Erryn and Wendy review ‘The Golden One – Deceit’ by Hans Hirschi. The book was published by Beaten Track Publishing March 14, 2019, 198 pages. The audiobook was released April 4, 2019. The audio was narrated by Vance Bastian and is 6hrs and 41mins. A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Why I read this book –
Erryn: I listened to the first book and knew I had to grab this one.
Wendy: I loved the first book in this series and anxiously awaited this release. *note: I’ve previously read and reviewed this story in e-book form. See my review HERE.
The global Ohana is planning for the transition of power, and its head, Dawit Abraham, is anxious to meet the Golden One. Shortly after, Jason begins to experience strange dreams. All the while, he and his four friends are trying to figure out why Mother sent the Golden One to Amberville. Powerful enemies lurk in the shadows, ready to make Jason’s existence a living hell.
Don’t miss the continuation of the thrilling fantasy trilogy about seventeen-year-old Jason Mendez, aka the Golden One, as he navigates the shoals of deception of the people supposedly closest to him.
The Golden One is an exciting fantasy trilogy dealing with urgent topics affecting humanity today.
*A copy of this audiobook was provided in exchange for an honest review.
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Read Erryn’s review of Book 1 here.
Erryn’s review:
Vance Bastian’s narration deserves a call-out. The main protagonist in the story in a seventeen-year-old boy and Vance’s performance as Jason was perfect. Never once did I not believe I was listening to a young man. There were also quite a few teenagers, their animal selves, adult men and women as well as several older characters. Vance handled them all brilliantly. It was a seamless and beautiful performance.
Now to the actual book. As with the first Golden One book, I enjoyed it immensely. The creativity involved in writing a Young Adult fantasy novel is tremendous and I’m always impressed when a writer gets it right, as Mr. Hirschi did. This book is an example of when the global goes local. The world we live in and the world Jason inhabits are the same – and is on the same destructive path. Human are ravaging the earth, plundering her precious resources, polluting her, and general abusing her. And her animals? The number of animals who are likely to go extinct this century is staggering – all because of human greed and avarice. Humans are the dominant species so we believe we can act with impunity, ruling the animal kingdom, and destroying any animals who get in our way.
This book centers around Jason Mendez. He’s almost eighteen, a senior in high school, and the anointed leader of all Byeonsin in the world. The Byeonsin are humans who can transform into animals. In the first book, Jason was given the ability to become a butterfly. He’s not just any butterfly, though. He’s the golden butterfly. Golden Butterflies are extremely rare and only appear when humankind is on the precipice of making a grave mistake. In the past, these appearances have been around upcoming war or mass slaughter and although Jason might be on earth to make that kind of save, it appears he might also have more to do with Mother Earth than her residents.
As the leader of the Byeonsin, he is also the natural leader of the Ohana. The Ohana are the executives of the Byeonsin and have formed an international association as a way to cover their meetings – putting out in the open what had once been secret. The world at large still has no knowledge of the Byeonsin or the Ohana. Because of Jason, the leadership of the Ohana is leaving a major African city and is moving to his small midwestern town of Amberville. He assumes he will have some form of involvement but there are forces conspiring against him. Suddenly his reason for being isn’t so clear.
With the help of his friends Laurel, Dinesh, Hannah, and Peter, Jason must discover his true purpose to save Mother Earth before it’s too late. This book ends of a massive cliffhanger but I loved that because I know there’s a final book coming shortly. Fingers crossed it will be out on audio soon as well. Again, as much as I enjoyed the first book, I enjoyed this one as well and can recommend it.
Erryn’s rating:
10/10 Pots of Gold or 100% recommended
Wendy’s review:
Having read and loved this book I was cautious about listening to the audio version. Kind of like one might be about reading the book and then seeing the movie. OMG! This would totally make a fantabulous movie!!! *sends hints to the universe to make this happen* I loved the book and listening to it completely brought it to life for me. I was able to connect to the characters at a deeper level given that I didn’t have to do my own inflection and emoting. The amazing Vance Bastian did all that for me beautifully. I always feel a little trepidation that the narrator won’t do the characters justice or that they will have a completely different take on the characters than I do but Vance’s narration was perfection!
As I said in my review of the ebook, I had questions when starting TGO: Deceit and many of those questions were answered but the story raised new questions as well. The many layers of this story along with the way these kids work together to the mystery and adventure had me on the edge of my seat! I love the ebb and flow of drama and the way this book leads up to what I’m sure will be an epic climax in the final book is absolutely flawless!!!
As always, Hans plants a seed with his tales. Whether it’s a seed of doubt or hope, I’ll leave to you to read and find out.
Wendy’s rating:
10/10 Pots of Gold or 100% recommended
Hans M Hirschi has been writing stories ever since he was a child. Adulthood and the demands of corporate life put an end to his fictional writing for over twenty years. A global executive in training and channel development, Hans has traveled the world extensively and published a couple of non-fictional titles on learning and management.
The birth of his son and the subsequent parental leave provided him with the opportunity to once again unleash his creative writing, writing feel-good stories you’ll remember.
Having little influence over his brain’s creative workings, he simply indulges it and goes with the flow. However, the deep passion for a better world, for love and tolerance are a red thread throughout both his creative and non-fictional work.
Hans lives with his husband, son, and pets on a small island off the west coast of Sweden.
Contact Hans through his website at http://www.hirschi.se
Rainbow Gold Reviews 
Interesting. I’m not sure I would have given this a second look as the blurb was kind of puzzling to me, but your reviews make me think that perhaps I will contemplate it. Thanks for sharing.
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