Lorilei Gonzales

Hauntingly beautiful

Revisado: 04-16-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

The Janus Witch by Michael Scott Clifton transported me across time and place with its hauntingly beautiful imagery, language, and characters. I have always had a soft spot for Arthurian legend, so the name Morganna made my ears perk up from the very beginning. Admittedly, it took me a few chapters to get into this audiobook - at no fault of the narrator, Kendra Murray, or the author - I just prefer reading to listening. So if there was any confirmation that the Morganna in this book is Morgan le Fay, I missed it.


Nonetheless, I was taken with the strength and single minded focus that Morganna embodied as coven leader to Tressalayne (love that name!) and Argatha (I’m not sure how to spell her name). So much so that I really struggled throughout this book to dislike her. I don’t know if it is because one of my favorite versions of Morgan le Fay paints her as a misunderstood enchantress, but I knew from the beginning that Morganna was the villain in this book and adored her still. My allegiance to her was to the point that I sometimes wondered more about her welfare than that of the obvious protagonist, Tressalayne.


More jarring than the literal crash landing of two witches and the witch hunter hot on their trail, it was entertaining to hear how three medieval characters encountered modern day East Texas. Clifton does an excellent job of portraying credible reactions and thoughts to this overwhelming world of technology and conveniences. And Murray’s sophisticated tone and delivery was perfect for conveying the wide-eyed observations and innocence of an amnesiac.


I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but my favorite characters are the ones that Murray does the best voices for: Morganna, Tressalayne, and Lockstone. The narrator truly embodies the essence of those three when she acts out their dialogue with that sultry voice of hers. Morganna’s voice oozes of cruel sensuality. Tressalayne is sweet and a bit timid when her life begins anew. Lockstone is the very definition of strength and masculinity. And maybe because her rendition of Lockstone is just so manly, it didn’t really leave enough testosterone for the good doctor and the bad guy.

In true Clifton fashion, this fantasy pulls you into an exciting place filled with magic, danger, and romance. All of the pieces fall together in just the right way at a pace that appropriately speeds up and slows down according to what is happening in the story. Murray’s tone and diction were perfect for portraying the medieval transplants. While I wasn’t a fan of her Texan accents, I commend her consistency and dedicated performances. She is definitely one of the best audiobook narrators I have heard in a while.


I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fantasy. If you listen to the audiobook and feel like it moves a little slow, I find that playing it at 1.3x is a pretty good rate that does not make Murray sound like a chipmunk.

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This sequel is even better than the first one!

Revisado: 05-14-20

Covey and JayJay Get Educated, by Shelton L. Williams is the second book in the Covey Jencks series. I listened to the first book a little over a year ago and remember very much enjoying the story and getting a kick out of the narrator, Kathy James.

I think the characters are what I enjoyed most in this book, especially JayJay. I loved how fearless she was and how she handled herself in any situation. I can’t remember if I had similar feelings while reading the other book, but I thought that Williams writes women very well. I got the feeling that he likes writing about them more than he likes writing about men; which is funny since the series is named after the main character who is a man. The dialogue was fantastic throughout but my favorite moments took place in Covey’s office. Something about office banter really appeals to my sense of humor. But funniness aside, I was really impressed with how Williams handles the weight of social injustice and political corruption. I sometimes wonder about authors who choose seemingly random time periods for their backdrop, but in this case it works really well - especially when you take into consideration that times haven’t changed much since then. I think that setting the story in the past makes the theme come across less preachy and maybe creates a distance that feels safer for the reader. On a lighter note, I’m a big fan of alternate histories or fictional works that briefly feature real people.



While I enjoyed this story even more than the first book, the narrator just did not do it for me this time around. I felt like the sauciness of some of the characters couldn’t shine through because of how robotic James speaks in this book. She also was not consistent with differentiating between different characters. Aside from some editing that felt a little choppy and overlapped like radio infomercials, the production quality was good. However, my final impression was that maybe she did not have time to pre-read the book or re-record sections.

Overall, I recommend this audiobook to anyone who likes a good, smart mystery. You don’t have to read or listen to the first book to enjoy it either. I look forward to the next adventure with Covey and JayJay.

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Not your typical whodunit

Revisado: 12-03-18

Welcome to my first ever audio book review! I'm really excited to share my thoughts on Covey Jencks. Within the first few seconds, I was laughing because I was pronouncing Covey with a long "O" sound. So you can see that I am someone who could definitely benefit from listening to audio books more often.

One thing I noticed several minutes into this audio book is that all the normal front of the book stuff (title page, publishing information, foreword, etc.) was treated as individual chapters. So when you looked at your listening device, chapter 7 was when chapter 1 of the book actually began. I wish the company that put together the audio book could or would have used some other naming convention so that the chapter numbers actually matched up.

Narrator: At first I was a little confused with the choice of Kathy James as narrator, but I feel like it might have had to do with what was discussed in the foreword. This book contains all types of characters and the diversity extends beyond the normal racial categories to include cisgender individuals as well. So I think that Williams wanted to liberate us of our assumption as to what Covey Jencks would sound like. James was a good choice for keeping us on neutral footing. She has a very soothing voice with very precise diction, sort of like Siri. It takes her about a chapter or two to hit her stride, but it feels satisfying to hear her personality shine through. And though I tried to break the confines of my bias on gender roles, I couldn't help but smile every time that pretty voice cursed or talked about lewd behavior. Side note: I truly hope that Ms. James narrates some of those children's books intended for adult audiences in the future. Lastly, kudos to anyone who can read AIM messages without me fast forwarding.

Story: I can't praise this story enough. I was able to invest myself into every character, especially when it came to Covey and Freddie. I liked hearing about Covey's upbringing and just appreciated his sense of humor all around. I have a feeling that Williams has a bit of Covey in him because that character just felt so natural. I liked the many layers of Ms. Freddie as well and was glad to get to know her through the various flashbacks. Odessa was sort of its own character for me also because who knew about the seedy underground during that time period? I have never been to Odessa but I had imagined a sleepy town where there's one bar and one police officer to break up the occasional drunken brawl. But I guess that there would have to be more to a place for Covey to come back from a high power attorney position in Washington, D.C.

I had a good time listening to this book. It's a good mystery that takes you on a wild ride that is very different from your typical whodunit. You can't go wrong getting this in audio or print format.

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