The Raven

The Florentine, Book 1

By: Sylvain Reynard

Narrated by: John Michael Morgan

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the Gabriel's Inferno Trilogy reveals a beautiful yet deadly underworld where creatures of the night roam and Gabriel and Julianne become the target of a powerful but elusive enemy...

Raven Wood spends her days at Florence's Uffizi gallery restoring Renaissance art. But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley. Raven is only semiconscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attackers' screams. Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her...

Cassita vulneratus.

When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. Upon returning to the Uffizi, no one recognizes her. More disturbingly, she discovers that she's been absent an entire week. With no recollection of her disappearance, Raven learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history - the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the police identify her as their prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence's wealthiest and most elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets...

This edition only: Includes Bonus Scenes

©2015 Sylvain Reynard (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The Raven was a fabulous Gothic treat of a book filled with ancient vampires, dark vendettas, and star-crossed love." (Deb Harkness, New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Life)

Love Sylvain

I am not usually a fan of fantasy romance novels, but I had to give this new series a try..because Sylvain Reynard. As always he captivated me in a world of art and beauty.

Raven is a young broken woman working as an art restorer in Florence. She catches the eye -or nose rather- of an ancient vampire, the Prince of Florence. Together they battle there seen and unseen enemies in the desire to find hope and love within each other.

I loved how Sylvain intertwined the story of the Emerson's from his previous series into the book, giving the work of Botticelli an honorary front row seat.

This book has a mild cliffhanger ending, I did purchase the next in the series, which I would suggest if you are an anxious listener as I am.

John Michael Morgan did a great job on the narration- he was able to captivate me immediately- with distinct true accents fitting the different cultural characters in the book.

A Great Read made even better by Performance!

If you could sum up The Raven in three words, what would they be?

mystery, thrills, romance

Who was your favorite character and why?

Raven, because she is so strong, just and loving, has a compassion for all things and wen she loves she loves with her whole heart even though who she loves may not be human.

What about John Michael Morgan’s performance did you like?

His performance is so good! He has great voices for all the different characters, and he reads at a good even pace, unless it calls for something different!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me happy, for William and Raven, but sad too, to realize that they being together will not be an easy alliance.

Any additional comments?

I love the author Sylvain Reynard and have read all of his books up to this point!

I love this book!

Where does The Raven rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This story is fresh! The writing is perfection and I love the continuation of Gabrielle's story! My only issue with the book is that it is not long enough! I didn't want this book to end. I was hooked from the beginning.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Raven?

The mystery of the book is and its characters is so well thought out.

Have you listened to any of John Michael Morgan’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I thought the narrator did an amazing job!

Wow what a new take on romance.

I couldn't stop listening to it. I was addicted to it. Can't wait for book 2.

Page Turner

I have had this book on my TBR list for a long time and I finally got to read this. I loved the Gabriel books and after reading this book I am loving this one as well. I think that I might actually like this book series more then the Gabriel Series and I just loved those books.

*** THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***
I am usually not a big fan of books about creatures like werewolves and vampires, and other creatures. But this dark romance is laid out pretty well. I like not being able to figure out the book right away. I like all the information spread out. Well, This book is about a girl named Raven who works restoring paintings in Florence. She wakes one morning realizing that she is does not remember what has happened to her. She cannot remember what happened to her the previous week and she even looks Physically different looking in her appearance and in abilities. What she realizes is that there have been some famous painting that were stolen. There is also a mysterious man that has been shadowing here around the city and she get to learn many things about this mysterious man throughout the book.

I really do not want to give anymore away to this book bc I am enjoying the series so far. So if you want to know more I suggest you pick the book up. It is a good one in my opinion.

I would recommend this book to people.

William saves this book! Book 1 of 3!

I struggle to write this review because throughout the book, I wanted to either smack Jane/Raven upside the head or I was too busy yelling "what the....." at her!
William is the savior and the character to focus on in this book. He's swoonworthy! Due to his age, he has become despondent and lacks empathy, and believes he cannot feel because he is a vampire. But, his actions speak louder and he makes the listener fall in love with him.
Raven on the other hand... :( Part damsel in distress, part wannabe savior, part self-sacrificing lamb with bouts of intelligence, lots of dumb courage, and mostly maddeningly obtuse.
With great angst, I purchased books two and three. Solely because I want to hear William, his story, and find out more.
John Michael Morgan was exceptional. He does narrate the second book. Sadly, he had passed away in 2016 after narrating the second book. The third book has a different narrator.
This is not a cliffhanger but the second book continuous the story.

Ugh very long to end in a semi-cliffhanger

Interesting character development and the story is very complex and engagjng but I was disappointed it didn't really end. Not your typical vampire romance.

Great read

I live the entire series of these books, the only problem with them is they end too quickly, I don't want them to be over!

loved it!!

loved the story!!!! Loved the narrative by John Michael Morgan!! cant wait to dive into another!!

Fabulous

I am absolutely enthralled with this author! I cannot get enough of him, period and I will keep reading his books as often as I can.