The Last Smile in Sunder City cover art

The Last Smile in Sunder City

Fetch Phillips, Book 1

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The Last Smile in Sunder City

By: Luke Arnold
Narrated by: Luke Arnold
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About this listen

The Last Smile in Sunder City is a brilliantly voiced contemporary fantasy for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Rotherweird or Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and the debut novel from high-profile actor Luke Arnold.

Fetch Phillips fought on the wrong side of a war between humans and magical creatures, and his actions helped to drain the world of enchantment. Now he works on the streets of Sunder City, taking what odd jobs he can while trying to help those whose lives he ruined.

His first case is to find a missing teacher. Professor Rye is a 400-year-old vampire with a heart of gold in a husk of a body. In a world without magic, most vamps have already crumbled into dust, but Fetch is happy to go looking for some dirt with pointed teeth if it gets him his drinking money. Then, when a young siren disappears, Fetch finds out that this dark world still hides some monsters - and he'd better clean up his act before they come into the light.

©2019 Luke Arnold (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK Action & Adventure Fantasy Fiction City Paranormal Emotionally Gripping Vampire

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All stars
Most relevant
This was an unexpectedly fantastic story and narration!!

Brilliant listen don't hesitate to get it.

A gem of a story!!

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Oh what a luscious turn of phrase Mr Arnold has. Perfect scenes evoked with a word sketch.
And my, also a very talented actor/narrator. If not the best, certainly one of the best author narrators I have come across.
An engaging lead character, with his bag of angst and woes, interacts well with other residents of his world. Conversations you believe, that reveal the person and take the story forward.
If I was being super-picky, I would say that during the middle of the story I was a bit muddled. Also, although there were some very droll moments the overall feel was just the teensiest bit, gloomy. I guess that would be all the angsts making their presence felt.
So happy I gave it a shot. I do hope there are more to come.

Terrific

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I listened to this book twice now. The story is great, the world-building is interesting, and what really puts the cherry on top is Luke Arnold reading it and giving all his characters amazing, distinct voices.

Quickly became one of my favorite series

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Written and narrated - everything you pray for when you start a new audible book.

Thank you Luke Arnold.
A Classic.

What a Talent

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Feels like a second book in a series as you are thrown into the strange illogical world without anything to hang on to, the explanation of the worlds dynamics are told in flashback spread throughout the book so you only really know what's going on in the last third. The author is an actor (lockdown novel maybe) and reads his own book well. The biggest block was the faux Sam Spade private eye persona and narrative style which is just not something that I would normally be interested in... But I stuck with it and enjoyed it overall.

Stick with it

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not much more to say than what I wrote in the title. Two words

Great world and ideas. clichéd writing

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I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting from this book, but damn. The world building was unique and interesting, the lead character was complicated and fascinating. Exploring the seedy underbelly of fantasy worlds is not usually my thing, but this book has absolutely fascinated me.

Delightfully unexpected

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Amazing book, great story and actors. Great read and would recon3to friends and family members.

Amazing book

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I usually like to read books that mix fantasy with the everyday and a good dollop of humour, like the Inspector Hobbes Series and anything by Heidi Goody and Ian Grant, so I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but the story soon pulled me in and I kept wanting to listen to find out what happened next. The story was an inventive twist on the theme of vampires, werewolves etc, combined with a main character who was more a Sam Spade type. It shouldn't have worked, but it does! The whole set up is entirely believable and the book, while reaching a conclusion of sorts, doesn't go for the nice neat tidy ending but the sort of messy ending you find in everyday life, only with vampires!
And as for the narration, that's superb. I love the contrast between the hard gumshoe American type accent of the main character and the more western accents of the other characters. It could come across as clunky or forced, but it doesn't. It actually skilfully reinforces the otherness of the main character and gives the story an extra vibrancy. I'm currently listening to the second book in the series, and so far I'm enjoying it as much as and possibly even more so than the first.
Highly recommended!

A fantastic cross between Sam Spade and the X Men

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This is an amazing book, I honestly have massive hopes for the second of the series (which I got before even finishing the first). The main character is so we'll written if technology allowed it I can see Humphrey Bogart himself playing the lead. The emotions are written perfectly. One of the best books I have stumbled upon, well worth the listen totally worth it. I'll finish with a warning the emotions in this book are full on there are some scenes that hurt my heart.

Fantasy noir at its best

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