Scoundrel by nature and master thief by trade, Mouse is the best there is. Sure, his methods may not make him many friends, but he works best alone anyway. And he has never failed a job.
But that could change.
When a stranger with a hefty bag of gold seduces him to take on a task, Mouse knows he’ll regret it. The job? Free Lord Garron, the son of a powerful duke arrested on trumped up charges in a rival duchy. Mouse doesn’t do rescue missions. He’s no altruistic hero, and something about the job reeks. But he cannot turn his back on that much coin—enough to buy a king’s pardon for the murder charge hanging over his head.
Getting Garron out of his tower prison is the easy part. Now, they must escape an army of guardsmen, a walled keep and a city on lockdown, and a ruthless mage using her power to track them. Making matters worse, Mouse is distracted by Garron’s charm and unyielding integrity. Falling for a client can lead to mistakes. Falling for a nobleman can lead to disaster. But Mouse is unprepared for the dangers behind the plot to make Lord Garron disappear.
Listening Length: 9 hours and 25 minutes
Narrator: Joel Leslie
Scrappy, snarky, dreamy and sassy Mouse in AUDIO?!
I just about loved Mason Thomas's debut novel, Lord Mouse. Mouse is snark personified, the cocky, cunning criminal who totally deserves his slice of HEA. He's the deviant underdog you want to root for. I'm #TeamMouse4LIFE and recommend this book to any fantasy lover out there.
After listening to Joel Leslie narrate Mouse and the cast of characters, it exceeded my expectations...and I was holding a high bar to begin with.
This was my first Joel Leslie, so I didn't know what to expect, as I'm still new-ish to the audio world. I take the time to find the right person to read in my ear. I was blown away from the moment I heard Mouse's brogue! I didn't imagine Mouse with a brogue in my wildest of dreams.
But apparently I needed the brogue and now after listening to nearly 10 hours of Joel Leslie having a blast and going balls to the wall with Thomas' characters, I can't imagine Mouse any other way. Leslie gave different variations of accents. There were Scot, Irish and Caribbean sounding folk for all the characters and I didn't even remember there were so many people in there.But this man did a distinct and different voice for them all. He wowed me through all the snarky parts. He nailed all of Mouse's great one-liners, gave emotion and camp at all the right parts.
In my original review, I broke down the book of what worked and why the story was so full of win--I'll keep it brief and the fangirl on a low setting. You have 10 foot tall personality in Mouse, a career criminal who might be short in stature but is one of the wiliest and craftiest men you might read. He commands and demands attention on each page he's on. Leslie got a great sense of that.
Mouse goes on the biggest job of his life, rescuing the kidnapped noble, Lord Garron. Mouse has to sneak into a heavily guarded city and keep the Lord alive all while not getting caught int he process. It's harrowing tale of crime, action, adventure and romance. Note, the romance isn't as evenly balanced, it takes a backseat to the suspense. And there isn't on page sex, but I didn't miss it int he least.
Leslie did a great honor to great text.
The story remains 4 Hearts for me. Strong start, good middle, the ending is slightly rushed. There was a big buildup about Mouse's dagger and Garron's reason for being held prisoner. And while the reasoning was good, the rushed 15-20% kind of loses steam. When I read Lord Mouse, I rated it 4.5 overall, averaging Mouse who is a 5 Heart character (and deserves his own rating) and the story combined.
For the audio? Joel Leslie made a great book better.
As this was a reread for me, my feelings on the story's weak spots remains: Garron needed more depth to his character. Leslie did a good job of conveying Garron's emotions for Mouse. Life threatening situations are calls for me to give insta-love a pass in romance situations. However, I still wish there was more from Garron, or maybe a POV change to get a grasp of when the moment of 'a-ha...Mouse is it for me.'
Since I rated the book 4.5, with Leslie's narration I could only rate the entire thing higher.
It was that good.
Highly recommended and I definitely plan to listen to more Joel Leslie audiobooks!
See our tag team eBook review HERE!
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