Swing Shift: Book 2

Loved Book 2 of William D. Adams's SWING SHIFT series. Good plot, loveable characters who kick butt and take names for the Paranormal Corps. A bona fide harem novel in which sexual encounters are infrequent, exciting, elegantly conveyed and necessary for plot movement. This ain't erotica, it's high class harem adventure romance with a paranormal sleuthing twist. Great fun. Could not put down. (For real... Just finished the book at 1 AM.) HIGHLY RECOMMEND.Starting Swing Shift 3 right now.

There is simply no way to explain how good this book is for long-time Arand/Darren fans without a few minor spoilers.First, if Swing Shift 1 and 2 was your first foray in this author's writing, it's a fun story. Our main character Gus is an OP monster who happens to be a nice guy. He also has an OP girlfriend -- sorry, now officially wife. I mean two wives. Sorry, I meant 3. Oh let's not kid ourselves, we all know it's going to end up being exactly 6 wives, one for each color in the first wife's "Contractor" colors, not counting Gus's color. That sentence will make PERFECT sense if you read the story, but otherwise it reads like word salad. Hehehe.Second, if you're an ongoing fan of the author's other books / arcs, then this story is SO.MUCH.BETTER. Because this book is bringing together ALL the threads. We have guest appearances and/or threads from Otherworld, SSoS, WW, FF, IncInc. I feel like there was probably something from DD, but I admit I must have missed it... so I'll have to read it again. I don't think anything connected to Remnant, but maybe that's because Remnant hasn't connected in any obvious way to the Runner-verse (yet).If you haven't read any of those other books, then those threads won't hurt the reading at all. So far, these are just cameos and one-offs in this book, and don't appear to be important. UNLESS you're in the know, and then it's just crazy awesome. Can't wait for the third book in this arc!Cool main members:Gus, our OP monster... I mean nice guy just trying to get along and do his job. Melody, our OP Contractor... who happens to be the daughter of this world's most powerful person. She's also lovably nuts. Vanessa, a perfectly ordinary human. (You believe that, right?) Trish, our shy cleaning lady... who is a universe-jumping Dryad/Nymph Elvin Sorceress. Chloe, the murderous vampire with no fangs. Indali, the Construct who is a gun. And a woman. Seraphina, the spirit who is also a... computer program? Lives in the network? And... a woman. Honorable mention for Hailey, the young girl mechanic who can fix anything. Also happens to be a giant were-bear, with a crush on our MC, Gus.So. Many. Opportunities for laughter, and the author makes good use of those opportunities.Yeah, there's a serious dramatic storyline going on, too, I guess I should mention that because reasons. (No, seriously, there is some important stuff going on here, and it's a good mystery that isn't resolved yet. We have lots of clues, but it's still not quite obvious who the main bad guy/guys/gal/gals are yet.)Like the previous half-dozen books from this author, I pre-ordered this book as soon as I could, and read the book the day it was delivered. And I was not disappointed.(2019-10-17 : edited two typos.)

Enjoyable, some nice action scenes. Those who follow the extended universe the book is set in will like the tie ins presented. For me, the increased tie ins made the book more complicated, referencing outside plots I've forgotten and couldn't really follow. There were a lot of characters who weren't given much depth. The sneaky secretive way the books were revealed to be tied together mostly left me feeling I was missing a ton of plot and confused, despite having read every single book author has written, some twice. Good writing and fun, would recommend, but would rather have standalone series now.

This author must have made a deal with a supernatural entity of some kind, because his writing is so dang good. He is clearly head & shoulders above his contemporaries in the genre. The tie ins to his other series, particularly Vince, Felix & Alex really what my appetite and curiosity about the next book in this series. One particular favorite is that these are FULL LENGTH books, Not some abbreviated three hour tour through something another author wrote in less than a week. This author is incredibly gifted, talented and has without doubt, a genius class imagination. DO NOT MISS the Swing Shift books, or you will deeply regret it. A once in a generation type writer at the apex of his skills - simply superlative.

Gus Hellström and his harem of partner-wives continue their investigation of the various plots tormented by the shadowy organization they call "The Council." Gus and company know that they are way behind in responding to "The Council's" plots; though they have shattered several of them and limited the damage done to the veil of secrecy which protects the world's Paranormal populace from the vast sea of humanity surrounding them -- Gus knows they need to stop chasing "The Council's" agents and plots, stop playing defense. They need to get ahead of "The Council" and go on the offensive. Maybe joining the Fed is the way to do that. So Gus and company are going to become Fed Agents and race ahead!This is the second book of Arand's Paranormal World trilogy, which is part of the VR Multiverse begun in _Other Worlds_. All of Arand's trilogies in the "Other Worlds" Multiverse are LitRPG novels and as such will likely appeal to fans of that genre, the Fantasy genre, and possibly fans of Dungeon Core genre novels as well. Those who enjoy playing RPGs may also enjoy this novel and Arand's other novels as well.

Okay, I. Am. Intrigued. As. Heck. You just didn't see any of that coming, and when it did...Whoa! And now I'm going to have to read all his other stuff. *shakes my head* Clever very clever I want to know soooo much more now. I'm followin' you William D. Arand cause this is brilliant. Also I'm crazy about Gus and all the Ladies. I hate when they pulled a scooby-doo and split up. I kid you not, I'm a nervous wreck until they are all back together.Oh, and that scene with Mark...I was physically devastated I was sure he had been beguiled, course he was but not like that. I'm glad he came clean with his wife. If only for safety's sake.I sincerely hope there is more to come.~BLiP~

As I work through these series I'm a bit confused & having to back track into my past readings of series to remember the characters that are now overlapping into each of the new series I start. It's good fun though!😁

As always Willian D. Arand books are really great even books that the description is a bit plain like this series. The only problem that I have with his books is that sometimes characters from other book series appear in other stories and sometimes it takes a while to remember who they were and from what book (because theses books are released months or even years apart).

Good trama and writing, it was fun reading for lazy time.Need a bit more of work for character definition.

This is a good continuation from where the first volume left off. The existing characters are settling into the dynamic between each other and the addition of new blood to the team just adds to the overall enjoyment.The character interaction is the solid part, the various members of the team are relatable and likeable, even if they're quirky, different or plain nuts.The plot thickens, very dramatically and it becomes as clear as mud as it progresses (in a good way). New factions are spun out and the whole paranormal world business gets a bit more flesh on its bones. The business with the Elves - though a sideline in the story was hilarious, the underlying sexual chemistry between the group was fun, though remarkably understated. I was expecting a little more 'action' but it was handled in a very low-key manner.Hopefully the next volume will be along soon and Gus can get down with the Vampire, Elf and Webley !

This book, like all other books was very well written. It's well worth your money and has all the stuff a good book needs. I personally thought it was weaker than his other books because I don't like the investigator urban fantasy setting this book takes place in. It's all on a lot smaller scale than his other books. No making of cities or companies, no fighting wars etc. It was still very enjoyable and worth reading. Especially if you like urban fantasy.