THE DARK HEALER (Book 3)

The Dark Healer (Book 3) by Alex Toxic and Nadya Lee
Book 3 in The Dark Healer series
Narrated by Christopher P. Brown
Genre: urban progression fantasy
Format: ebook & audiobook

About The Dark Healer (Book 3):

The Richter clan was getting stronger and becoming a real nuisance to a lot of people.

All the spheres of influence have long been divided among aristocrats, gangsters, and corrupt officials. And now, they all wanted to destroy the upstart healers.

But the real evil dwelled in the past. Max was looking for those who had tried to kill him once before.

Source: Info in the "About The Dark Healer (Book 3)" was taken from amazon on 15/05/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Like the previous book, this one also picked up exactly where the last book ended.

A middle chunk of a bigger book. The plot was started in previous books and ended in big whooping cliffhanger! Not recommended to be read on it's own.

This is the book where Max had a new lead about the demise of his clan and he went up a couple of levels in his power. I guess that is what the cover art is trying to depict.

This is also where my questions about the title "Prince" got a little bit more answers. So, there were originally 7 Princes in Max's old world and Max was one of them. I wondered why he was a "Prince" and not a "king"... but I guess the 7 Princes rule as a council each with their own domain and there is no king...

This is also the book where Charlotte Becker was officially introduced to the Richter clan and Cereberus was introduced into the story. The world of Max Richter is getting more elaborate and interesting!

Christopher P. Brown did a good job of narrating this book.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4.5br /> Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Writing Style = 3.5
Ending = 2
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = (7 hours and 51 minutes listening time)
Plot = 1
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Dark Healer Series:

 

Meet The Authors

About Nadya Lee:

Ever since she was a little girl, Nadya Lee knew exactly what she wanted to be: either a President, a singer, or an author.

The first option just didn’t work out for some reason

The second option eventually became her hobby. Nadya still loves singing and does it at every opportunity, accompanying herself on a guitar.

Likewise, writing remained her hobby for quite a while. Nadya wrote poems, articles and even fanfics, keeping an occasional blog on various subjects including book reviews. Books and video games have always been an important part of her life.

Then one day she just woke up in the morning and decided she’d procrastinated enough. Time to put pen to paper.

So here she is, hoping that her audience might enjoy reading her books just as much as she enjoys writing them.

www.nadialee.net | x | facebook | pinterest | instagram | amazon | goodreads

About Alex Toxic:

Alex Toxic was born in 1978. He liked reading and playing video games from childhood. These two hobbies found ideal common ground when the LitRPG genre arrived.

Alex dreamed of becoming an author but the profession seemed just too complicated to him. So he began working first as a journalist, then as a TV anchor and then as a documentary filmmaker.

There came a point when Alex had run out of books he wanted to read. The authors simply couldn’t write new ones fast enough. The only way out was to write a book of his own. That’s how he launched into the passion that would with time become his primary profession.

Alex believes that the most important thing in a book is its main character. He or she has to be strong and unrelenting in the face of whatever challenge arises in their path, and they must always triumph.

amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Christopher P. Brown:

Christopher P. Brown is an audiobook narrator whose passion is using his scripted theater and improvisation training and experience to bring stories and characters to life. He holds graduate degrees (MA and PhD) in literature, linguistics, and leadership studies. Chris is also bilingual, with professional proficiency in both Spanish and English, and can tackle narration projects in either language, or both of them. Chris grew up in western Michigan, and has lived in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Washington DC area, and now resides in San Diego, California.

christopherbrownaudio.com | tiktok | facebook | linkedin | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The print book/ebook and/or audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.

THE ORDER OF ARCHITECTS (Book 3)

The Order Of Architects (Book 3) by Oleg Sapphire and Yuri Vinokuroff
Book 3 in The Order Of The Architects series
Narrated by Kevin T. Collins
Genre: urban fantasy / portal progression fantasy
Format: hardback, ebook & audiobook

About The Order Of Architects (Book 3):

It seems that my former power is gradually returning to me in my new body. I still have all my past experience, however, and everything is proceeding just as it should.

How quickly can I earn money and build my reputation? No, I'm not going to resort to killing and looting. I'm an Architect, after all! I'm going to craft and build things! That's how Architects work! The time has come to rebuild my empire. So… I might end up having to do some killing and looting, after all. I'm not short of enemies…

Source: Info in the "About The Order Of Architects (Book 3)" was taken from amazon on 02/05/2025.

Buy Link(s):

 

My Thoughts:

Another chunk of a bigger book with cliffhanger ending. Not recommended to be read on it's own.

Grimrock has arrived! I would love to know how this particular thread in the story would pan out...

In this installment we meet the Proudhearts and that is the little bit of plot that is "whole" in this this book. The rest of the "plot" was started in book 1 and presumably will be continued in subsequent books.

I also have an issue with the cover art. That chinese woman in Theo's store is more appropriate in book 2 than in this book because Lu Chen was in book 2 but there aren't any chinese characters nor lady(ies) in this book. So what is that cover art all about??!

Sometimes I still hear the distinct singsong of this narrator and it makes me wince.

Quantitative Evaluation:

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4
Story itself = 3
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 1
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 3
Pace = (9 hrs and 54 mins listening time)
Plot = 2.5
Narration = 4

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

Books In The Order Of The Architects Series:

 

Meet The Authors

About Oleg Sapphire:

Oleg Sapphire was born in April 1993 in the city best known as “Little Paris”. He’s always been a good-natured banterer constantly in the thick of his fun-loving friends. This didn’t prevent him from getting two degrees though, in law as well as in IT. He used his expertise in both areas to pen his LitRPG series. His hobbies are archery and reading, but the one pastime that really moves his soul is coin collecting, hunting for rare specimens with quite a bit of history behind them. Ever since childhood, he’s been an artist at heart. His other passion is painting, and he’s made his way through an inordinate amount of books.

Oleg has been surrounded by pets from an early age, so animals take a large place in both his heart and in his books, much to his readers’ joy. Writing is his life and his livelihood; he relates to every moment of his characters’ journeys, sympathizing with them in both his heart and his mind.

facebook | amazon | goodreads

About Yuri Vinokuroff:

Yuri Vinokuroff was born in 1976 in Sevastopol. An avid reader from an early age, he was especially fond of fantasy and science fiction. Already back then, he knew he wanted to write books rather than just read them.

But as it often happens, all of his time and energy were consumed by his successful career, his family and his French Bulldog breeding kennel. His professional activities involved designing and constructing power plants and facilities, which couldn’t be further removed from his teenage dream of writing fiction.

Still, Yuri didn’t give up. Eventually, he began writing for Facebook and even created a small challenge for himself, completing 100 posts in 100 days. It was there that he gained his first fans. During the 2020 lockdown, he used the opportunity to enter a major LitRPG competition. Although his novel didn’t win, it still went viral, soon followed by the rest of the series.

amazon | goodreads

The Narrator

About Kevin T. Collins:

Kevin T. Collins is an actor, singer, and recording artist with a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He has performed in numerous theater performances, including Angels, City of Angels, Paradise Lost, and on television in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, As the World Turns, and The Guiding Light.

www.kevintcollins.com | twitter | instagram | goodreads

FTC Disclosure:
The printed book/ebook and/or audiobook were purchased with private funds.
No money received for this review.