Raven By: Heather Atkinson Narrated by: Annie Cartwright in the first book in the Raven series and I really enjoyed it, especially the narrator she is the Queen of all Narrator books Annie has a way of bring every book she reads to life! The cover was basic but it bought me in.

A new butt kicking heroine. Very good story with non stop action love the characters, good plotting but what gives this a 5 star is Annie Cartwright her narration is excellent, distinctive voices so you know which character is speaking
I received this audiobook from W F Howes ltd for a review.

Raven - Heather Atkinson

Not a bad book in my opinion. I loved Ravens character and the chemistry between her and her husband was amazing.

I listened to the audiobook, which was great - I loved the narrator and the way she brought the story to life. Raven's life is definitely not boring and trying to figure out who her rival was and their motive for stealing her contracts kept me glued the entire time. I can't wait for the next book in the series!!

DNF - I just don't think this writing style is for me, I found it a little cheesy in parts and the sex scenes were so cringeworthy - little bird and powerful hawk??

Maybe if you are into assassin books you will enjoy it, like many other reviewers have - the writing isn't necessarily bad, it's just not to my taste.

The narrator was pretty good overall.

As soon as I started to listen to this book, I was hooked. I am a sucker for an assassin story and even more so when that assassin is a female and this didn't disappoint.

Raven is a strong woman who can more than hold her own against the male of the species but she is tested to the limit when someone is stealing her jobs and ruining her reputation. Raven finds herself struggling to trust anyone and when her rival is revealed, the situation becomes increasingly personal and more complicated.

This is a long 'listen' and I had to take an enforced break for a couple of weeks when I was half way through but I was able to get back into the story seamlessly and I was soon engrossed again.

The narrator did an excellent job and despite there being a lot of characters, she was able to use her voice to distinguish between them all.

With strong characters, a great story, loads of action and violence but with some humorous moments, this is a series that I am looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into and I must thank W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to Raven and share my thoughts.

After a disrupted and abusive childhood, Raven’s adopted father One-Eye saved her from the streets and has taught her an impressive array of skills. The only others close to her are his son Damon and her husband Aiden, also a mercenary who is away much of the time but always comes home. She and Aiden are great together but only in short bursts and sparks fly when they meet up. Raven does legal work for the police, catching fugitives from custody. She also undertakes some very illegal work as an assassin for hire, mainly for two gentlemen called Marcus and Patrick, rivals in business. We first meet her catching someone running from the law using one of the many very clever devices invented by One-Eye. Her next job does not go so well, working for Patrick, when another killer gets to the target before her. This is the second time it has happened recently and her reputation will go downhill fast if she does not catch this man. Armed with a new arsenal of weaponry from One-Eye and joined by Aiden, she goes on the hunt for her rival which throws up disturbing facts from the past and pits her against someone nearly as good as she is. She will need all her skills and wits about her to defeat this adversary, especially as characters with great names like Pit Bull and String Bean from a local and very disgruntled gang of meth dealers are also out for her blood.
I really liked Raven and her family. She is one tough cookie and completely fearless at times, yet there is still a little part of her that needs to be loved and cherished. She is a loner much of the time but she knows who she can rely on when it counts, and her family clearly adore her, faults and all. There’s lots of little bits of humour thrown into a fast and exciting story featuring this new and highly original character. I am already reading book 2, Journeyman, which promises to be just as good!
In addition, the narration was absolutely spot on and made this book a pleasure to listen to.

Wow Heather Atkinson where on earth did you dream Raven up from? I love books like this and Raven is a dream character she is an amazing no nonsense assassin and occasional police bounty hunter who suddenly finds that someone is trying to take over her hit list by getting to the marked people before her.

Raven is not for the squeamish, it is quite graphic in parts and in some instances you have to suspend your belief as there are parts with in that just wouldn't happen, but its fiction, not a true account and its great fun.

Annie Cartwright was great as the narrator, she jumped between the characters seemlessly and only added to the suspence and enjoyment and i can't wait tho listen to the next installment.

First published in 2017, but only recently selected for the production of an audio, I requested this book (Thanks NetGallery and W.F. Howes Ltd) because it also has a high rating for the written format. When I started listening I began making constructive notes, for example, the first 8 chapters would have been better quickly summed up as a prologue, with the book beginning proper at Chapter 9. Chapter 9 gave useful background and felt like the story started to flow - I was also hoping at this stage that the many times we were asked to suspend belief would still lead to an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, by the time I got 40% through the book I couldn't overlook the inconsistencies either (and there are MANY) - a couple of examples:

- Raven is at the centre of a small town on a street described as being less busy than Leeds - after 12 midnight -and we are asked to believe a group of thugs wanting to do her harm would wait at a pedestrian crossing because they missed the crossing light? Is the traffic really that busy after 12 midnight in a small town centre? A very short while later (ducking into a club, causing a distraction and coming back out pretty quickly) the street is described as being much quieter with just a couple of taxis at the curb and three women walking arm in arm down the pavement ... Where has all this presumed pedestrian defying traffic gone in the 10 mins you were in the club?

- Raven enters an abandoned asylum/hospital (side door ajar due to vandals long ago), walks down the corridors strewn with leaves (and presumably dirt too) and comes across a homeless guy who has trainers which squeak on the floor - that is how she knows he's not a ghost? Really? We are then asked to believe that after this building had been open to the elements (damp on walls etc) that the HOSPITAL PATIENT FILES would not only have been LEFT BEHIND WHEN THE ASYLUM CLOSED, but be UNDISTURBED and that both files she was after would be present AND completely INTACT etc - said homeless person with squeaky trainers becoming her helpful Filing Clerk/Assistant and finding them for her - REALLY????

I know this book was written in 2017 before the most recent Data Protection Act/GDPR Legislation, but even before then we had a 1998 Data Protection Act and a State run institution would NOT have left patient files in presumably unlocked filing cabinets in the office when said institution closed - and even if they did, are you telling me that they would remain intact this whole time? NOBODY would have strewn them about?? REALLY - I'm sorry, but that is just TOO much .... I could go on, but I am conscious I'm beginning to rant .... nuff said.....

Any assassin story is my weakness.

Raven finds her reputation going weak after an unknown rival starts stealing her kills. Not sure who to trust she needs to fight of crime bosses while trying to uncover why this individual is making her look bad.

I loved this, it was so fast paced with a clear look into each characters lives. The ending was good and left room for book 2. The narration was really great and you could clearly distinguish between each voice.

Thank you Netgalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for the ARC.