Raven Cursed

By: Faith Hunter

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

The vampires of Asheville, North Carolina, want to establish their own clan, but since they owe loyalty to the Master Vampire of New Orleans, they must work out the terms with him. To come up with an equitable solution, he sends an envoy with the best bodyguard blood money can buy: skinwalker Jane Yellowrock.

But when a group of local campers are attacked by something fanged, Jane goes from escort to investigator. Is it a rogue-vampire, shapechanger, or witch? Or something else magical? Unless she wants to face a very angry master vampire, she will have to work overtime to find the killer. It's a good thing she's worth every penny.

Listen to more Jane Yellowrock titles - if you dare.

©2012 Faith Hunter (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Faith Hunter, Jane and Beast are at it again!!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

ABSOLUTLY!!! I HAVE ALREADY! I also recommend that they listen to the rest of the series, in order, to get the full effect. I recommend Faith Hunter because I find her books are unpredictable. You might THINK you know what is going to happen, and them WHAM, she drops a bomb on you and things aren't as they seem. She spins a fantastic story. I will take a series that I like, and read/listen to it over and over, back to back several times because nothing else appeals to me but the world that particular author traps me in. Last year I listened to both of Faith Hunter's series (both entire series) 4 or 5 times EACH. GO FAITH!!

What did you like best about this story?

Besides the action, great background on characters, history (I love the Cherokee history and language she puts in) and twists and turns, I have always loved the relationship between Jane and Angie Baby, and Beast. There is a special longing there that I truly connect with. And of course Ricky Bo, Bruiser and the B-twins. Maybe Leo too, when he isn't being a butt head.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Khristine brings the story to life and gives each character a voice. She does an excellent, excellent job. Her voice just suits Jane, and crew. The books wouldn't be the same without her voice. It is my opinion that the wrong choice of narrator can make or break a book when people write reviews. A story can POP off the pages and really work with the right narrator, or have the wrong narrator and destroy the book and sales. Audio books are exploding on the market right now and I believe audio reviews may sway readers to or away from a purchase.

I have read books without listening to the narration before (either because the audio isn't out yet and I just can't wait to read the story, knowing I will buy it when it DOES come out and listen and read it again then) or the author doesn't have audio available) and I have to tell you that I can hardly JUST READ anymore. I love to listen as I read to get the full effect of the story, ie. when someone thinks something and doesn't say it out loud, or there is a pause or a comma in the print, it is hard for the narrator to put that into the reading. But seeing it and hearing it together, just brings the story off the page and to LIFE and when you have a narrator as good as Khristine, who is perfect for this storyline, it is better than going to a movie because I can SEE the book happening in my mind!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was and I DID!! I listened to the other books in the series and timed it for this books release so I would get the full effect. (I do that to a lot of authors that have a series. I need to refresh my memory and the story and characters because I read SO MANY BOOKS.)

Any additional comments?

Faith Hunter is one of my favorite authors and Khristine Hvam is just the perfect fit for this series' narration! (I also like Natalie Gold. She was perfect, to me, for the Rogue Mage series.) The only story of Faith's that I was not happy with (and it was because of the narration) was the short in Strange Brew, the anthology done that had Jane and Molly's beginning. The story was great, though I wish it were a full book story. Khristine didn't do it and the narrator who did sounded too old for the part and it just didn't work for me.) Khristine has spoiled me. SHE IS JANE!!

I would like to see Gwen Hunter's books in audio. I just found out that she is Faith Hunter in the suspense genre and has lots of books that need a voice.....hint hint.


I would love to see an audio and ebook or print book package option come out for all audio books, like there is available for a lot of the Classics (with ebooks). Since I buy both anyway, it would save a step for me. (at least have it available on Amazon).


I hope everyone who buys this book loves it as much as I did!! Enjoy the read/listen.

19 people found this helpful

I enjoyed it mostly....but for a few things.

Any additional comments?

First, I have to say that I enjoy this series.

I think the author really brings life to the places in which her stories take place. Her first couple books had me learning how to make beignets and looking up pictures of the city of New Orleans, and I feel this book also does credit to the mountains that her story is taking place in (Take that with a grain of salt, as I have only been there a couple times).
I enjoy the characters and cultures that she brings to life as well. My favorite above all being Beast. Jane on the other hand often reminds me of an angsty, self-centered, hard-headed teenager instead of some sort of professional, perhaps even more so in this book. This doesn't mean I dislike her character, just that I find myself shaking my head more and more at her choices. She does change to some degree throughout the series, but I can't really call it growth. Still in some instances I like her character. I find her to be a very real person, just one I would occasionally like to shake. Thankfully in the stories Beast often times takes care of that. More like a mother to Jane's child-like behavior.
To sum up the series as a while is worth a read.

Now to the things that get my knickers in a twist.

First and foremost, Rick. I have never liked his character, and although I can be a total sucker for a good bad boy, he never was appealing to me. Never has he shown any concern or loyalty toward Jane in any form. It has always been about what she could do for him. Her statement toward the end of the book about them making a

7 people found this helpful

Meh

First, I really do love this series. This book, however, just seems to be more angsty than the rest. I found myself rolling my eyes at Jane's guilt over everything. And I mean EVERYthing. You'd think a vampire slayer who is supposed to be over 100 years old would Get. Over. It. Maybe 60 or so years ago. That is the one thing, IMHO, that makes this book less enjoyable than the others.

LOVE: Beast. She is my favorite character, and the symbiosis between her and Jane is fabulous. I love the imaginative approach and the settings. I love that the author writes well.

HATE: Will someone *please* teach the narrator how to pronounce "eschew?"

14 people found this helpful

This book is so easily summed up - Crap

***FULL OF SPOILERS AND SARCASM*** Where to begin. Let's sum up Jane - It's all my fault. Nothing but guilt. Fall on the cross. I make rookie mistakes EVERY. SINGLE. CHAPTER. I put the kits in danger because I refuse to return multiple missed calls/voicemails. I refuse to make common sense decisions like taking out the bad guys because the author needs to constantly describe how gorgeous every male w/in 50 miles is. Oh and lets also describe all of the food porn and every detail about every meal, because apparently there are Cajun restaurants in NC. Who knew? Did I mention the guilt? How about the parts where she's trying not to have sex w/ random blood servants? Honestly, I don't even know if I'll make it to the end of this book. This supposedly "strong and capable" heroine is a friggin moron for about 95% of chapters 1-22. Oh! And werewolves all over the place killing men and trying to turn women for mates. Does she attempt tracking? Nope! Let's rely on a random Supe and use literally ALL of her spare time trying to find that instead. And of course there's Evangeline who randomly becomes SUPER EVIL cause why not? Kill her ENTIRE family for some random revenge? Sure, why not. That makes total sense too. And Rick. Whatever.... No clue if I'm going to continue this series cause I'm tired of cussing at imaginary people. Literally the only upside is the Narrator is pretty good. She has been very consistent and although every American female sounds kinda similar, she absolutely excels at the European characters and accents. It's pretty dang remarkable how awesome they sound. She's the only reason for the 2nd Star.

3 people found this helpful

Tired of the sex scenes that don't add anything

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Doubt it

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not this series

What about Khristine Hvam’s performance did you like?

She has an easy voice to listen to. She also varies it enough to have distinctive characters.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Depends on who the actors were.

Any additional comments?

I liked the first book and got the next 3 on a special. Seems that there were progressively more unnecessary sex scenes in each book. I don't mind them, but they didn't further the plot or story. It seemed more like filler or frustration by the author.

3 people found this helpful

Why do I keep buying these?

I have no idea how this woman stays employed. Jane is a mess of complexes and contradictions. She makes the same terrible decisions over and over. Emotionally, she is a teen. The pretense of her 'running security' for this or anything else is laughable. This book runs from one (often unexplained) fight scene to the next. New characters are introduced haphazardly, and rarely followed up on. Formerly solid relationships are ignored, new relationships appear seemingly out of the ether, and get most of the attention, before they too just disappear. Points are made over, and over, and over. Oh, Angie Baby is 'scary powerful?' YOU DON'T SAY. What even happened with Beast in the end?? I could go on. It almost seems unedited.

Also can someone please tell me how this fighting biker managed to put ALL of her fighting leathers in long term storage?

3 people found this helpful

SEE JANE DO... not a whole lot

I'm baffled by all the great ratings for these books. I feel like I'm missing something. I'm still sitting here watching Jane ride back and forth and this time she manages to get almost nothing done. I don't know if she can handle her job. She fails to protect the kids she loves she wastes time searching for a grindylow, Rick's whole situation is like a side problem for her and the whole reason she's on this new case is NEVER EXPLAINED.

I need character development, Ms Hunter, unless she's spiraling down a hole and is about to have an interesting breakdown and go all feral this character should be improving and not making rookie mistake time after time. She clearly isn't cut out for these assignments and I find that weird. One more book... let's see what happens.

13 people found this helpful

Love Jane & Beast

The Heroine(s): Jane's a kick ass rouge vampire hunter. She's a skinwalker which means she more than just a were. She can change into almost any animal but her beast prefers the form of a mountain lion. I find the inner monologue between Jane and Beast every interesting and well written. So instead of one heroine you get two.

The Plot: Jane is back at home in North Caroline but she can't get away from events that took place in New Orleans during Mercy Blade and she definitely can't get away from the people from New Orleans. Leo the head vamp of the South has hired Jane as the head of security for the vampire meeting. Jane hires Derek Lee and his group of good ol' boys. Then there's Ricky Bo. Jane brought him near Ashland, NC to get help with his issue. So Jane may have left New Orleans but she brought the major players with her.

Before the vamps can have their important conference about making peace with the witches, Jane is faced with dead bodies all over town. Humans are blaming vampires but then it starts looking like werewolves might be the ones ripping the humans apart.

Since Jane is back in NC we get to see more of Molly and her family. I love Angie Baby, Molly's young daughter so I'm glad we get to see her again. We also get to see more of Big Evan, Molly's husband. In fact Molly's whole family (sisters included) into the action this time around.

The Big Bad(s): This time around we get two bad guys that Jane has to fight. Neither is easy. One is a friend that tries to harm loved ones of Jane. Another is a bad ass that happens to be a shapeshifting witch that happens to be a demon.

Jane's Love Life: Jane and Beast are still not seeing eye to eye on the mate front. If Beast has her way Jane would be sleeping with Ricky, Bruiser and Leo. After all big cats don't mate for life. Jane may have lusty thoughts about more than one man but she is a one man gal. I've never really been a fan of Ricky as the love interest. I just didn't feel the connection between him and Jane. Then he cheats on her while working a case in Mercy Blade. But I starting liking him a little in Raven Cursed.

Quotes: Evan stood at bottom of stairs with hands on hips, studying room. Saying things low under breath. More sex talk about mothers. Humans think of sex at strange times. Jane laughed. I did not understand. - Beast

"Your cat did this?"
"Yeah, she was hungry and Molly wouldn't let her eat Evangeline"
When Rick arched an eyebrow at me, I shook my head and said, "For dinner, Ricky Bo."
"Of course."

Will I Continue Series? Hell yes! Even though I'm a little frustrated with Jane's love life I'm still on board for more Beast and Jane action.

Narration: Khristine Hvam Kies continues to make this series a real enjoy to listen to. I love her voices for Beast, Angie Baby, and many others. She does an amazing job with the timing and I feel like she is acting the story out instead of just reading a book.

4 people found this helpful

great performance!

A great performance by narrator, Kristine Hvam. she brings the book alive. it wasn't my favorite story so far, i need more Bruiser & Jane interactions.

1 person found this helpful

Great Series

This series is exactly what I've been looking for! The suspense, story line, plot twist, and characters are wonderfully created! Jane and beast are by far my favorite characters so far. I like that beast is her own character and not just an animal Jane can shift into. The plot twists are great because they aren't predictable like other books are! Highly recommended!!

1 person found this helpful

Loved it from start to finish

The story was great, the narrator great, what little I felt could be improved would really just be nitpicking. If you like vampires, werewolves, werecats, witches and other supernatural entities set in modern America, you'll love this.

Another cracker

A thoroughly thought through and descriptive adventure of the supernatural kind, which mixes easily into the reality of today. Love it

Still stuck in the middle!

Jane is stuck with 4 interlaced problems which, once again, lead to several very near death experiences and the loss of 2 dear friends. Once again F.H and K.H have brought all the characters to life and I will have to force myself not to open the next book in the series once I've finished this review 😉

amazing book series!!!

thoroughly enjoyed listening to this!! missed way to many stops on the tube because I was so intent on what was going on.
highly recommend this! !!

Great continuation

Loved the development of the char in this
the voice actor was fantastic managing to give each characters a different and unique voice

Great yellowrock

What did you like most about Raven Cursed?

The whole story characters and all

What other book might you compare Raven Cursed to, and why?

again the whole series of yellowrock

Which scene did you most enjoy?

all of the book is great so it is hard to pick a scene

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole book has made me scared ,frightened ,cry and laugh

Any additional comments?

Am looking forward to more of yellow rock adventures