Was there really something wrong with this book? I don't know. I can't put my finger on it. What I do know is that I struggled to finish and had to turn up the audiobook speed to power through. I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be by the end. 

It does manage to have a very DnD party feel to it, in that ridiculous things happen that the characters have to roll with, while still having more serious introspective moments (particularly for the main character who is dealing with how to live in the regular world when you're really good at killing stuff).  It was amusing and had some good action, but I feel like it was too long for what it was, which is a riff on "what if mercenaries were treated like rock bands?" 

As a side note, this book does NOT qualify for the r/Fantasy 2024 Book Bingo Bards square, which I discovered to my great disappointment partway through. This may have soured my opinion slightly. But only slightly.