Not Much Substance.

This is an urban fantasy genre novel with our protagonist, Michelle, as a witch who aids the police in a world filled with all manner of supernatural beings. Author N. E. Conneely gives the reader/listener a lot to like in her work. Mostly, I think, because there’s a lot happening in Ms. Conneely’s Witch Path books. There’s also a lot of characters as well. How much you like this story and the series will probably depend on what pleases you most in a story. If you like a lot of things going on and a more story driven novel, you should like “A Witch’s Path” a lot. If you require some character development with your story then you won’t care nearly as much for the Witch’s Path books. From a story building standpoint, Ms. Conneely packs a lot into her work. From a character building standpoint, she starves her readers/listeners. In fact, in the first two novels in the series, all we learn about Michelle is she’s strong and courageous, which most authors would choose as traits for their lead character. We also learn that she longs for justice. It seems like there should be a story behind that longing. Learning what that story was would certainly add some depth to the lead character that simply isn’t there. But two books into the series and we still haven’t learned anything about Michelle. The same goes for other characters. They seem to act exactly like whatever the author initially determined their personality should be when she was planning out her book. An example of this is Tiffany. She is a dumb brat and a whiner. I suspect If you saw the author’s note describing this character when she was planning out the series, it would read as Tiffany: dumb, bratty, whiner. Whenever Tiffany has dialog in the story, all she spews is a reinforcement of her character description. She does this for the entire book with no growth whatsoever. There isn’t even so much as a hint of an explanation as to why she’s such a brat and a whiner much less any growth from those traits. This lack of character development is consistent throughout the first two N. E. Conneely Witch Path books. That might be acceptable in a short story, but in a full length novel I feel that’s a major flaw.

Jeff Hayes narrates “A Witch’s Path,” which is a bit unusual. Typically a female narrator is chosen when the lead character is female. However, Mr. Hayes does a wonderful job with Ms. Conneely’s book. I consider him one of the very top narrators working and he proves it with flying colors as he masterfully brings the book to life while deftly handling the female lead’s voice as well as voices for all the other characters in the novel.

Overall, I think most people will like more than they dislike in “A Witch’s Path,” but I still hope to start learning something substantial about the characters soon. Finally, this audio book was provided by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an honest review, courtesy of Audio Book Blast.