• A Scourge of Vipers

  • By: Bruce DeSilva
  • Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
  • Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (128 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
A Scourge of Vipers  By  cover art

A Scourge of Vipers

By: Bruce DeSilva
Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

To solve Rhode Island's budget crisis, the state's colorful governor, Attila the Nun, wants to legalize sports gambling, but her plan has unexpected consequences. Organized crime, professional sports leagues, and others who have a lot to lose - or gain - if gambling is made legal flood the state with money to buy the votes of state legislators.

Liam Mulligan, investigative reporter for The Providence Dispatch, wants to investigate, but his bottom-feeding corporate bosses at the dying newspaper have no interest in serious reporting. So Mulligan goes rogue, digging into the story on his own time. When a powerful state legislator turns up dead, an out-of-state bag man gets shot, and his cash-stuffed briefcase goes missing, Mulligan finds himself the target of shadowy forces who seek to derail his investigation by destroying his career, his reputation, and perhaps even his life.

Bruce DeSilva's A Scourge of Vipers is at once a suspenseful crime story and a serious exploration of the hypocrisy surrounding sports gambling and the corrupting influence of big money on politics.

©2015 Bruce DeSilva (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The versatile Jeff Woodman provides an outstanding narration of this crime story.... This masterful reading will charm most listeners even if the corruption exposed does not." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about A Scourge of Vipers

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    74
  • 4 Stars
    46
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    90
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    65
  • 4 Stars
    40
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Maybe Im just tired of the series... It must be me

I blew through the first three books of the series and gave each one a rave review. So I am confused at why I found this book more juvenile and trite. It coud be the book, but It suspect it is my demeaner. Alot has happened to me since I finished the last novel.

So if you are a fan of The Providence Rag series, take this review with a grain of salt. However, if you havent read any of the novels in the series, start with Providence Rag and stay far away from this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

What does that mean?

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I think you would need to be a truly hard-core Mulligan fan to enjoy this, and, even then, you have to admit that the book is the least of the three. It may be fiction, but it has the feel of reporting with really good Providence accents. The only gags that make you chuckle are from the first two books, like Attila the Nun, the mayor of Providence. Otherwise, it reads like straight reporting with an attempt to be funny, which fails more often than it succeeds.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I don't think I will listen to another Mulligan book. I think this brief series has run its course. You can find way better books about modern-day urban corruption, and you can find more appealing protagonists than Liam Mulligan. You also can find more suspenseful writing. Almost anything by Dennis Lehane beats this stuff with a stick.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jeff Woodman?

I don't think that would matter. It's the material, by and large, that keeps you reading. Joe Barrett might be able to make this sound better.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

As I said, a few chuckles. A few insights into corrupt local politics. A car with an unfunny name: Secretariat, for a beat-up forty year old clunker. Very few qualities that would make me spend my money on this kind of thing again.

Any additional comments?

Nope. Save yer sawbucks.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A Writer with So Much Hubris Causes Problems

I think it is best to start by saying how much I really enjoyed this series. In fact, I enjoyed this book... Though less than the others. Why? I simply cannot explain why an otherwise decent author feels obliged to load an otherwise excellent novel with all of his personal political leanings. It is FAR worse in this book.

I see this happen time and again where an author allows his hubris to control his writing. It would seem that the author thinks his political opinions, whether they be progressive or conservative, are important to the novel or worse, important to their readers! They are not of course. People buy fiction, or at least I do, to get away from reality. If I truly wanted to hear all those stupid left-wing and right wing wing nuts, I'd just turn on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox. No, I buy fiction to get away from that crap. I simply do not believe that political opinion should permeate a fictional novel as it does in this book.

Anyway, as I said, the book is not bad and I suspect that if your political persuasions are those of the author, you will do just fine. but as for me, as I mentioned above, the author's political commentary should not be in his books. They distract from the novel, are 100% unnecessary, and even if I agree with them, that is not relevant. I will not continue with this author if he continues to write in this manner.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this Fourth Book of the Series . . .

DeSilva has written a very enjoyable series featuring Liam Mulligan, an old-school investigative reporter for a Rhode Island daily paper that has a great legacy, but is slowly dying. (The series in order: Roque Island, Cliff Walk, Providence Rag and A Scourge of Vipers.) This is the final in the series to date -- and in it a 40-something Liam gets into one scrape after the next as he seeks to report the truth about corruption and crime -- but his outlook is always pretty positive as he figures the way out of the troubles. Truth doesn't always prevail and justice isn't always served, but that's what makes these stories so good. They are realistic (for the most part) and believable. Jeff Woodman's narration as always is great -- invoking various NE dialects and drawls and even provides a good rendition of women's voices. Don't start the series with this one -- although it can stand alone. You will find that listening to all four (I just re-listened to the first three in order before starting this one) will add much to your experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Politics Anyone?

Wow! Did you miss bashing anyone that wasn’t a liberal. If I wanted politics, I would have selected something else yuck!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Top Stuff Yet Again!

Any additional comments?

Just get it and ignore the Naysayers!The Author and Narrator combo here is first rate.DeSilva delivers yet again and Woodman is an amazing narrator - particularly suited to this text/genre, but I suspect is great in a variety of contexts.Woodman convincingly manages rapidly exchanging dialogue across gender and context.DeSilva is a great writer. A key observant 'eye' on society.Eagerly awaiting the next listen from these two great artists.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bruce DeSilva scores again!

Terrific (end?) of a three story series. I really hope there turns out to be more adventures of my favorite newspaper reporter. Go ahead and spend your credit here, you won't be sorry!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sharp-witted fun!

I forgot how much I love this Bruce DeSilva’s series. Jeff Woodman’s authentic New England accent adds just the right flavor. I look forward to reading more as the main character’s personal and professional life evolves.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just Three Words: Listen To It

It’s 2:00AM and I’m tired so I’m not going into detail.
I enjoyed the plot, characters, and narration. I recommend reading books one and two first. They could be stand alone but reading in sequence is best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another good tale by Bruce DeSilva.

This is a fun read and a great performance. DaSilva has a way of telling a story in an earthy, almost gritty way much like talking to friends in the old neighborhood. The reading is as good as the book and complements itto the point of making the listener feel comfortable with the main character as though hearing the story while sitting across from him in your local pub or favorite diner.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!