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The Soul Summoner #6.5

The Mercenary: A Warren Parish Story

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Sergeant Warren Parish is a dangerous man—in more ways than his military training would explain. Nowhere in the world is this more clear than war-torn Iraq, where his “special skill set” is crucial on more than one deadly occasion. When a new enemy rises from of the ashes of southern Baghdad, Warren’s unit must rely on the help of an unlikely private military contractors from Claymore Worldwide Security. With them is a woman. Skilled. Sexy. And absolutely lethal. It doesn’t take long for Warren to realize her set of superpowers might even rival his own. But discovering her truth will have to wait. First, they must make it back from their mission alive. ***Sergeant Warren Parish is one of the leading men in The Soul Summoner Series. Chronologically, this novella happens before the series begins, but it is a standalone and can be read in any order.*** 

THE SOUL SUMMONER SERIES 


 Book 1 – The Soul Summoner 
 Book 2 – The Siren  
Book 3 – The Angel of Death
 Book 4 – The Taken 
Book 5 - The Sacrifice
 Book 6 - The Regular Guy THE SOUL SUMMONER COMPANION The A Nathan McNamara Story The A Warren Parish Story

92 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 20, 2018

112 people are currently reading
166 people want to read

About the author

Elicia Hyder

30 books1,120 followers
Elicia Hyder is a bestselling author of paranormal suspense and contemporary romance. You can get a FREE eBOOK by clicking this link: Get The Detective for FREE.

When I'm not writing, I can be found sipping craft beer in my blow-up swimming pool or beating my children at Harry Potter ⚡ trivia. I am married to a superhero and have two dogs with severe separation anxiety. I suck at CAPTCHA puzzles and firmly believe that heaven will have heavy metal music. ✌

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5 stars
163 (56%)
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78 (26%)
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42 (14%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Lucie V..
1,330 reviews3,742 followers
April 3, 2025
❗️❗️This is officially book 6.5, but it can be read after the 5th book too. I would not recommend reading it before that though, as there are some mild spoilers about Warren's past and relationships.

This short story is in Warren's POV and it shows us when and how he first emt Fury during his time in the military.

I am not the biggest fan of Fury, but it was nice to see how it all started between Warren and her. That being said, I think I would have enjoyed this novella more if it had focused on Fury trying to recruit Warren, instead of Warren being in the military, meeting Fury, and lusting over her. It was not a bad novella, but it did not feel that relevant to the series.



0.5 The Detective ⭐⭐⭐
1. The Soul Summoner ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. The Siren ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. The Angel of Death ⭐⭐⭐.5
4. The Taken ⭐⭐⭐.5
5. The Sacrifice ⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. The Regular Guy ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Follow me on Instagram 🙂
Profile Image for Madison Warner Fairbanks.
3,570 reviews505 followers
January 20, 2019
The Mercenary by Elicia Hyder

A novella from the Summoner series. This is the introduction of Warren Parrish from before the series while he is in the military. The novella details a skirmish in a war zone with tanks, guns, shooting, and killing. Warren also gets introduced to Fury.
Paranormal elements.

I enjoyed getting to know a little of Warren’s backstory.
492 reviews8 followers
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June 10, 2020
Ms Hyder can write one hell of a battle scene. I also read this after the 1st three books, and when the owner of Claymore shows up, i was yelling at my book again. I can't help myself, even though I know yelling at the book won't change the story. This story really helps with humanizing Warren. Before I liked him but mostly because I prefer dark hair over light. He was too broody a character for me to really connect with. Now I know where it comes from. It says book 6.5 but it definitely needs to be read sooner.
Profile Image for Deborah.
Author 12 books116 followers
January 20, 2019
Sergeant Warren Parish is a dangerous man, and not just because he’s a soldier with super sharp instincts and great aim. He has other – abilities. Abilities even he can’t explain.
How is it he can tell, just by looking at someone, whether they are good or evil? How many kills they have under their belts? How many dead bodies are around an area, even when they’re out of immediate eye line?
And thank goodness he’s worked out that his presence near injured men only makes them worse.
Warren can’t explain what he does, but he’s hellbent on using his talents on their latest mission in Iraq, to help his unit recover one of their own after the enemy seize him during a raid. But life gets more complicated when civilian security contractors, Claymore, get involved. It isn’t just that the military don’t like working with civilians, but this crew includes a woman: Fury - a hot, capable and very deadly woman.
I love the series this book supports. Warren is one of the main characters in The Soul Summoner series, and this spin off fills in some of his background – most notably, how he first encounters Fury. The military jargon sounds spot on, and yet easy to follow for someone who had only come across it in American films and TV series.
We see how efficient Warren is at his job, how strong his bond is with his brothers in arms, and how confused, yet accepting, he is about his freaky abilities. His reactions, as a male in a warzone, to Fury’s appearance in a place no woman should be, rang true: angry that she’s there in the first place, distracting men with her feminine figure and smell, mixed with the lust of a sex-starved male for the ultimate hot female fighting machine.
This is a short novella length story that stands well on its own but is ultimately a companion piece to the main series. Like the rest, well written, with great characterisation and dialogue, and just that hint of the paranormal, like the earliest in the series.
If you’ve read the Soul Summoner books, you should read this one too. If you haven’t, and you like paranormal stories about angels and demons, then I strongly suggest you try them out.
May 15, 2021
༄ ❥ » ❥ » ❥ ༄

Am I the only person who is 𝘴𝘰 loyal to the main character, that I end up disliking others?

Fury grows on me, but for some reason even though this story was prior to Warren and Sloan meeting.. I just cannot get over the fact that we are supposed to get on board the Allison Fury train now.

Switching from Sloan‘s perspective also kind of caught me off guard. But now that I have read the entire series, I do like that she changed it up. There are just some things that we need to know from Warren‘s perspective… It took me a while to let go of Sloan because it felt like she had become a good friend. As most well written characters do!

༄ ❥ » ❥ » ❥ ༄
Profile Image for Stephanie Villere.
1,428 reviews7 followers
December 30, 2018
This is The Mercenary: A Warren Parish story written by Elicia Hyder. It’s book 2 of The Soul Summoner Companion Series. We get to meet a younger Warren and observe his first interaction with the Claymore group. I was so frustrated with him because he kept making eyes at that woman, who is not his soulmate! If I explained myself, I would be dropping spoilers... so here goes—- It was fascinating to watch as he tried to figure out who he is and why he has certain powers. It was a bit foretelling as some of the foreign people called him by a different name. You won’t want to miss ANY of this series! It is exciting and will hold you on the edge of your seat. And you will NEVER guess what’s going to happen!! No, you just won’t!
Profile Image for Kathryn.
1,047 reviews14 followers
February 5, 2019
This is a prequel to the Soul summoner series. I do not recommend reading it before the rest of the series first. In it we find out how Warren Parish meets Fury. He's stationed in Iraq looking for the IJS, or as we know it, ISIS. This felt like a cliffhanger. I'm not sure if the author is going to follow through on the ending with another "prequel". It sure was exciting to read though. It's 107 pages. I wish it was full length.
I highly recommend this entire series starting with The Soul Summoner.
Profile Image for Michele Evans.
1,213 reviews9 followers
December 28, 2018
Love the Soul Summoner series! This book was great and set in the past, while Warren Parrish was still enlisted with the US military, during one of his missions when he first came into contact with some of Claymore’s members, including Fury. I don’t think I can ever be happy with Warren and anyone else, especially Fury, but the book itself was wonderful and fed my craving for more Soul Summoner series!! Thank you!
17 reviews10 followers
December 29, 2018
Great companion story to The Soul Summoner series. I really enjoyed Warren's POV. But I really wished it could have been longer. But the better authors leave you hungry for more...and I am hungry for Book 7! One more note, you can read this at the beginning of the series, in the middle, or at the end. You can't say that about many books!
Profile Image for Linda.
189 reviews13 followers
August 26, 2019
I suppose this isn't "great literature," but, honestly, I love the characters in Elicia Hyder's Soul Summoner series so much that I feel great joy reading their further adventures. So, from a reader's pleasure standpoint, The Mercenary: A Warren Parish Story, is a 5 star for me. And don't get me wrong when I say it's not "great literature." It may not be lofty, but the author is an excellent writer who knows how to create characters that are instantly relatable, describes scenes and emotions that one can immediately imagine in every detail, and bring the reader to laughter or tears as the stories unfold. In this series, Hyder has created a fascinating story filled with characters and events that are both otherworldly and believable.

The Soul Summoner series is a grand tale involving angels, fallen angels, half-human/half-angels (seramorte), and humans in our current real world. I have reviewed 6 of the 7 books in the series and the first of the Companion Stories previously, and I urge you, if you have not discovered this series before, give it a try.

I'm about to read book 7, but I decided to read the companion book first, as it introduces one of my favorite main characters, Warren Parish, before the events of the series. I loved this glimpse of Warren's time in the Marines, along with flashbacks to his childhood growing up in foster care. Aware of some of his mysterious abilities but having no idea of their origin or reason, Warren is on a mission during the Iraq war with his company of Marines. His innate honor, courage, sense of humor, and humanity are already part of his character and strength. The author details the mission, the conversations, the action, the gear, the boredom and suspense punctuated by intense action as if she had significant input from real soldiers.

During the action, the Marine company runs into a group of civilian professionals from Claymore, contracted by the U.S. government to provide military assistance and run private missions to complement official military government operations. Claymore is the largest private military consortium in the world, headed by the legendary and highly respected Damon Claymore. Warren begins to wonder if this encounter and ultimate joining of forces is by chance, as it appears, or if it is more than that.

The Mercenary is a fairly short novel, being a Companion story to the main series, but you can read it before or at any point during the series, as it's an introductory prelude. The other Companion story, The Detective, which is about the other main male character, is just as enjoyable and also occurs as an introduction prior to the events of the series.

Read and enjoy.
Profile Image for Tracy.
55 reviews1 follower
February 22, 2019
Elicia Hyder does it once again! I love everything about The Soul Summoner series.
In this companion book, we get a little background on Warren. In my opinion, this should not be read first, even though it is his background. I really enjoyed knowing him from the series before reading this. I loved being able to think back about different things he was thinking or saying and saying to myself, "oh yea, I remember xyz".
It was cool to see Enzo and Fury introduced as well.
Anytime I read any book from this series, it makes me want to go back and read the entire thing again.
If you haven't started this series you really need to. PRONTO!
Thank you, Elicia Hyder, for another Soul SUmmoner (companion) masterpiece!
Profile Image for Kristine.
3,580 reviews54 followers
June 18, 2021
This was a very short story that I listened to on audio that gives us a glimpse into the past. We get to meet Warren before. Before he knows who he is. Before he knows who his father is.

Warren is on deployment in Iraq and we also get to see when he first meets Fury and when there is an important visitor on the sidelines.

I don't think that this short story would be helpful if you have not started the series. Why? Because it doesn't answer those questions from above. You would only know those answers if you are reading the series. It seems like it would best fit anytime after book 2. I read mine after book 7 - worked out perfect.
Profile Image for Julia Butterfield - Stevens.
910 reviews9 followers
September 29, 2019
I listened to the audio version of this and I have to say, the narrator was very Warren, with a deep, sexy voice I could listen to all day.

I really enjoyed this little novella, a prequel of sorts, set in the time when Warren was in the military and before he knew exactly what he was. This introduces Claymore Worldwide Security and it was intriguing. I hope there will be a follow up with the mysterious Fury and her boss.

Let's blow shit up!! Roger that 😁
Profile Image for Laurie Pace.
360 reviews4 followers
December 27, 2018
Jessica Rabbit

I enjoyed this book. It was good to get background. I wish it would have been longer. I have loved this series since the beginning. I Hope you enjoy the book and series as much as I have. When available I recommend audible, it really brings the characters to life. HAPPY READING, off to my next adventure.
Profile Image for Kim.
1,134 reviews9 followers
March 19, 2019
Warren’s story was a perfect peek at the man who was a part of the puzzle before he even knew it. I loved the little backfiller and getting to know Warren, his team, and even Claymore team a bit more. The story was just long enough to give us a solid grounding without leaving us wanting for too much more. Ok, I’ll always want more.
Profile Image for Jennifer Black.
99 reviews
April 27, 2019
And then AGAIN

Once mor she has wowed me with a wonderful story about some of my fav characters ever... I’m dying to read more. SO I PREORDERED THE NEXT BOOK! I never do that... I cannot wait til it’s release! Have to hear all about this baby!!!!!
Keep writing ELICIA, I’m following
Profile Image for Marissa.
1,214 reviews6 followers
July 25, 2019
This is the introduction to Warren Parrish in the Soul Summoner series and describes a short stint he had with the Military. It also describes the way he became involved with Claymore Mercenaries. I like Warren- he is actually one of my favorites in the series. I wasn’t too sure about Fury though...
Profile Image for Jessica Jones.
91 reviews2 followers
January 7, 2021
The Mercenary: A Warren Parish Story was a nice short story of when he was in the military and meet with Claymore Contractors for the first time. This is the first time he meets Fury. If you haven't read the first book in The Soul Summoner series then you wont know about what happens with him and Fury and What is just the beginning of Chaos and blowing crap up.
Profile Image for Jo.
552 reviews2 followers
March 15, 2021
Quick and action packed

There is a whole lot of story packed into this quick read. Couldn’t put it down!

Favorite Quote:
“I lowered my rifle. “What are you doing?”
“Watching your six,” Fury said with a sneer. “God knows you’ll probably need it.”
Earp leaned toward me. “She’s hot, but can I please shoot her?””
652 reviews
December 29, 2018
Worth waiting for Warren. This short but great little story is the a prequel of Warren Parish, he is one of two main men in the Soul Summoner series, it tells his life as a Marine in Iraq before Claymore and Sloan, before he understood his special skills. Warren is so intense!!!
Profile Image for Kathy Kennerley.
757 reviews6 followers
June 5, 2019
I loved it! A quick novella detailing an important moment for side character Warren. This is a great UF series. Actually this author is pretty great too and after reading an excerpt at the end for another completely different series/genre I'm excited to start that next!
Profile Image for Brooke.
1,411 reviews6 followers
September 18, 2019
This is the first book that I have read in this series but I will definitely be going back to book 1. This book is amazing! For such a short book you have so much to learn and feel that it has left me begging for more. I hope there is a lot more of this in the future.
Profile Image for L.G..
554 reviews
December 3, 2020
It was an ok read. A story about how Warren was recruited by Claymore. Hints of this were spread throughout the other 5 books, but this one gave all the details. Was it a necessary book? Not for me. I don't have the feeling that this novella brought anything to the story.
Still, it was an ok read.
8 reviews
January 2, 2019
More, more, more please!!!

As usual, Elicia did a wonderful job and i need more! Now i know how Fury got into the picture.
Profile Image for Deb Dionne.
314 reviews2 followers
January 7, 2019
The Mercenary

A nice short novel to fill in untold story in the Summoner series. I really enjoyed it, just not as much as the rest of this series books.
2,308 reviews29 followers
January 24, 2019
Love Warren!!! He is definitely an alpha male. A great back story to him - pre Soul Summoner series and Sloan. Action packed.
Profile Image for Gillian Paulus.
523 reviews1 follower
January 27, 2019
This was a great book! I loved seeing Warren first meet Fury. Soul Summoner fans will love this story.
Profile Image for Melissa Hongisto.
285 reviews1 follower
April 2, 2019
The narrator was exceptional. I liked how the radio communications actually sounded like radio communications. The male voice was great. The fight scenes were very well written.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews