Sunday 24 August 2014

Audio/Book Review of Witch (Book One) (The Sydney Hart Mysteries 1) by Tim O'Rourke


Synopsis:

Twenty-year-old Police Officer, Sydney Hart, has always made mistakes and when she meets Michael Grayson, she soon begins to wonder if she hasn't made the biggest mistake of her life. That one moment of passion between them causes Sydney's world to spiral rapidly out of control.

Suffering from nightmares, Sydney soon realises her life and the people closest to her aren't who or what she believed them to be. Fearing she has been cursed, Sydney attempts to unravel the dark secrets that surround her, and is desperate to discover why a dying man called her 'Witch'.

Warning: Graphic content, for readers 18+

Review:


Witch (Sydney Hart #1)Witch by Tim O'Rourke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I won a complimentary copy of this audio book in a competition held by the author. I decided to write an honest review for it.

This is the first book in the Sydney Hart Mysteries Series. I enjoyed it.

The story is narrated by Laurel Schroeder. Her voice was pleasant to listen to; she read the story with clarity, but I found her clipped tone a bit disconcerting.

Constable Sydney Hart is a character I struggled to like. Her impetuous behaviour, especially as she is a police officer, made me want to shake her! Her detective skills also left a lot to be desired.

I started listening to this book and, although I found it a bit confusing at first, I began to enjoy it. Although this story is supposed to be a paranormal romance, I found it to be more of a paranormal thriller, with a hint of horror. The story started out as a romance, but half way through it's like the author decided to change it into a thriller.

The story was told through Sydney's point of view. Unfortunately, I found my attention wondering on occasion and I had to force myself to listen. I think it's partly because I couldn't find it within myself to like Sydney. Yes, she is young, only twenty, but she came across as a hopeless victim rather than a spunky, kickass heroine that I have gotten used to reading about in books.
It was also partly due to the narrator's clipped tone and lack of characterization for each character in the story. The only character I did like in this story was Vincent; he was sweet and funny.

The story was full of twists and turns, especially near the middle and end. These twists take the reader on an exciting roller coaster ride of mystery and suspense. Some of the revelations made were quite surprising, and one had a paranormal twist that I definitely didn't see coming! The ending was a bit sad, but a little bit creepy too. Although I enjoyed this story, I am not sure whether I will continue with this series. However, I will be keeping an eye out for other books by this author.

Tim O'Rourke has written an intriguing story, but his characters didn't feel as three dimensional as they should have. They lacked something that made them spark. Whether this was down to the narrator not doing vocal characterizations, I am not sure. His writing style is fast paced, but I felt the story didn't flow as well as it could have.

Due to scenes of a sexual nature that are rather on the explicit side, I do not recommend this book to younger readers under the age of 18. However, I recommend this book if you love paranormal romances with ghosts or thriller/mystery/suspense genres. - Lynn Worton

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