Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Dirty Work by Devon Monk Narrator: Paul Bellantoni
Series: Broken Magic #4
Published by Tantor Audio on May 20, 2025
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 3 hours, 36 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Shame Flynn is a Death magic user who has seen some shit. He and Life magic user, Terric Conley have spent the last three years keeping a lid on magic while hunting down the criminals and monsters bent on using it for revenge.
So far, they’ve managed to hide the magical hot spots from the world. But now their very smart, ex-magic user friends, Allie and Zayvion Beckstom-Jones are asking questions. Questions about magic Shame and Terric can’t answer if they want to keep their friends safe.
But when Allie and Zayvion’s three-year-old daughter disappears, there is no time for secrets. No time for subterfuge.
There is only time for justice.
The search for the missing girl triggers powerful enemies, ancient magic, and dangerous truths. Truths that will make or break Shame and Terric’s lives, and the lives of the people they would die for.
Maybe our favorite Grim Reaper with a hangover, Shamus, can finally find his place in the world and learn how to deal with his death magic. It helps that he may have finally figured out his relationship with his soul companion and now bff Terric in Dirty Work the final book of the Broken Magic series. One wields death magic, the other life magic, and together they have to save the world from the magic hot spots that keep popping up unexpectedly.
Dirty Work is a good finale to a series. It gives the readers some solid closure on where the characters are going and how they are now in better places in their lives from the mess they started out with in Hell Bent. I think Dirty Work also is going to be a lot of fun for readers of the Allie Beckstrom series. It has been a few years since the birth of Allie’s child and she is already a handful with her gargoyle accomplice in crime, Stoney. The entire team gets pulled into making sure some errant magic doesn’t accidentally spill out and get used for nepharious deeds.
Cody plays a bigger role in this book and I enjoyed his character interactions. Dirty Work gets the gang all back together and clears the air. I think it brings a sense of balance to the closure of the story and is a great exit point from both series for Devon Monk. While the world isn’t quite a safe place, it is a safer place with the gang back together, secrets out in the open and a new vision for how to save the world going forward.
Narration:
Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★★
Sound Effects: None
Paul Bellantoni continues on with the series. Like all the prior books, he does a fantastic job and really carries the book well. I enjoyed all of the various voices he brought for the supporting characters, Cody specifically has a great voice. His pacing for the jokes and sarcastic quibbles made me laugh but he also brought depth of feeling to the Shamus’ voice. Another stellar performance!
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Devon Monk
Devon Monk has one husband, two sons, and a dog named Mojo. She lives in Oregon and is surrounded by numerous family members who mostly live within dinner-calling distance of each other. She writes the Allie Beckstrom urban fantasy series and the Age of Steam steampunk series. Her collection of short stories, A CUP OF NORMAL is a finalist for the Mythopoeic and Endeavour Awards. When not writing, Devon drinks coffee and knits strange things.
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This series sounds really fun. I’ve put the first book in it on hold at my library. 😀
They are fun listens Lark. I hope you enjoy the books too.
Hiiiii! I can’t thank you enough for the lovely things you said about my narrating. I had such a freaking blast doing these. If you have a moment, it would be a HUGE solid if you would even cut and paste your comments on to the four different books on Audible. I’d love to see this wonderful series get some more attention, and that would help Devon out greatly as well.
Paul, you really did a fantastic job with the entire series. I don’t think I’m able to post on audible since it came from the publisher and I didn’t purchase it through them. Disappointing I know. I’d love to post it there too. If you know a work around I’m all for it.
I did also posted on Fable, Storygraph, goodreads and bookbub.
Aw, thanks Robin!
I think if you have an Audible account you can post reviews on any book…
And thanks for posting on the other sites, I’m sure Devon really appreciates as well. <3
Sounds like a good series all the way! Great review!
I’m ready to go read the Allie Beckstrom series now that I’m done to see how it all started.
This is a series I’ve seen – and now I’ve read your lovely review, I’ll give the first book a go on Audible. Thank you for sharing:).
Thank you! If you like audiobooks I really think this one was done so well.
How fun!!