Audio Review: Coven by Tony Ruggiero

Audiobook: Coven (Unabridged)

By: Tony Ruggiero

Narrator: Lisa Cordray 

Length: 12 hours 30 minutes

Published: November 7, 2013

Published by: Tony Ruggiero

Description: Little towns and secrets: a guilty pleasure for some and a harsh reality for others. Witches have secretly been in control of the town council for years and the town has prospered...until now. As they search for the truth behind the mysterious death of one of their shop owners, they uncover disturbing secrets about an ostracized witch and their own coven leader, making it unclear which one may have been using black magic to murder.

My Thoughts:  This audiobook was provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review by Audiobook Jukebox.

I had high hopes for Coven. I haven’t read a witch book in a while and I was excited about getting started. This one though, was unlike any other I have read.

Told in multiple POV’s, we begin following Bob, a regular human who purchases an antique store after its prior owner dies in a vehicular manslaughter accident, an interesting fact considering he accidentally hit a drunk pedestrian many years ago, though the two pedestrians are not connected.  The store he purchases is in a strange little town that has secrets of its own.  He soon learns that sometimes, things are too good to be true, because it’s not a coincidence that he arrives. This town is full of magic, and everyone is connected in some way. This is a dark story, aimed toward someone who enjoys mysteries with supernatural elements.

The narrator, Lisa Cordray though great at the beginning, begins to make the story feel sort of choppy and extremely slow. There seem to be unnecessary pauses and stops mid-sentence that slowly began to grate on me the further I delved into the world. Her various character voices also seem a little off.

The story itself, though not completely bad, also seemed to be a bit off. There were unnecessary scenes and boring conversations that I found myself wanting to skip over, and there wasn’t much dialogue outside that which the speaker had internally.

Coven is the story of witches, some of who walk the correct path, and others who do not, and their interactions. I often like witch books, but this one in particular just wasn’t for me, it just didn’t feel put together enough, and though it was meant to be a mystery, I knew the result from nearly the beginning. I give it 2 stars.