Witch for Hire

A Witch's Path, Book 1

De: N. E. Conneely

Narrado por: Jeff Hays

Most witches don't work for police departments, but Michelle isn't your average witch. She's clanless, looking for a wizard who isn't offended by her lack of family connections, and in danger of losing her job if she can't find the escaped trolls before they start eating the local residents.

Trolls, angry police, and misbehaving spells are the least of her problems. Statues attacking homeowners might be problematic for your average witch, but to Michelle it's another day at the office. Her real concern is the wizard suddenly interested in dating her and an old elf set on pestering her. When her happy family is rocked by a long kept secret her stable life falls apart faster than she can pick up the pieces.

And she still hasn't found those trolls.

©2014 N. E. Conneely (P)2015 N. E. Conneely

OK but

the story is good but the guy reading it needed a little help. is it one person reading it or two?

lots of fun to listen to,

great price the story is fun and the main character is so cute! I'm buying the next one!

Bogged down by a bad production

I am the kind of listener who tries to finish everything she starts, but I could not do that with this book. I will try to explain so that you will know whether or not the difficulties I had will affect you or not.

STORY

The story is one we’ve seen before, and it’s a fairly good one. The witch works with the police to solve crimes. Her skill set is exactly what is needed with cases that involve magic in a world that has open magic beside mundane humans. In fact, in this world, it’s humans who are the weaker species dominated by all the magical ones.

The heroine, Michelle Oakes, is a busy witch. She barely has time for friends and family. Sometimes she wishes for a love life, and the elf she met at her boarding house could become something if his very presence would stop bothering her. So, yes, there are romantic undertones, but this reads mostly as a magical procedural.

NARRATION

The narrator’s command of voices is very good. Jeff Hays has distinctive voices for all his characters. Michelle is so authentically feminine sounding that at first I thought this audio had separate male and female narrators. Some of his male voices remind me of Luke Daniels, who is one of my favorite narrators of all time.

PRODUCTION

This, unfortunately, is where they lost me. As good as the narrator or writing might be, I could not stand listening to this audio. There are entire passages where Michelle’s voice is at one loudness level, and you can barely hear what the other characters are saying. When you can hear it, it’s good. It’s not Jeff’s performance that’s the problem. It’s that you can’t hear it consistently. At first, I thought everyone was on the phone with Michelle because it took that tinny far-away sound.

I got nearly to the halfway point with no change in the sound leveling. I made myself stop and do a mental/auditory palate cleanse. I listened to two separate books thinking it would help. When I started back to this one again, there were still the same problems that made me not enjoy it. Had I actually paid for this audio, I would have immediately returned it to Audible for a refund.

LAST THOUGHTS

While I am a voracious listener of audios, this may be one of those stories that is simply better as an ebook. Paranormal procedurals can be quick fun.

The narrator is skilled and very capable, but that is buried under a very bad production. Listen at your own risk.

Disclaimer: I received this audiobook free in exchange for an honest review.

Doesn't every PD have paranormals on staff?

This tale is really great fun, and the plot twists are more than entertaining. Another plus is that the editors did not force any awkward explicit sexual encounters just to boost sales appeal.There are a few oddities that seem unnecessary, but, as this is the first of a series, I suppose that is to be expected. It starts out a little overburdened, but then evens out and captivates. The length is just about right for an audio. I noticed before reading, that some folks found the acoustics irregular--I listened on a Samsung tablet via speaker, and heard none.
I can't really testify to the merits of the print copy, but JH presents as a marvelous audio performer! The multiplicity of voices is amazing. Tonality, inflections, and cadences are remarkable. Truly looking forward to more!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. and I got the best of the deal!

Compelling Read

To be honest, I picked up this book after the second (though I've yet to read the second, preferring a cohesive story line). I really enjoyed the book, owing largely to the ability to relate to the characters. The story itself was also quite compelling with just enough minutia to break it up nicely. Jeff Hays does an excellent job as narrator, making each character distinct. It's rare to find such obvious discussion transition without having multiple narrators. I'll definitely be listening to more from this author/narrator duo.