Caffeinated Reviewer

Mage Alex Verus is caught between a rock and a hard place in the eighth urban fantasy novel from the national bestselling author of Burned.

Right now I wasn’t seeing Richard as the teacher out of my nightmares, he was just another Dark mage, and I looked into the future to see what would happen if I turned that knife on him instead...

Alex Verus is still haunted by his time apprenticed to Richard Drakh. He's been free of him for many years, but now the only way to keep his friends from being harmed is to again work for Richard and his deadly ally. Even worse, he’s forced to bring the Light mage Anne into this servitude as well.

After weeks of being hunted and finally cornered into what he thought was his last stand, Alex never thought his life would be spared—and never anticipated at what price. This time, the diviner can see no way out...

Bound is the eighth audiobook in the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. Narrated by Gildart Jackson, I was once again pulled into this riveting world of light and dark mages.

Alex spends much of Bound trying to figure out how he and Anne could get out from under Richard and Mordan. Alex racks up the enemies with his endless questions, and it becomes more clear that neither side is pure.

It was fascinating coming face to face with Richard. He is a bit of a mystery as we have only had Alex’s perspective of him.

While Bound focuses heavily on political maneuvers, discussions and enlightenment it was also action-packed. Vari and Luna are there to assist, and Arachne offered advice. She really is wise and a character I enjoy. I feel certain she knew the events that transpired could/would happen. I enjoyed the development we witnessed in Luna as she spread her wings.

Anne suffered horribly and we all know how this affects Alex. We see all our heroes shunned by both the dark and the light. We see both sides doing good and grabbing for power. Alex tries to do right and sets a higher standard for all, but even he isn’t without flaws.

Jacka has created a complex world with intriguing characters and while we do not live with magic, we can make correlations to our world, politics and the frustrations of seeing the good and evil on both sides of issues.

Gildart Jackson does such an outstanding job with the characters in this series. His narration delivers their emotions and tension. I can identify characters by the voices he has given them. I couldn’t imagine not listening to this series.

The ending left me eager to dive into the Marked and Fallen, the next two audiobooks. I should be caught up on the back titles of this series and ready for the Forged, the newest release in November!

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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