Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for Ultrahuman Protection by Alexander Kane Narrator: Bahni Turpin
Published by Audible on August 22, 2017
Genres: Science Fiction
Length: 8 hours, 49 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Audible, Libro.fm
ndrea Vernon always thought she would spend her life living in Paris writing thought-provoking historical novels all day and sipping wine on the Seine all night. But the reality is she's drowning in debt, has no prospects, and is forced to move back to Queens, where her parents remind her daily that they are very interested in grandchildren.
Then, one morning, she is kidnapped, interviewed, and hired as an administrative assistant by the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection. Superheroes for hire, using their powers for good. What could possibly go wrong?
Lots.
Her coworkers may be able to shoot lightning out of their hands or have skin made of diamonds, but they refuse to learn how to use the company's database. She has a swell hook-up buddy relationship with The Big Axe, but he's pushing to go exclusive. Then there's the small matter of a giant alien space egg hovering over Yankee Stadium, threatening civilization as we know it.
Will Andrea find contentment in office drudgery? Can she make a life together with a guy who's eight feet tall and never puts down his axe? And will she ever figure out how her boss likes her coffee?
Occasionally the Audible daily deal tempts me to give a chance to a book I wouldn’t normally try, like say a story about the administrative assistant at a company for superheroes. I’m a girl who loves a deal and so when this was the daily deal I picked it up. I mean, who isn’t looking for a different take on the entire superhero franchise?
The best part is, it is pretty light and funny. Andrea Vernon is offered a job at a company that just happens to deal in superheroes and their protection. The biggest requirement for her getting the job was she isn’t allowed to ask questions. That does make it a little more difficult to figure out how your boss likes their coffee but it seems she managed it eventually. It is like any other company with salesmen and contract negotiations and all the other day to day interoffice issues you might face but with superheroes.
There are a ton of silly jokes and it was fun to try and figure out how the entire corporation ran. The bidding wars between other companies with superheroes, the contracts and how serious each superhero took themselves. Some of the running joke stuff got a little monotonous, I mean I can’t take a like/love interest seriously that refers to himself as THE BIG AXE every other sentence when on page, I just can’t. Actually, all the superhero names were kinda a mouthful, I longed for something simple like The Tick after a while.
There is a plot too with an alien egg, a space puppy and the imminent destruction of the world on the line so the story was pretty interesting but pacing was a little bit of an issue for me due to the nature of the names of all the characters and a few running jokes that ran a little too long for my taste.
If you are in the mood for something superhero adjacent then this audiobook might hit the mark.
Narration:
I like Bahni Turpin; she did well with all the characters and did bring the story to life. I’d easily listen to other books narrated by her. I’d actually like to see what she would do with a story in a different genre.
Listen to a clip here:
About Bahni Turpin
Bahni Turpin is a Los Angeles-based actress with many television and film credits in addition to being an award winning narrator. She is honored to have been awarded an Audie for Best Female Narrator, 2015, Audible Narrator of the Year, 2016, and American Library Association’s Voice of Choice for 2017. In 2018, Bahni won best female narration again, and was also inducted into the Audible Hall of Fame. She is a two-time Odyssey Award winner, and was also named as one of Audiophile’s Golden Voices for 2019.
Bahni Turpin is also a famous TV and film actress. She started her career in 1987 with the film called “Tiszta Amerika”.
2010 Best Voice in Fiction: PRECIOUS
The talented narrator is now a devoted listener, too, but she came to audiobooks with a bit of skepticism. Another actress referred her to Books on Tape, where she later auditioned. “It was very strange to me at the time because I didn’t listen to audiobooks then.”
In time, Books on Tape engaged her to read A PIECE OF CAKE, by Cupcake Brown, and Bahni was hooked. She had always liked reading aloud and found the assignment to be a comfortable and enjoyable gig. Of course, she’s continued. But sometimes she’s surprised at a director’s requirements. “I auditioned for a new company, and the director was so picky,” she says. “Every time you cleared your throat, you had to restart the paragraph.”
Bahni, who now loves listening to women’s stories as she tools around Los Angeles, was mesmerized by her own voicing of the character Minny in THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. “While listening, I forgot it was me I was listening to,” says Bahni, who enjoyed the book’s rich emotions and vivid characterizations of several female characters.
The experience of absorbing audiobooks can be challenging for some modern listeners, Bahni feels. The heavy reliance on television for entertainment has led some to forget how to listen without a visual component. But she doesn’t draw a line between acting and narration. Bahni reads each book before recording and makes notes about how each character should sound. “I like to give each one a characterization and really try to read the way I feel the text should be heard. I especially enjoy doing dialects.”
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I love Badni Turpin. I first listened to her read the Downside Ghost series by Stacia Kane. Then I listened to the new Dread Nation by Justina Ireland. She nailed both of those. Now you have me very interested in this book. Thanks for sharing.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Thanks Melanie. This was the first thing I’ve listened to by her but I’ll look into those others since I liked her and those seem right up my ally.
Children of Blood and Bone is also narrated by Turpin and was excellent.
That is one of those on my list of things I’ll get to someday.
I don’t do a lot of audiobook but the setting with the superheroes side is always interesting.
I like it when they switch up the normal superhero genre. This book has some funny stuff with the contract disputes and what a company party would look like.
What a hoot! I like to pick up these types of light ones now and then. I still need to listen to her narration work.
Me too. Sometimes I need something really different from everything else I’m reading as a sort of pallet cleanser. It did work well for that.
I was really hoping that you would have liked this one a bit more because the premise sounds fantastic. I have a feeling that I would get a little tired of some of the long running jokes as well. I haven’t listed to Badni Turpin yet but I think I own a couple that she narrates so I am glad to hear that you liked her narration.
This is one of the few times that I think a written book might have worked better for me. Just because then I could have skimmed over some of the names and longer running gags.