Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Fury by Rachel Vincent Narrator: Gabra Zackman
Series: Menagerie #3
Published by Recorded Books on October 30, 2018
Genres: Paranormal
Length: 8 hours, 29 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble
1986: Rebecca Essig leaves a slumber party early but comes home to a massacre—committed by her own parents. Only one of her siblings has survived. But as the tragic event unfolds, she begins to realize that other than a small army of six-year-olds, she is among very few survivors of a nationwide slaughter.
The Reaping has begun.
Present day: Pregnant and on the run with a small band of compatriots, Delilah Marlow is determined to bring her baby into the world safely and secretly. But she isn’t used to sitting back while others suffer, and she’s desperate to reunite Zyanya, the cheetah shifter, with her brother and children. To find a way for Lenore the siren to see her husband. To find Rommily’s missing Oracle sisters. To unify this adopted family of fellow cryptids she came to love and rely on in captivity.
But Delilah is about to discover that her role in the human versus cryptid war is destined to be much larger—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined.
I wondered how things would go for our group of escapees in the next story of the Menagerie series. The group is hiding out in a cabin near Washington DC. There is no long-term plan beyond survival. They are preparing and waiting for the birth of Delilah’s baby. The entire group sacrifices to help Delilah.
Fury has a new aspect blending past and present. The chapters alternate between the present from Delilah’s perspective and that of Rebecca Essig from the time of the Reaping in 1986. The tale eventually gives us the connection between Rebecca Essig and Delilah and explains how Delilah became a Fury.
Most of the story is spent in weaving the past to the present and preparing for the baby’s birth. It is suspenseful and terrifying throughout because there is so much misunderstanding, hate and death. People hate the cryptids simply because they aren’t human, while the Reaping was not caused by them.
I am not sure I understand everything which happened at the end, and I won’t spoil it for you. Even with an epilogue, the ending seemed abrupt. The story is about Delilah and we don’t get much closure on what happened to the rest of the group. It’s a sad, horrifying, sometimes quick-to-judge world, but there are the compassionate as well.
Narration:
Gabra Zackman is one of my favorite, FAVORITE narrators ever. She does an amazing job here as well as with the rest of the series. I listened at my usual 1.25x speed. Her performance of male and female voices is excellent and she does differentiate the voice between the different characters.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Gabra Zackman
Gabra Zackman is a New York based actress, writer, and audiobook narrator. She is the author of The Bod Squad series published by Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Books starting in April 2015.
As an actress, Gabra has been seen in classics, new plays, and everything in between. She has been on TV in “Law and Order”, “Law and Order: SVU” and “All My Children” and in the film “Law Abiding Citizen”.
The foundation of Gabra’s work is her ten plus years of employment in the audio book industry, having recorded over 300 audio books to date.
Gabra is known for her versatility as an artist, and is currently working equally in three artistic fields. She loves how the crafts of acting, writing and narration all inform and influence each other. She feels profoundly lucky to get to tell stories in so many different ways.
About Rachel Vincent
Rachel Vincent is the author of more than twenty books in several different series, for adults and for young adults. All of her books are currently available in the US, Canada, and the UK. Select books are also being published in Australia, Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Finland, India, France, Hungary, and Italy, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, Thailand, and Spain.
Rachel Vincent is a former English teacher and an eager champion of the Oxford comma. She shares her home in Oklahoma with two cats, two teenagers, and her husband, who’s been her # 1 fan from the start. Rachel is older than she looks and younger than she feels, and she remains convinced that writing about the things that scare her is the cheapest form of therapy–but social media is a close second. She loves books, TV, video games, movies, cats, and the serial comma. She is fairly fanatical about grammar and has been known to send critiques to CNN along with screenshots of poorly edited articles. (That’s not even a joke.)
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Anne: 2017 New Release Challenge
I heard great things about this series and I really want to read book 1
It’s chilling. The whole trilogy shows the effects of hate and containment. Fury shows the unfairness even more clearly. People hating, mistreating what they don’t understand.
Interesting how the past story really showed a new side of affairs in the current day. Glad the last story really kept up the intensity even if the ending didn’t quite tie-off all the loose ends.
I’ve not listened to that narrator before so I’ll have to give her a try.
Yes, and yes you must try something by Gabra Zackman. Really!
I really loved how Vincent brought the past and present together in this book. I really enjoyed seeing more about The Reaping. I’m like you, I would’ve liked to have had more information at the end. I love Gabra Zackman too.
Melanie @ Hot Listens & Books of My Heart
Thanks Melanie. I did enjoy the clever juxtaposition of the past and present. At first, I was a bit like why all the 1986 history now rather than earlier in the trilogy but I knew it had lots to do with the persecution of the cryptids so I was glad to get more background.
I’ve not heard of this series (no surprise) as I haven’t kept up with the genre. Glad you’re enjoying and how pleased you were with the narrator. I’ll be on the lookout for titles with Zackman listed.
I can’t believe you have never listened to Gabra Zackman!!!!!
I’ve got my review to post this week, too… I found the first two books absolutely engrossing and horrific – this one certainly left me feeling a bit hollow and dazed, I wasn’t expecting that ending… But it certainly works. Thank you for a great review on a difficult book to say too much about and congrats for not resorting to any spoilers!
Thank you. Sometimes it is hard to write a meaningful or helpful review without spoilers. And I don’t want to just repeat facts from the blurb; that’s why I include the blurb. I agree with your assessment of the trilogy.
I continue to hear good things about this series, especially in audiobook format. It’s been on the periphery of my radar… maybe I should move it up on the list! Thanks.
The first two in the trilogy would be 5 stars for me. Gabra Zackman is always 10 stars. I love her.
Believe it or not I have book one on audio. Wait, of course you believe it, you are a book addict like me 🙂
Book one is one of my favorite books. It’s amazing and was such a heart-stopping read.
I came across another review for this today. I am defintitely going to try this series. Whether reading or listening to it.
The narrator is amazing. I know it’s at my library as that is how I listened to the first one. I was getting ready for NOLAStorycon and I was reading something by each author attending. I made it through all but 5 authors but some of them I got so engrossed I read their whole series, otherwise I could have gotten to the last 5.
Anyway, I got to sit next to Rachel Vincent at the brunch on Sunday morning. She’s lovely. This series is chilling and very well-written.
I liked this one but I would have liked more from the ending. I also wasn’t happy about everything that happened but I can live with it. This series is great on audio!
Yes I agreed with your review. The writing was excellent and it was a great mix of past and present but I also don’t like everything that happened or not getting more on certain aspects of the ending.