Counting Crows: One For Murder (Lorne Turner Supernatural Thrillers) Paperback – 9 Jun. 2021

Brilliant story with something happening on every page.Interesting bunch of characters all blended in with great descriptions of the local area.Started reading Sunday evening and finished Tuesday afternoon.I’ve just bought the next book so I’ll just carry on reading.

I wasn’t keen on the descriptions of the “beast” rising and some of the more macho aspects of the story. The female characters were a bit two dimensional.I liked the sense of place, and the supernatural aspects. The book appeared to be well researched.I’ll read more of his books as this is the first in the series, so I’d be interested to see if the characters develop.

Fast paced, but not shallow! I’m so pleased to have found Joe Talon. Can’t wait to get onto book 2

Good storyline and great characters make this book a really good read. Onto the second one. 👍

The first book in Joe Talon's 'Lorne Turner' series is billed as a supernatural thriller, but I have to say, there's not much of the eerie or macabre about it. Turner is a former elite soldier, now returned to his isolated farm in Devon and as you might expect, he has his personal demons to deal with. His best pal is Ella, the local vicar, and the start of the book sees him scratching a living from a survival skills business. While out on a run he finds the corpse of a man who was apparently killed in some sort of occult ritual, and is soon embroiled in an investigation. As a thriller it works quite well - the occultists seem to have friends in very high places and the book is something of a page-turner as the action unfolds. Lorne Turner is a fairly engaging character but it seems to me that vicar Ella and Wicca devotee Willow are only there to balance out his rather brutal form of masculinity. That actually works rather well, although the female characters could be a little less 'perfect'. It's a good read though, and I'll definitely try the second in the series but beware if you are looking for a genuine supernatural thriller. This isn't one of those, even though the villains are members of a mysterious cult and there is the odd whiff of the uncanny here and there. It's all very understated - this book could never in a million years be categorised as 'horror' and it's misleading to present it as such. Well written, a little to neat and tidy at the end considering the previously ensuing chaos, but holds promise for the rest of the series.

Interesting tale with good characters and great settings. Far too much time spent on description and far too much over-writing. Because of this the story lagged. Chapters were too long and I skipped a lot of them. Overall, I'd give it 3.5. Not sure if I could suffer another one though but this was okay.

My Thoughts:Another white mundane male protagonist with military background, just like The 13th Witch (book 1 of The King's Watch series) and the Blue Moon Investigations Series. This theme is getting popular. I wonder if this is going to be the new vampire now?...Why is this book not whispersynced?!! ** sigh**Edmund Bloxam's scratchy voice match the old grizzled curmudgeon of a retired soldier that Lorne is in my head. However, the words are not distinct like some of the narrators I am used to. There is a slurry quality to it which is not helped by the lack of whispersync feature of kindle/audible. However, the slurry quality also adds character to Lorne who is supposed to be narrating the story to the readers.On top of not being whispersync, the audiobook version skips lines like: "The body in the moor, the one in the papers, he found it." (page 46 of 234 of the kindle ebook) — That line would have made the following next few lines make sense! As it is, I had to stop listening and read the ebook because the conversation no longer make sense. This made the going really slow. It is obvious that the script that Edmund Bloxam is reading is not the same to the ebook that I bought. As an audiobook listener, this drives me up the wall. It tends to stop me buying from producers of this kind of audiobooks, i.e., Sarah Luddington. Anyway, I ended up reading the ebook on the first round of reading. I listened to the audiobook on subsequent re-reads. Because, yes, this book is good enough for re-reads.I recommend the book to any supernatural thriller reader! However, I do not recommend the audiobook format. It has a lot to be desired.Empirical Evaluation:Story telling quality = 4Character development = 5Story itself = 5Writing Style = 4.5Ending = 4.5World building = 5Cover art = 3.5Pace = (7 hrs and 9 mins listening time)Plot = 4Narration = 3.5Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Best book I've read in a long time. Loved the characters, and the description wording is excellent. I hope the others in the series are as enjoyable

First book I've read in quite a while that i didn't want to end! Unusual storyline with slowly revealed characters which the author truly brought to life. Main character is a poignantly damaged former Special Services soldier who fights to reawaken his humanity.I am a crime novel fan & normally do not read paranormal stories but am so glad I did. Joe Talon has a new fan

This is a fast-paced action/romance thriller. How and why was the young man where he was found? We have a former soldier finding him. The soldier’ best friend is a female vicar. The pictures of the young man lead the soldier and the vicar on a hunt and the rest will take you into a territory not recognized by many.The story is well written and very suspenseful. I would highly recommend this book.

I was captured in the first few sentences. The authors writing style so gripping and easy to read. I enjoyed the story line, the characters, the mystery and the occult leanings. It has been a fantastic journey, looking forward to following this writer and reading more wonderful titles.

Some things were harder to understand with me being American and never been to the part of the World this book is written. I really enjoyed the history. The author describes these places so that I could see them in my minds eye. That takes talent. The story was very satisfying and felt like it really could happen. I'll check out more of these books.

did not think I would enjoy a book dealing with the Occult but I did.