The Bends

A Kane Montgomery Novel, Book 1

By: Bart Hopkins

Narrated by: Luke Daniels

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Marathon is a quiet little Texas town, and it's getting quieter. Kids are vanishing, disappearing like tumbleweeds in the desert wind. Somebody - or something - is taking them.

Action. Adventure. Romance. Suspense. The Bends is a supernatural thriller roller coaster ride!

"If it's true, well.... She can't be human."

Recommended for fans of Blake Crouch, Stephen King, J. A. Konrath, and Dean Koontz.

Other books by Bart Hopkins:

Like

Fluke

Texas Jack

World Wide Gone

Dead Ends

Shortlisted and second place in the 2017 Holl and Lane Heart & Soul Book Awards.

©2018 Bart Hopkins (P)2018 Bart Hopkins

Wonderful book and narration..

This was a good story. It was supernatural but not so much it was ridiculous. It was about Kane, who came to Marathon. Texas and was playing and singing in a local bar and got involved with Lucy, the cocktail server, and involved with at least 4 bad people, one of which was a, actually I don’t know what she was, but they were guessing she was one thousand years old. AND she was about to sacrifice 3 babies that she’d had kidnapped.

There were some good characters in this: Sheriff Bigsby and his Deputy Slidell, and Slidell’s friend Buster Mackey, an ex-boxer.

All sex was off the pages and the F-bomb was used 32 times.

As to the narration: Luke Daniels is totally awesome. (He’s actually the reason I got the audible, but don’t tell anyone.)

Excellent story!

In the quiet little town of Marathon Texas, kids are starting to disappear. The town has an ancient evil hiding that has been long forgotten. Kane Montgomery is just a musician passing through. Kane isn't the only new stranger in town. There is a mysterious woman in a red dress, red heels, and a red car and there are two men dressed in black driving a black SUV. Could they be responsible for the disappearances of the children or are they just passing through like Kane? Great mystery story! The narrator did such a great job he had me hooked from the first chapter! I can't wait for book 2 in this series!

small town texas will never be the same

This book will leave you wanting soooo many more tales of Kane Montgomery!!! Luke Daniels nails this, like only Luke can(HUGE FAN!!!) Bart Hopkins must have or still does live in a small town, only after experiencing tiny towns that you blink and miss, can you describe them in such great detail!! Buy this one today, simply put, great story, makes you love/hate characters. its was hard to NOT listen in one sitting.
Bart Hopkins has earned a new fan, Luke Daniels is just amazing and I love his voice!

Suspense at its finest. Blow me away!

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started listening to this audio. I had never heard of this author or narrator. When listening to the sample I was intrigue once I started listening to the audio in no time at all the author and narrator pulled me in giving me an amazing outstanding ride that I totally loved. The author gives you a touch of romance but you don’t really see it, its like a tree in the far distances when looking at the land you know that little tree is there but the rest of the view is so breath taking you do not narrow in on the tree. It has a nice touch to it and adds so much to the story and plot. The plot is based around a small town and its people, along with the children, families that come up missing, there is mystery, danger, suspense and a little paranormal. There is evil, but not everything is white or black it is mixed with a little red when death is near.

Mr. Daniels’s narration just blew me out of the water with his wonderful character voices, tones and the way he laid the plot out that as the author wrote it. He pauses just long enough for the facts to sink in pulling you in deeper to the story. His male and female voices are powerful with so many different voices that are truly very different from each other. He has no problem pulling off the high sex females or the cute young women along with deep older man. His redneck pain in the butt voice is a delight as well as his young excited teen, his sexy ex soldier is a dream. There is nothing I didn’t like about his performance. I would have to say my favorite is Birdie on the sexy women who has taken the town over. The emotions Mr. Daniels brings to this audio is outstanding from the sound effect that makes you think he is talking through a blow horn to the excitement, fear, even the romance between the two main characters. I had no trouble feeling every emotion that the characters do. There are no background noises, no volume changes, if any breaks were taken I could not tell. The narrator deliveries a wonderful clear, crisp audio I totally got lost in. I even forgot I was listening. For me he made this story a five star listen. He pulled me in took me away and I didn’t want to put it end.

The plot is great, the author really put a lot of thought this along putting some major twists and turns along with the buildup of the mystery that really holds you spellbound. You know there is evil near but you can’t put your finger on it until you get closer to the end of the story. You know what it is built around as well as a few of the people who have their hands in the pot and why they do. Things are not as they seem at times I had chills and I can’t tell you what it was from because it would give too much away. This isn’t a story you can really go into or you lose the surprise and it would take away from the reader. What I can tell you is there are some wonderful characters, some scary ones, and some very cute ones. The town is wonderful just a sweet old country town that I fall in love with. The author gives a wonderful mix of humor, seriousness, passion, fun and sorrow. He makes you chuckle and at times leaves you with your heart in your throat. There was even a time or two when I held my hands to my mouth thinking OH NO please No, and then he would have me smiling again at the baiting, the witty humor, and we would go full circle again. The ending is good the mystery is solved but it is a little of a cliffhanger oh the story is complete but the author sets it up for the next story leaving you wondering what is in store for the main characters. Is it worth your time? OH YES, you will find so much enjoyment between these pages from the mystery to the danger to the unknown as well as the paranormal. I hope you will pick up this audio and give it a try you are in for a delightful treat.

It will keep you wondering what's going to happen

This is the second book from Bart Hopkins that I have read and listened to the Audio version also.
The first one is "Dead Ends". A combination of short stories which gives you the feel of having landed in the twilight-zone.
"The Bends" is a supernatural thriller has an actual connection to the story "Recalculating" in Dead Ends.
It is not necessary to have read "Recalculating" but it was fun to have that connection.
You get some hints along the way but it will not become clear till near the end of the book.
Seeing this book is named "The Bends: Kane Montgomery #1" I'm hoping to see a Kane Montgomery # 2 in the future.
This book was narrated by Luke Daniels. He did a wonderful job and it was a pleasure to listen to the story.

The lady in red...good or evil?

Kane is former military and running from his demons. He gets a music gig at a bar in small town TX and strikes up a fling with the server. Meanwhile, ‘Bird’, the creepy owner of the local gas station is intrigued by a lady-dressed in red and driving a red sports car. The local sheriff also encounters the lady in ted and feels something ‘off’ about her. Then babies start to disappear...is there a connection with the lady in red’s sudden arrival? Who are the men in black that attempted to abduct Kane? Will the babies be rescued? I’d really love to say more but that would mean spoilers...just trust me...if you love mystery, the supernatural and a bad@$$ ex-army vet...then you need to read this!! Awesome narration.
I accepted a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Epic!

So, as a fan of Urban Fantasy, Mysteries, and Thrillers, I totally enjoyed the juxtaposition of the Jack Reacher archetype, itinerant musician, and almost paranormal. I LOVE finding new series I'll be able to start now and reread later, as new books come out. I'd definitely recommend to friends who love Urban Fantasy or Police procedurals. It helped that the narrator is Luke Daniels, as I'm already a huge fan of his voice acting. Loved it!

Excellent story, great listen!

This one kept my attention the whole way through. Great story, reads very much like a good Stephen King novel. Also, this is a high-caliber narrator, so it was an excellent listen. Five stars all around.

Stupendous

I absolutely loved this story. The narration was amazing. First book by this author and definitely not the last

This will keep you up, past your bedtime

This will keep you up, past your bedtime not because it was scary but because I wanted to hear how it ends and not be bothered by a pesky thing like sleep. As you can tell I really enjoyed listening to this story, the narrator was really good and I think was perfect for this story.

As for the actual story you found you really liked all the characters (well the goodies anyway) and you are just hoping everyone makes it to the end of the book and the three missing child are found safe and well. With a few twists and strange happenings you are kept guessing as to what was happening and what was going to happen.

I hope this is just the start of a Kane Montgomery series, as I will be looking out for more.