get all the gory details (not very shocking, but that's beside the point, we get details). And then comes the last one, relating to sexual energy and lust. Remember the details I mentioned? Here we get a half sentence, that just hints at the hint of a hint.
I didn't go and by a porn book, but! This. is. so. American.
Hand out the bloody part in details but better not mention anything sex related.
*sigh*
---------------------------------------------------------
“Now the less pleasant ones, in an order I can’t really change,” Melody said with a sigh. Leaning over the side of the tub, she picked up Gus’s carry knife. She’d asked for something sharp, and that was the sharpest thing he had in the house.
Unfolding the blade, she immediately went for her shoulder and began slicing down the length of her arm in one long, continuous cut.
Grimacing with her teeth locked together, Melody butchered herself. Carving two deep slices into her flesh from her shoulder down to her wrist. Then she brought the knife back up and cut a bit deeper into the top, bringing the two cuts together.
Panting, she stopped and laid her head down against the tub. “This is the crappy part.”
“Can I help?” Gus asked.
“No, but thank you. I’m so flattered that you want to.
“It’s a Contract, so I must perform it myself. Besides, you’ll be helping me in a second,” Melody said, giving him a sad smile and setting his bloody knife to one side. “Good knife, by the way.”
Reaching up with her uncut arm, she grabbed hold of the top of flap she’d cut into her flesh. And jerked it down.
Screaming through her teeth, Melody kept pulling until she had a strip of ragged flesh at her wrist.
Melody had wet herself during the ordeal from the sheer pain of it, he imagined. He definitely understood now what she had meant earlier.
Gus had seen worse in his life, but he’d never seen someone do the like to themselves. He was surprised her flesh had come off so easily like that. It didn’t seem quite normal.
“There… there’s Green. And the pain… pain and suffering brings Blue,” Melody said, her voice a bit quivery. A soft glow went up around the wound in her arm, and slowly, the skin flowed back up her arm and reknit itself together. As if there’d never been a problem. Though the blood remained.
“And now for the only fun part about this,” Melody said, sounding very much relieved that her arm was whole again. Then she laid her right hand atop her stomach.
All of her contracts but the Red were lit up and glowing bright on her face.
Red is basically sex, isn’t it? What’s she going to—actually, I bet I know.
Melody turned her head toward him, and gave him a smile as her hand crept downward.
“Going to be much easier fantasizing about you,” Melody said, her eyes widening slowly, “with you watching and right there.”
This is a great book. Great world building, great magic system, cool monsters ("paras"). Story telling also very good. Definitely going to buy the second one (are there more coming out?).
Only thing that bugged me, was the telling of a scene, where the Contractor has to recharge her magic contracts (the idea is that she sort of rents magic abilities and has to pay for them by doing things that both parties of the contract agreed upon. Can be something easy and nice - like helping someone, or solving sort of a crossword puzzle, or maybe even just paying for it, but it can be something really really nasty, or something about sex - the payment seems to relate to the magical ability being rented).
Since she has quite a few abilities rented, she has to recharge a lot in different ways. We get told so, starting with the easy ones. Then comes a bad one (relating to pain and suffering) and we get all the gory details (not very shocking, but that's beside the point, we get details). And then comes the last one, relating to sexual energy and lust. Remember the details I mentioned? Here we get a half sentence, that just hints at the hint of a hint.
I didn't go and by a porn book, but! This. is. so. American.
Hand out the bloody part in details but better not mention anything sex related.
*sigh*
---------------------------------------------------------
“Now the less pleasant ones, in an order I can’t really change,” Melody said with a sigh. Leaning over the side of the tub, she picked up Gus’s carry knife. She’d asked for something sharp, and that was the sharpest thing he had in the house.
Unfolding the blade, she immediately went for her shoulder and began slicing down the length of her arm in one long, continuous cut.
Grimacing with her teeth locked together, Melody butchered herself. Carving two deep slices into her flesh from her shoulder down to her wrist. Then she brought the knife back up and cut a bit deeper into the top, bringing the two cuts together.
Panting, she stopped and laid her head down against the tub. “This is the crappy part.”
“Can I help?” Gus asked.
“No, but thank you. I’m so flattered that you want to.
“It’s a Contract, so I must perform it myself. Besides, you’ll be helping me in a second,” Melody said, giving him a sad smile and setting his bloody knife to one side. “Good knife, by the way.”
Reaching up with her uncut arm, she grabbed hold of the top of flap she’d cut into her flesh. And jerked it down.
Screaming through her teeth, Melody kept pulling until she had a strip of ragged flesh at her wrist.
Melody had wet herself during the ordeal from the sheer pain of it, he imagined. He definitely understood now what she had meant earlier.
Gus had seen worse in his life, but he’d never seen someone do the like to themselves. He was surprised her flesh had come off so easily like that. It didn’t seem quite normal.
“There… there’s Green. And the pain… pain and suffering brings Blue,” Melody said, her voice a bit quivery. A soft glow went up around the wound in her arm, and slowly, the skin flowed back up her arm and reknit itself together. As if there’d never been a problem. Though the blood remained.
“And now for the only fun part about this,” Melody said, sounding very much relieved that her arm was whole again. Then she laid her right hand atop her stomach.
All of her contracts but the Red were lit up and glowing bright on her face.
Red is basically sex, isn’t it? What’s she going to—actually, I bet I know.
Melody turned her head toward him, and gave him a smile as her hand crept downward.
“Going to be much easier fantasizing about you,” Melody said, her eyes widening slowly, “with you watching and right there.”
May 12, 2019
Pure Gold
Just read this.
Author: don’t stop writing this one. I hope it was as much fun to write as it was to read. I couldn’t put it down. Fan-freaking-tastic
Just read this.
Author: don’t stop writing this one. I hope it was as much fun to write as it was to read. I couldn’t put it down. Fan-freaking-tastic
January 1, 2020
Swing Shift is just plain fun... even playful and fluffy! Lol
This is the story of Gustav (Gus for short). He's a detective and works the paranormal division and he's also "The Boogieman", well one of 'em anyway. And yes there's more of 'em out there! When Gus is on the hunt, and fear-scenting a trail, let's just say it's scary. The story comes off with a noir flavor as Gus and his rookie partner try to make heads or tales outta' what's happening. And, Oh Wow, does Gus have girl problems! So many girl problems...
After listening to what's now (for me) the fifth book narrated by Andrea Parsneau, I can safely say that she's a great voice actress. She's consistent and she gives each book a nuanced, full cast audio feel.
Even though I try to stay away from books that might have harems, this one, ummmm... caught me by surprise, and I found myself laughing... a lot! It's just so playful and cute! And if you're thinking that there's gonna be a lot of sex, well you'd be wrong about that. It's just damn good, plot-driven story telling!
Get the book, and be prepared for a good, long laugh!
This is the story of Gustav (Gus for short). He's a detective and works the paranormal division and he's also "The Boogieman", well one of 'em anyway. And yes there's more of 'em out there! When Gus is on the hunt, and fear-scenting a trail, let's just say it's scary. The story comes off with a noir flavor as Gus and his rookie partner try to make heads or tales outta' what's happening. And, Oh Wow, does Gus have girl problems! So many girl problems...
After listening to what's now (for me) the fifth book narrated by Andrea Parsneau, I can safely say that she's a great voice actress. She's consistent and she gives each book a nuanced, full cast audio feel.
Even though I try to stay away from books that might have harems, this one, ummmm... caught me by surprise, and I found myself laughing... a lot! It's just so playful and cute! And if you're thinking that there's gonna be a lot of sex, well you'd be wrong about that. It's just damn good, plot-driven story telling!
Get the book, and be prepared for a good, long laugh!
June 14, 2019
Enjoyable. I was intrigued with the idea of the boogeyman being an apex predator, though still fairly easy to kill. Melody was a hoot though Vanessa is grounded and the most normal of all of them. Trish seems to a powerful creature but shy. I didn't get as much of a feel for her character.
There was a lot of action in this and it had a good plot. If you want to do the terrorist thing, hitting a super bowl type event is the way to go. People are willing to overlook things and believe it is some sort of conspiracy but in the long run won't believe in the supernatural unless it is seen in person and thrust done the throats with no chance of denial. I do wish that things were a little bit more explained. What is a contractor? What, exactly, do the different colors mean? Why does she need a harem? I hope that there is another book in this series that might explain some of this.
There was a lot of action in this and it had a good plot. If you want to do the terrorist thing, hitting a super bowl type event is the way to go. People are willing to overlook things and believe it is some sort of conspiracy but in the long run won't believe in the supernatural unless it is seen in person and thrust done the throats with no chance of denial. I do wish that things were a little bit more explained. What is a contractor? What, exactly, do the different colors mean? Why does she need a harem? I hope that there is another book in this series that might explain some of this.
May 10, 2019
Like I said with Revenant, it's interesting how the author makes such similar protagonists and setups feel different each time.
I gotta confess though, a lot of the aggressive female characters in his books (in this one it would be Melody) make me really concerned with consent and respecting boundaries and stuff. I know a precondition for these books is that it's about strange people in a strange situation, but overall the... culture? attitude? in these books tends to disconcert (agitate, discomfit, disturb, perturb, and unsettle) me. Like at the end,
It's played like a bit of a joke, a charming quirk of her character, but honestly that seems to me like it should cross so many lines.
Again, I get these are fantasy-harem books.
I've read all the others- I know what to expect.
I get that if I don't like it, no one's making me read it.
I also get that all of the male protagonists are various levels of passive, and often the women are the aggressors. (It was interesting that this was suggested to be Melody's harem).
But still, this stuff can really rub me the wrong way. I guess all you can really do is recognize that you cannot expect realism in these books, especially sexually.
P.S.
The last time I thought this much about the way sex is treated in these books was for the Wild Waste series, by far the most sexually explicit series. During the first book Vince picks up a couple of women. But during the second book he
I gotta confess though, a lot of the aggressive female characters in his books (in this one it would be Melody) make me really concerned with consent and respecting boundaries and stuff. I know a precondition for these books is that it's about strange people in a strange situation, but overall the... culture? attitude? in these books tends to disconcert (agitate, discomfit, disturb, perturb, and unsettle) me. Like at the end,
It's played like a bit of a joke, a charming quirk of her character, but honestly that seems to me like it should cross so many lines.
Again, I get these are fantasy-harem books.
I've read all the others- I know what to expect.
I get that if I don't like it, no one's making me read it.
I also get that all of the male protagonists are various levels of passive, and often the women are the aggressors. (It was interesting that this was suggested to be Melody's harem).
But still, this stuff can really rub me the wrong way. I guess all you can really do is recognize that you cannot expect realism in these books, especially sexually.
P.S.
The last time I thought this much about the way sex is treated in these books was for the Wild Waste series, by far the most sexually explicit series. During the first book Vince picks up a couple of women. But during the second book he
December 1, 2019
By William D. Aranda
Narrated by Andrea Parsneau
I really liked this story! Swing Shift follows, Gus, a Paranomal Detective as he attempts to solve a mystery that continues to build up to a massive conspiracy. Along the way he gets help from a human detective just learning of the supernatural world and a pyscho-magic chick who becomes obsessed with him.
There is some real detective work conducted. Some door to doors, a car chase, a couple foot chases, and of course reports completed. It was easy enough to follow but not so mundane that it was boring. The author allowed the story to build at a solid pace, so as new things were added it didnt feel overwhelming at all.
One of my favorite things about the story is that there are multiple female characters and they aren't jealous of one another. A lot of times in these types of stories the women are at each others throats. However, this one features two strong confident women. An A+ to you for that Mr. Arnanda!!!🤗 All these "beautiful" women falling for our main character... well that's 😒... the story was good enough to shine over this though.
The harem situation seemed a bit random in this story. I guess writing harem or reverse harem stories is what's popular now? I've never read this author so this could just be his nitch. Personally, I felt the story would have been just as good without it. How easily all the women jumped on the sharing-bandwagon was just enough to make me giggle. Definitely the imagination of a fantasy writer 🤣 But as long as it doesn't turn into an Anita Blake type novel, then I'm willing to take the ride. I like the detective part of it enough to compromise.
The narrator did a decent job to me. There was a different voice for each character. She narrated in a different voice than the Main character. It was fine to me but it was the first time I've heard it done that way.
The second book isnt available on audio yet. I hope this isnt gonna be one of those series where the physical book is released but it takes 6 months to get to Audio... that would be annoying. Release them at the same time! Start recording early!
4 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟. Great book.
Narrated by Andrea Parsneau
I really liked this story! Swing Shift follows, Gus, a Paranomal Detective as he attempts to solve a mystery that continues to build up to a massive conspiracy. Along the way he gets help from a human detective just learning of the supernatural world and a pyscho-magic chick who becomes obsessed with him.
There is some real detective work conducted. Some door to doors, a car chase, a couple foot chases, and of course reports completed. It was easy enough to follow but not so mundane that it was boring. The author allowed the story to build at a solid pace, so as new things were added it didnt feel overwhelming at all.
One of my favorite things about the story is that there are multiple female characters and they aren't jealous of one another. A lot of times in these types of stories the women are at each others throats. However, this one features two strong confident women. An A+ to you for that Mr. Arnanda!!!🤗 All these "beautiful" women falling for our main character... well that's 😒... the story was good enough to shine over this though.
The harem situation seemed a bit random in this story. I guess writing harem or reverse harem stories is what's popular now? I've never read this author so this could just be his nitch. Personally, I felt the story would have been just as good without it. How easily all the women jumped on the sharing-bandwagon was just enough to make me giggle. Definitely the imagination of a fantasy writer 🤣 But as long as it doesn't turn into an Anita Blake type novel, then I'm willing to take the ride. I like the detective part of it enough to compromise.
The narrator did a decent job to me. There was a different voice for each character. She narrated in a different voice than the Main character. It was fine to me but it was the first time I've heard it done that way.
The second book isnt available on audio yet. I hope this isnt gonna be one of those series where the physical book is released but it takes 6 months to get to Audio... that would be annoying. Release them at the same time! Start recording early!
4 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟. Great book.
December 26, 2020
This is an "urban fantasy" thriller, and also a "harem novel".
The concept of a "harem novel" is fairly new to me: it seems to be a male wish-fulfillment thing. The premise is that the hero is going to be in a relationship with multiple females, openly. This one seems odd in that respect in that it skips over the sex scenes; the hero is banging all his team, but almost entirely off-screen and always delicately described.
In this book it doesn't actually impinge too heavily on the story, though it gets more out of hand later in the series, which I'm still working through.
The "Urban fantasy" genre is more familiar, though I'm not a great fan, particularly of setups like this one where the governments of the world are in on the masquerade. Possibly it's a political thing, but I find it more possible to believe in werewolves and vampires than to believe in a government competent enough to hush them up.
The closest parallel I know of to this in world-building terms is the Dresden Files series, but I didn't much like that and this actually works better for me as a setting and a story.
The characters - many of them - are well realised but there is a flaw in that the hero's supernatural powers are too strong, which detracts from tension, and even leaves me to slightly fear that by the end of the series it may turn out that everything that happens in the plot is ultimately because of him. (That's not a spoiler because it's just a guess at this point, it might be wrong).
Summary then: really good story that pulled me in and kept me reading. Characters are rich but unbalanced. Harem business is something of a distraction if it's not your thing, but may be a bit weak if it is your thing. Prose is decent but unexceptional and imperfect; has a few of the errors common in self-published stuff ("free reign", etc.)
Oh, and very nice cover by Caterina Kalymniou. That's what actually brought me to the series; I saw the cover of book 3 on her page and wanted to see what book it was for.
The concept of a "harem novel" is fairly new to me: it seems to be a male wish-fulfillment thing. The premise is that the hero is going to be in a relationship with multiple females, openly. This one seems odd in that respect in that it skips over the sex scenes; the hero is banging all his team, but almost entirely off-screen and always delicately described.
In this book it doesn't actually impinge too heavily on the story, though it gets more out of hand later in the series, which I'm still working through.
The "Urban fantasy" genre is more familiar, though I'm not a great fan, particularly of setups like this one where the governments of the world are in on the masquerade. Possibly it's a political thing, but I find it more possible to believe in werewolves and vampires than to believe in a government competent enough to hush them up.
The closest parallel I know of to this in world-building terms is the Dresden Files series, but I didn't much like that and this actually works better for me as a setting and a story.
The characters - many of them - are well realised but there is a flaw in that the hero's supernatural powers are too strong, which detracts from tension, and even leaves me to slightly fear that by the end of the series it may turn out that everything that happens in the plot is ultimately because of him. (That's not a spoiler because it's just a guess at this point, it might be wrong).
Summary then: really good story that pulled me in and kept me reading. Characters are rich but unbalanced. Harem business is something of a distraction if it's not your thing, but may be a bit weak if it is your thing. Prose is decent but unexceptional and imperfect; has a few of the errors common in self-published stuff ("free reign", etc.)
Oh, and very nice cover by Caterina Kalymniou. That's what actually brought me to the series; I saw the cover of book 3 on her page and wanted to see what book it was for.
May 21, 2019
Another typical Mr. Arand book. His writer skill set is constantly improving. This storyline is cohesive with a mystery where we walk beside the main characters solving it in a police procedural urban fantasy with a side of Harem.
His characters need expanding. While amusing, there is no real difference of "voice" between these and what I have seen in other books. There is a male capable of killing and protecting those he loves - an "Alpha" when challenged by other men - but is polite and considerate to his women and give them total freedom (which is a real deviation from typical Harem books, where the women exist for one thing and bow before the Alpha male). There is the crazy pixie girl, the competent organizer, and the damaged healer so far. All the women are close to god-like overpower in their own ways, competent, sexy, beautiful. Everyone is courteous to each other as they work out the harem setup.
Overall, fun characters, good plot, and a detailed urban fantasy world to work magic as well as solve a mystery. If you have liked his other books, you will like this.
(Read through Kindle Unlimited)
His characters need expanding. While amusing, there is no real difference of "voice" between these and what I have seen in other books. There is a male capable of killing and protecting those he loves - an "Alpha" when challenged by other men - but is polite and considerate to his women and give them total freedom (which is a real deviation from typical Harem books, where the women exist for one thing and bow before the Alpha male). There is the crazy pixie girl, the competent organizer, and the damaged healer so far. All the women are close to god-like overpower in their own ways, competent, sexy, beautiful. Everyone is courteous to each other as they work out the harem setup.
Overall, fun characters, good plot, and a detailed urban fantasy world to work magic as well as solve a mystery. If you have liked his other books, you will like this.
(Read through Kindle Unlimited)
April 8, 2020
This book sets up so many things and pays off on almost none of it. Gus is a "Boogyman" and works as a detective for the PID (Paranormal Cops) and a war vet with some PTSD issues. He's an interesting character at the start but as it goes on he feels more one dimensional as more characters are introduced. Vanessa and Melody are pretty interesting at the start too but the author devolves them into just horny girls by then end and its kind of a bummer cause they start off as strong female characters. The author does a pretty good job in setting up the world of the paras and the humans but he seems to not really care about actually developing it or fleshing it out instead pouring more and more of the book's second half to this harem that really distracts from what is an interesting mystery that could have been really cool. The fact that every woman is just ridiculously horny for Gus is so forced with the exception of Trish who is actually set up as a natural relationship from almost the start. If we could have gotten more world building and focus on the actual case and less time on the forced harem side plot this book could have been way better.
October 1, 2019
I've started to dislike urban fantasy for a while. It's usually detective work, and I had more than my fill of that over the years. This book is the usual "magical species is living in plain sight" plot. The author tried to hype up the contractors, but it was all "meh" to me.
The author seems like he is trying to listen to his readers, and separate his personas and his writing.
No one is instantly falling in love (other than our hyped up crazy), no ten pages of sex, some plot, then sex again. It seems completely calmed compared to reading his last William D Arand book (which is supposed to be his non smut persona).
The closer this book is to ending, the more Randi Darren is showing his face.
I'm not enjoying this much. It reads like other Urban fantasy books, only with a budding harem.
I will read the sequel books only because, but this wasn't anything ground breaking.
Even if this was a generic Urban fantasy (plot wise), it was nice to get a huge reduction in the sometime cringe harem setup,
2.5/5 Stars
The author seems like he is trying to listen to his readers, and separate his personas and his writing.
No one is instantly falling in love (other than our hyped up crazy), no ten pages of sex, some plot, then sex again. It seems completely calmed compared to reading his last William D Arand book (which is supposed to be his non smut persona).
The closer this book is to ending, the more Randi Darren is showing his face.
I'm not enjoying this much. It reads like other Urban fantasy books, only with a budding harem.
I will read the sequel books only because, but this wasn't anything ground breaking.
Even if this was a generic Urban fantasy (plot wise), it was nice to get a huge reduction in the sometime cringe harem setup,
2.5/5 Stars
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