Pete Clark

Early American history is interesting to some and now, it’s finally interesting to me. This book is a fun crazy mashup of historical fiction, humor, and the supernatural. The Rippers are anything paranormal and troublesome. The American Founding Fathers have more than the English or French to worry about! But they find a way to stop the Rippers from multiplying and it involves finding the last lost descendant of the Roanoke settlement of the 1500s.

There’s plenty of humor in this book. Daniel Boone’s smelly raccoon hat gets him recognized far more often than his skills with a gun. Swamp Fox Frances Marion is so very PC while Samuel Prescott tries to go anonymous everywhere (and fails). Paul Revere is a bit of a twit but makes awesome weapons and dinnerware. Then the author tosses in things like a wendigo, werewolves, succubi, zombies, mole people, etc. yet everyone knows there are no such things as vampires. This story had me chuckling all the way through.

Now sometimes I did get silliness fatigue if a joke was used too many times or if there was just scene after scene of humor without something more serious to ground the story. Also, there are very few female characters and for the longest time our only females are some succubi. Eventually we get a female character that affects the plot, but again, she has a pretty small role.

I really liked how this humorous tale pulled in the Roanoke mystery and made it a key point to the plot. I’ve long been interested in this historical mystery and it was fun to see a new take on it. The author tosses in key historical moments like the Boston Tea Party and the First Congressional Meeting. Of course, every thing goes awry with those due to the abundance of supernatural beings mucking about in the New World. Sometimes the story felt more like a D&D adventure (there’s even a maze crawl!). All together, it made early American history sound way more interesting than the boring version told in public schools.



I received a copy of this book at no cost (via Audiobook Blast) in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: Michael Gilboe did a great job with this book. He came up with some great voices! I loved his gruff Morgenstern and his proper Frances Marion. There were even some supernatural critter sounds tossed in. All his characters were distinct.… (mehr)

Personally, the best giggle was Swamp Fox Francis Marion knitting sox! Since this is mostly set before my time (retired Rev War re-enactor), I was freely able to enjoy the silliness without rancor.
The personalities are skewed from the traditional drivel, and the additional threats from supernatural beings is a hoot. Satire and humor rule the day (and night) in this unconventional romp thru apparent history, so leave reality in the kitchen and enjoy the laughs. No summary or spoilers needed.
M. Gilboe has the snark and wiseassery down pat and gives a great performance!
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."… (mehr)