Marked by Hell

The Mary Wiles Chronicles, Book 1

By: Erin Bedford

Narrated by: Valerie Englehart

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The road to heaven is paved with Mary Wiles' victims.

Los Angeles isn't just a playground for those searching for a new start. It's a darker and more dangerous place than they'll ever know. But Mary's not fooled.

With her hands full trying to play human while looking for a way back to heaven, Mary doesn't have time to polish her halo let alone solve a murder case. But when she finds out demons are responsible, Mary just can't help herself.

When Mary makes a mistake causing her best friend to be taken, she will have to make a choice: sacrifice an innocent for the chance to get her revenge or lose everything she has worked for. Mary starts to realize there is no clear path back to heaven without becoming tainted herself.

©2017 Embrace the Fantasy Publishing, LLC (P)2024 Embrace the Fantasy Publishing, LLC

I hate that I didn’t completely love this.

***Spoilers***







I hate doing anything less than 4 stars... I liked the story a lot. Don’t get me wrong there. I think it had a lot of potential it just needs the kinks worked out. Some of it felt really rushed and just not how things would happen. Like stopping in the middle of the final big fight with a big bad demon while the cops are raining shots all over everyone to talk to your assistant about the hows and why’s of angels and souls with the big bad demon talking about it too like he’s just another person and nothing else is going on. Or the fact that multiple gun shots didn’t faze the demon but a knock over the head with some glass knocked him out cold. Not trying to nitpick there was just a lot of little plot problems like that.

I think I would prefer reading these books as the narrator was just really robotic sounding. She over enunciated everything and it didn’t feel like she gave the characters any life the way many other narrators I’ve heard have. I listened to samples of book 2 and 3 and the same issues are heard there as well.
Will most likely continue this series in ebook form.

It is still a good storyline even with the issues I had. I’m interested to see where it goes

Promising start!!

There were so many things that I enjoyed in this book. I love the paranormal world so I thoroughly enjoyed the Angel and demon elements to the story. This story follows Mary, who is a fallen angel who is living on Earth as a human. She is a PI who follows cheaters and on occasion takes on other cases for the LA police dept. Mary is a intriguing main character who can kick some butt. We get glimpses into her past and what she has suffered but not quite enjoy to keep the reader intrigued. I’m definitely intrigued and looking forward to reading the next installment.

I enjoyed listening to the narrator, Valerie. I did increase the speed of the narration because it was a bit slow for me. I increased the speed to 1.8x. Once I adjusted the speed I found myself enjoying the narrator so much more!!

Angels in L.A.

I love books with angels blending in with everyday people and this one is great. Getting inside the mind of an angel (even one no longer connected to heaven) is awesome. I really enjoyed the P.I. part that accompanied Mary and her quest to return home. Trish and Mary's snark just made the story more enjoyable. I loved the sound of Valerie's voice when she narrated. At times her pace seemed a bit stiff or choppy, but it just added to the feel of Mary not understanding today's world for me.

Okay

I struggled with this story. Overall the story has a good premise, but falls a little short. The MC is a bit too naive for me. I understand that the author was trying to show her as an innocent angel but I think it was overdone. How long has she been on Earth? She's been here long enough to have established relationships within the community, but yet she doesn't understand several basic things. The narrator over-pronounced the letter "t" which created a stilted dialogue and detracted from the story.

Good story

The actual book was good but the narrator was not. Her enunciation,lack of inflection and articulation were dull, stilted and blah.

Good Start

Mary is an angel who has had her wings forcibly removed. She is trying to find them and save the person she lost them for when trying to save. She has been on earth for five years at this point and still has so much to learn about humans and being human. But one thing she knows and understands is demons. She has become a PI who has a speciality in the occult and the police consult her on cases. The police ask for her help with a murder after three women have already been murdered. Mary knows it is demonic in nature and that the clock is ticking. There is a lot left unanswered and a lot of questions in this book but it is a good start. I am very curious about many of the characters and looking forward to seeing how this series progresses. I want to know what will happen with Mary next and her relationships with people.

excellent

I have previously read this series and now listening to it I still think it is my favorite by Erin. It is worth listening and/or reading.

Had to stop listening

The story was not bad but I could not listen to the narrator any longer. She did not sound natural and over pronounced her words. Sorry had to stop listening.

Not Good

I couldn't suspend belief enough to finish this book. The characters are flat and formulaic and
the plot is stereotypical and predictable. The narrator does not enhance the story. Her portrayal of the characters are delivered in an almost robotic tone . I can not recommend this book.