Audiobook Review – Cursed (Alex Verus, Book 2) by Benedict Jacka (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 10 hours and 3 minutes (304 pages)
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Release Date: January 6, 2014
ASIN: B00HNVI1FA
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Alex Verus series
Source: Audiobook from Audble.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the second book in the Alex Verus series. This was another entertaining and well done investigative urban fantasy set in London. I really enjoyed it a lot.

I listened to this as on audiobook and the audiobook was extremely well done. I was very impressed with the narration; the narrator sounds exactly like I imagine Alex would and does an excellent job with other character voices as well.

A few months have passed and Alex has gained a bit of notoriety for his actions in the first book. Alex is hired for a seemingly simple job; accompany some white mages and help them dispose of a werewolf that has been killing people in the area. However, when they arrive the werewolf is already dead and the circumstances around this death are mysterious; it looks like someone has drained the magic from this creature and Alex must find out who and why before humans are next.

Meanwhile Alex has in his possession (and tightly locked away) a powerful magic item called The Moneky’s Paw. Luna has a new friend named Marten that ends up taking this magical item and nothing good has ever come of someone using the Monkey’s Paw.

There is a lot of humor in here as well as magic and action. I enjoy Alex as a character and how he walks the line between white and dark magic. I was irritated at how selfish and stupid Luna was in this installment, but I do understand why she did what she did. I continue to really enjoy Arachne as a character and I loved some of the other monsters we met throughout.

The plot is somewhat similar to the first book. Basically a dark ritual has been discovered and Alex ends up trying to stop it being used for evil. Some of the plot threads from the first book continue and some are new. There are some good twists and turns and this is very much an investigative urban fantasy.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot and thought it was a fun read. I would definitely recommend to fans of The Dresden Files or The Iron Druid Chronicles; although so far this series isn’t quite as good as either of those ones. I plan on continuing reading this series; it’s been a high quality urban fantasy that is fun, entertaining and has some interesting magic in it.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– 2015 Audiobook Challenge