Entertaining enough to get me to return to it, but ultimately not for me.

Interesting story with many colorful characters, but I'm not sure what I think yet. I will give it another listen.

4.5 stars.
This was a deep-dive, character-driven story set in a well-realized world of magic laid masterfully over contemporary reality in true urban fantasy style.

The main character, Adam, is a young man from Oklahoma who travels to Denver, Colorado at the behest of his estranged brother, Bobby. Slayton does a wonderful job creating a tension-filled relationship between the brothers, full of memories of love overlaid with guilt and betrayal. Adam and Bobby/Robert were both well developed, nuanced, and easy to connect with. I particularly liked the way the brothers each made realizations and assumptions about the other as they viewed shared experiences through very different filters. Secondary characters were equally well-written, each with unique personalities and functional roles.

The world building was convincing and compelling. While anchored in real places (easily recognizable if you know the area), the way Slater portrayed the twisted, fun house mirror aspect of the spirit world was masterfully done. There were hints of a deep, rich history that I hope gets thoroughly explored in later books. The magic system was familiar, yet carried its own flavor, making it at once comfortable and intriguing for longtime readers of the genre. I loved that Adam was not a badass, he survives by trying to avoid conflict and stay off the radar of bigger, badder magical beings that could swat him like a bug.

The one hiccup I had was that the book could have used a little more editing. All books have some typos and such, but this had more than I could easily ignore. Still, the story and characters carried me through to a satisfying ending. I'll definitely be continuing this series. ( )

White Trash Warlock
Adam Binder, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: I was intrigued by the title

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: AudiblePlus
Dates Read: 6/6/23 - 6/10/23
Stars: 3
Narrator(s): Michael David Axetell

The Characters:

Adam Binder :
Robert “Bobby” Binder:
Vincente “Vic”, Mama Binder, Elf Queen, Elf Prince?

The Story:

I had a hard time following this story. Some of it was lack of clear voices in narration, Adam and Bobby sounded alike, some of it was lack of interest. From what I understand Bobby calls Adam in to help save his wife after witnessing something “abnormal". We must confront many dysfunctional relationships in this tale. Adam is the black sheep of the family for lack of a better term.

I liked Adam, Vic and Vic's mom and brother but I disliked Bobby and Mama Binder.

There is a rich fantasy world built in this book but I'm not sure I understand it.

The Random Thoughts: ( )

ZVery enjoyable, not sure how i missed this when it came out. Will read the upcoming sequel. ( )