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The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller is the first book in The Discoveries of Julia Xero series. This is a fast-paced thriller with a strong female character taking charge. Julia is an orphan who is thrown into controversies and with duplicitous characters. Everything she thought she knew is thrown out the window. Will she figure out what is going on before it’s too late?
I enjoyed the world-building and Julia’s character. A lot is going on, but it is well-written and doesn’t detract only adds to the story. There are twists and turns, lots of action, and suspense to keep you reading late into the night. I look forward to reading more in this series to see what adventures Julia Xero is taken on in the future.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book and didn’t want to put it down! It has great characters, a unique premise, and an interesting twist. Julia was relatable and her reactions to what was happening made sense. I adore Karamel and Stan, and even the main antagonist of this story was written in such a way that you have empathy for him in the end. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!
*Note – while the main conflict of this story is complete, there is still a significant overarching story that is definitely not complete and I suspect will continue for multiple books.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
I am excited to recommend this new series by a new (to me) author! This was such a fun read and has pretty much everything to hook the reader and leave them wanting more. Julia Xero is an original and interesting lead character that intrigued me from the start. The details of Julia’s normal life are spot-on and just get more spicy when they take a turn for the unusual. This is definitely one of those books you will pick up and won’t put down until it’s done. I cannot wait for the next installment!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Julia has always been a loner, as an orphan and bounced around and always looked over her only friend was her case manager that dies suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Julia is very much alone, scraping a meager existence at a dead end job.
Until something new opens… a job with Crime scene clean up on night shift. The benefits are amazing and pay even better so she can’t resist applying. She is shocked when she’s called for interview, and even further when she’s offered.
She’s about to find out this job is so much more than that and there’s another whole existence of other beings out there. Her attention to detail might just save the life of humans as a creepy assasin is on the loose, but can she move past and accept the betrayal she feels from her implant and “slavery to another race” and the natural instinct to hide and not be shining in the spotlight of something she’s absolutely a natural for? Only time will tell.
The characters are well built. You want to reach in and slap Julia for her negative Nancy woe is me attitude but she’s earned it with how life has treated her. I am definitely interested in more that this author has to offer as this book hooked me and I couldn’t put it down once Julia found out what she was actually doing.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book had it all from action, suspense, mystery, magic, aliens, twists and turns, fast paced, occult, urban fantasy, thrill, and mayhem all rolled into one book. The story line flows really well, and you can follow ago easily. It was so hard to put this book down, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The characters are amazingly well written in and match the story line very well. Everything was well developed into this book that it really set this for the next one. Julia who’s an orphan and just trying to find herself and where she belongs in the world, but the twist that happens to her was shocking and made me want to know how she was going to work thou this issue. The problem solving that Julia has to deal with made it really hard not to cheer for her. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the next one.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book caught me off guard in a good way. When I first opened it up I figured it would be like every other supernatural book but it is so much more. It has action, suspense, friendship, and a dose of reality. It draws you in and then you are done so fast and wanting more. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series to see what happens to Julia.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a different story. I went into this blind and was pleasantly surprised. The story moves along at a quick pace and is darn interesting. The job she takes..Whoa! That pulled me right in! Then all these characters start coming out of the woodwork. About that time the story took a turn I was NOT expecting! Then a lot of thing changed and I was pleased at the turn in the story. The building the MC works in is so cool!
My only issue was the story slowed down for me in a couple of spots. It seemed to dig too deeply into the why’s and there was a lot of jargon I did not understand. I just ended up skimming these areas.
Overall it is a good surprising story. I enjoy the plot and all the characters. It kept me turning pages and wondering what was going to happen. I look forward to more in this series.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was absolutely thrilled with this fun thriller! I loved Julia as our introvert heroine who is just trying to keep moving forward in life and is so excited to land a job as part of a bio-hazards cleaning crew. I found her to be extremely relatable, she wasn’t brave or butt kicking right off the bat, she had anxiety and fears and even anger about how things were handled in her new job. It was amazing to see her growth throughout the story and I loved the supporting characters. Doyle definitely cracked me up and I loved how caring and protective Karamel, Dawn, Stan, and Detective Ruiz were of Julia. This was definitely a book I couldn’t put down, as the mysteries kept coming, I just couldn’t figure out how things would end. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book I’ve read by this author, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The story takes a few chapters to get to the action, but once it does, it really takes off. I enjoyed the interesting spin on how paranormals exist. And I liked the way Julia discovered what she’d unknowingly gotten involved in.
Overall, a great read!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Julia Xero has a hard time in her job working in the restaurant business and desperately needs a change, so when she is called in for an interview and trial for a cleaning company she applied to, Julia jumps at the opportunity. After the gruesome trial and interview, Julia is hired and that’s when things get interesting. Her world is turned upside down and she learns that her job is not what it had seemed. I love how much fun ad suspenseful this book was! Urban fantasy is one of my favorite genres and I deeply enjoyed how this story played out! I can already tell this is going to be an interesting new series!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Julia gets what seems like the idea job to get her away from the barely making ends meet and sleezy boss and crappy coworkers. Only to find out it might have been little too good to be true. While working with a detective to find a serial killer the killer hints at connections they have making you wonder if there is more to her than simple human as well. This story ends with you wondering how she will escape the darker sides of the Secret Humankind, who can be trusted and who can’t and will the next books give us any of these answers or only leave us with more questions?
I really enjoyed this story. The characters we meet in this story are very fascinating as well as the building of the world in which they live. Though we don’t learn a whole lot in the this first book about the Secret Human kind what we do learn about them and Julia has me interested to read the following books.
Review by @valerieanderson5121
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller (The Discoveries of Julia Xero )
By: Gloria Oliver
Review by :Susan Ratchford
4 Stars
Such a great introduction to a new series! I can’t wait to read the next book asap! She really hit the nail on the head with the life of a server in a restaurant, every customer and manager felt like someone I had at one time or another. I really enjoyed how Julia was training to be a crime scene cleaner because I also studied to be in forensics. It almost felt like Ms. Oliver knew me, this book was just so relatable! I also loved that she called Julia’s talent her “spidey sense”! This book felt so personal to me I am looking forward to the rest of this series! The Secret Humankind also has such jaw dropping moments that leave you stunned! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery, action, adventure, and the paranormal! You will be in for a treat!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed reading “The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller” by Gloria Oliver. The details of the settings are so realistic that it draws you in right from the beginning of the story. The characters are so well developed that you are drawn to them immediately upon being introduced to them, you can’t wait to piece together the mystery of each of them. What has Julia Xero gotten herself into, is her dream job all she thought she wanted, or has she gotten herself in over her head? There are so many twists to this story, be prepared to expect the unexpected! If you love to read fantasy books or thrillers then this book is the perfect fit for you, it gives you the best of both worlds, I was so excited to finally have an amazing story that gave me two of my favorite genres in one story! This book is the first in a masterpiece that I could not put down, it left me excited for more.
@Brandy Rymer
07/2023
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book I read by Gloria Oliver, and it was quite enjoyable! I love a fantasy novel that is rooted in reality- Julia’s character leads a life and has had experiences that reflect modern day society, and the fantasy aspect becomes interwoven throughout the story, naturally. The character dialogue and interactions develop with the ups and downs one usually encounters when meeting new people and starting a new job, which adds to the relatability of the story as well. Groundwork was nicely laid for the continuation of the series, and I am eager to read the next installment of The Secret Humankind!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Julia Xero is a young woman wanting more from life, she is in a dead end job which pays badly and has the worst boss and coworkers she can imagine, so when a job becomes available with a company which cleans up crime scenes, she immediately applies. While she keeps her fingers crossed that she will get the job, she is still shocked when she does, especially when she sees the building she will be based in and how glamorous it looks, it doesn’t quite fit with the job description.
When she goes through the training, nothing seems to be too amis, apart from seeming too good to be true, she just wants to fade into the background in her usual way, but the people around her are not even close to how introverted she is. When she is out on a job with her partner in cleaning, it looks like it will be a normal shift, that is until a message comes through and the tension in the van goes through the roof.
It is the one thing she had not been trained for and so Julia is thrown into a baptism of fire before she has been deemed as ready when they are called to a decapitated body on a rooftop. While she is waiting for the all clear to come up, something lands beside the van and all Julia can see is a mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth glowing in the street outside her window and it doesn’t look human in any way!
This is where Julia us introduced to the Secret Humankind and the true nature of their job, to clean up after their attacks. This is then followed with the information that when she thought she had fallen asleep in the training videos, it turns out that she had been implanted with a small explosive devise which could kill her if she reveals what she now knows.
This throws Julia for a complete loop and she cannot process what she has just learnt, it is everything she didn’t want to be again, under someone else’s control and without her free will, but will Julia be able to reconcile with this new reality, or will the need to escape override the joy of finally having a job she had always wanted? This is a fantasy adventure which is full of secrets, revelations and supernatural beings galore as one young woman navigates through a web of intrigue to discover the information she needs to survive in this story which will leave you thrilled and wanting more.
Reviewed by @roxsannel
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a magnificent start to the series! I absolutely love our main character, Julia, as she is a strong, no-nonsense female lead. She has endured many hardships in her life, but she never lets that stop her. I was pulled in from the very first chapter and couldn’t read fast enough to see what would happen next! I feel like the characters meshed perfectly and the flow of the story read so naturally. I can’t wait to continue this series as this author has already proved that they know exactly what their audiences wants. I highly recommend picking this up and giving it a chance, especially if you like sci-fi/supernatural thrillers!
Reviewed by @shannlynn
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4.5 stars
This is a book that is really hard to put down! It’s a different kind of book for me in some ways, in others it’s not. I got a bit of an X-Files vibe from this book and I really enjoyed it!
Julia Xero is an orphan who’s faced more adversities in life than she should have. She has a roommate who is a model and whom I believe uses Julia. When an opportunity for a new job comes to light, Julia is ready for a change. She’s interviewing for a cleaning job but not your typical cleaning job. It’s a crime scene clean up gig. Not many people could endure such a job and her interview was pretty grueling to make sure she could make the cut.
Things start out as great as they could for someone cleaning up crime scenes, but then one night, a very strange call comes in. Life will never be the same after that! Not to mention, Julia learns that she’s been implanted with a sensor that could cause her carotid artery to explode. No worries, right?!?!
There are many interesting characters and lots of action in this book. I feel like it’s maybe geared more towards young adults but as a more mature adult, I enjoyed this too! I’m looking forward to the next book!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
OMG! This book is so good! This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Gloria Oliver goes above and beyond with her character developments and chilling mystery. This is a very intense book with twists and turns. As an orphan, she’s used to not getting things to go the way she wants, but she, somehow, finally manages to get her dream job… cleaning up after homicides, suicides, and dangerous chemicals; only to find out the job is just a little too good to be true. Her employers put a, quite literal, bomb in her neck to make sure she’d keep quiet about the secrets she was soon to uncover. When a dangerous assassin gets let off the leash, she feels it’s her duty to catch the killer. Such an exceptional book that I could not bear to put down! Anxiously awaiting the next one…
@jowright
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Brilliant!
I had been looking for a ‘sink my teeth into’ series for awhile and then I came across this book. Filled with all the best aspects of an urban fantasy this book takes the reader on a journey into the world of Julia Xero. She’s had a lot thrown her way and has become pretty jaded. I love the author’s style and imagery as the story is delivered in a way that immerses the reader in narrative. I can’t wait to continue this series. Highly recommend!
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
4.5 Stars
The Secret Humankind is the first book in The Discoveries of Julia Xero series by Gloria Oliver. This is the first book that I have read by Ms. Oliver, so I really didn’t know what to expect from one of her stories- but I love action-packed urban fantasies, and the blurb promised a gripping read- so I let my one-click finger loose and snapped up a copy and immediately set off to join the adventure.
I have to say that this turned out to be a surprising little gem! While I knew by the blurb that I would probably like the story, I certainly didn’t expect to love it as much as I did/do! I am now kicking myself that I hadn’t discovered this talented author before now- but am also a little excited to now have a new author to follow and enjoy. I feel a massive book-binge coming on.
This was such a fantastic urban fantasy with mystery, action, adventure, suspense, thrills, crime and investigation, assassins, paranormal beings/creatures/monsters, complexity, layers, secrets, quirky characters, superb world building, rich details + descriptions, dramatic developments, and so much more.
Julia is a glass-half-empty kind of girl. Her life hasn’t been easy, and she could do with life giving her a bit of a break. When she scores her ‘dream’ job, she has no idea that her whole world is about to be turned upside down. What she discovers sets her on an action-packed adventure that she could never have predicted. What ensues makes for a sublime read.
I really can’t wait to devour more instalments in this exciting series- as well as to explore Ms. Oliver’s other works. Colour me happy right now.
Highly recommended!
Happy Reading…
Thank you, Gloria Oliver!
Reviewed by @angelahayes
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Secret Humankind is an engaging urban fantasy mystery. It is the first book in this new series from Gloria Oliver. Gloria is a new author to me, and I enjoyed her work. Her world-building is well done, and she has cleverly woven together complex threads in a multi layered story.
The intriguing plot is fast-paced and full of suspense, tension, frustration, fear, desperation,
This darkish occult thriller is a page-turner and is action packed with mayhem, aliens, supernatural beings, humans, secrets, mystery and magic.
Gloria’s narrative and a few twists and turns makes it easy to become intrigued with the characters and their journey.
Have a murder on your hands? Have a crime scene? Need the mess to go away? Need a crime-scene cleaner? Then Julia is your girl.
I wonder where the series goes. I look forward to reading more.
Reviewed by @jennadb
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Fantastic! What a wonderful start to a series. I can’t wait for more; I didn’t want to put it down. Julia was easy to relate to in a lot of ways for me, all the characters were well written. There are good twists and turns with plenty of action. Mystery, murder and magic. What else do you need? I definitely recommend this book.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is the first book in an new fantasy series. It is fast paced and a brilliant story. I was pulled into it right from the start and really connected with the main character. The book was action packed and really exciting to read. As the first book in a new series it really kick starts things with a bang.
This is a new author to me and I hope that her work continues just like this book. I could have read this book for so much longer and I cannot wait to see what the next installment brings.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Secret Humankind is Book One in The Discoveries of Julia Xero. It is a fast-paced, occult, urban fantasy thriller that centers around the character of Julia who is an orphan trying to find solace in her chaotic and stressful life. Her work environment is toxic at the best of times but suddenly she finds herself facing aliens who try to force her into silence by implanting her with a bomb. Julia now finds herself struggling to survive as she battles against the forces intent on destroying her. Along her journey Julia makes discoveries about herself that come as a bit of a surprise. This was a great read with a blending of the real world and the supernatural world melding together. Julia was an interesting character that one can easily relate to. Wanting a less stressful life and trying to make the best of things made her very relatable and easy to root for. This book had action, suspense, mystery, magic, mayhem, aliens, otherworldly creatures, and a few twists and turns that will captivate you until the end.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book in the Discoveries of Julia Xero series which was a great start to a potentially amazing series. I thought the premise of this book was interesting and that’s what initially drew me in. The world-building was great and the character’s job, was very interesting to see incorporated into the book. I enjoyed the characters, even the ones I couldn’t stand (because of their personalities/actions, not because they were written poorly because they weren’t), they fit the story well.
I look forward to reading book 2 and finding out what happens next.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the first book in the The Discoveries of Julia Xero series. This was a really interesting read. I loved the twists and turns and the mixture of mystery and magic. The author does a great job of writing a story that is unique and that twists and turns so you never know what is coming and what to expect. I couldn’t put it down.
I loved Julia’s character. She has had a hard life being brought up in the care system until she was deemed old enough to be on her own, and after losing the friend she considered her own family she is fighting to carry on. Now she is a dead end job that she hates and wants a change so she applies for a job cleaning up crime scenes.
Julia is surprised when she gets offered the job but she soon becomes aware that isn’t not just a straight forward job. As secrets start to be revealed and non human creatures start to emerge Julia starts to have her eyes open to alien beings when her employers show their true colours and have a unique way of insuring Julia’s silence and co-operation.
All through the story you can feel Julia’s struggle as she tries desperately to survive in a role that becomes more dangerous than she originally thought. What happens when her ideal job turns into a job that could take her life?
Can she survive the assassin that is on the lose?
With Mysteries to uncover, secrets to be revealed and dangers that come from a unknown source this is one book that is sure to grip you. I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for the next book in the series.
The Secret Humankind: An Urban Fantasy Thriller by Gloria Oliver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I found this book to be entertaining. Ending up at a crime cleaning service which isn’t quite what it says it is. Learning that not everything is as it is is kind of the lesson of the book. For the first in the series, I find the author set up the book in a perfect way. I was drawn in by the characters right from the start. I am a fan of urban fantasy. This is one of my favorite genres becasue it can go in a few different ways. The story is quite fascinating. I can’twait for the next book to come out.
•*•
•*••°• BOOK SPOTLIGHT SHOWCASE •°••*••*••°•
She keeps her head down and cleans up messes. When the body count starts rising, will trying to make a living get her rubbed out?
Julia Xero is stuck in survival mode. After losing the only person she loved, the introverted orphan longs to escape her toxic employment for the zen of crime and trauma scene decontamination. But when she lands her dream job and is called to a bloody rooftop with a decapitated corpse, she’s horrified to come face to face with an otherworldly shark-toothed assassin.
Furious to learn she’s been enlisted by a clandestine race of beings against her will, Julia’s dismay fountains when she finds out they implanted her with a neck bomb to ensure her lips stay tightly sealed. Fit to be tied, and her thunderous confrontation with her boss hitting a deadend, the stubborn young woman begins plotting ways to leave the energy-powered entities in her dust.
Can she outwit an ancient civilization before her carotid goes boom?
The Secret Humankind is the gritty first book in The Discoveries of Julia Xero urban fantasy thriller series. If you like fish-out-of-water heroines, complex worlds, and dark truths, then you’ll love Gloria Oliver’s multi-faceted mystery.
Buy The Secret Humankind to match wits with monsters today!
Click here to view the Book Trailer for The Secret Humankind (The Discoveries of Julia Xero Book 1) by Gloria Oliver
Gloria Oliver lives in Texas, staying away from rolling tumbleweeds while bowing to the never-ending wishes of her feline and canine masters.
Her previous works have been fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult fantasy, and recently historical cozy mystery novels. Several contain romantic and mystery elements. Her short speculative fiction stories can be found in many anthologies, covering things from the fantastic and strange to a Bubba Apocalypse.
The Discoveries of Julia Xero will be her second series. Her first is the Daiyu Wu Mysteries.
Gloria is a member in good standing of BroadUniverse though she has yet to make the list for Cat Slaves R Us. In her spare time (what’s that?), she watches TV shows, movies, anime, plays PC games, and reads books.
For some free reads, sample chapters, appearance schedule, and more information on her and her works, please drop by and visit her at www.gloriaoliver.com or subscribe at www.gloriaoliver.com/subscribe to get news, deals, releases, and a free gift for joining!
Author Interview with Gloria Oliver
•*••*••°• PREORDER •°••*••*••°•She keeps her head down and cleans up messes. When the body count starts rising, will trying to make a living get her rubbed out?
Julia Xero is stuck in survival mode. After losing the only person she loved, the introverted orphan longs to escape her toxic employment for the zen of crime and trauma scene decontamination. But when she lands her dream job and is called to a bloody rooftop with a decapitated corpse, she’s horrified to come face to face with an otherworldly shark-toothed assassin.
Furious to learn she’s been enlisted by a clandestine race of beings against her will, Julia’s dismay fountains when she finds out they implanted her with a neck bomb to ensure her lips stay tightly sealed. Fit to be tied, and her thunderous confrontation with her boss hitting a deadend, the stubborn young woman begins plotting ways to leave the energy-powered entities in her dust.
Can she outwit an ancient civilization before her carotid goes boom?
The Secret Humankind is the gritty first book in The Discoveries of Julia Xero urban fantasy thriller series. If you like fish-out-of-water heroines, complex worlds, and dark truths, then you’ll love Gloria Oliver’s multi-faceted mystery.
Buy The Secret Humankind to match wits with monsters today!
