Review: A Witch's Lament / Thursday 13: Novels Set in Salem

A Witch's Lament by Catherine Anne Collins


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Blurb:

When Skye Temple buys a historic house in Salem, Massachusetts, the witch capital of the world, she ignites events that began centuries ago during the witch trials. Salem's bloody history unfolds with her discovery of ancestral diaries, the murders of local girls, and her attraction to Jerome Phips.

A local police officer, Jerome has returned to Salem vowing to uncover the truth of his mother's disappearance during a ritual gone wrong 30 years ago. His suspicion of Skye and her family's history keeps tension between them high.

Burdened with the birth-task of the Goods to keep an ancient knife protected, Skye gains a new understanding of her powers, while the need to avenge his mother's death drives Jerome. Past and present collide in a final ritual between evil, love and honor.

Review:

I’m a sucker for stories about Salem. I love the town, and it makes such a rich backdrop for a paranormal book. The author makes great use of the setting, winding in elements of Salem’s violent history alongside the modern commercial aspects of the town.

The story itself is fast-paced and filled with magickal twists and turns. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to reading Collins’ next book!

Thursday 13: Novels Set in Salem

1. A Witch’s Lament by Catherine Anne Collins
2. A Witch’s Legacy by Catherine Anne Collins
3. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde
4. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
5. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
6. The Last Witchfinder by Jennet Stearne
7. Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
8. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
9. The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
10. The Crucible by Arthur Miller (okay, it’s a play, not a novel)
11. The Afflicted Girls by Suzy Witten
12. Susannah Morrow by Megan Chance
13. Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

Updates and ROW80 Day 3 Check-In

I’ve been busy over the last few days! I’ve been working on a new blog project with Sam from 13 Magickal Moons, and I’m happy to announce that the Ask-A-Witch blog went live yesterday! It’s a place on the web where your spiritual and magickal questions will be answered by practicing Witches. We have a list of questions that we’re working on answering for you, so please keep checking in if you sent a request.

This past weekend, I joined a read-a-thon that Back of the Book Reviews was hosting. It was a blast, and I finished off several new books that I can recommend. I’ll post a couple of reviews later this week!

        

ROW80: I started a new writing challenge in an attempt to finish my latest re-write. I have to admit, I was procrastinating about opening the rough copy of the book. As much as I like the story, right now it’s a mess and I was dreading wading through it all. But I pulled out my printed copy of the beast last night and started whacking away at it with a red felt-tip. The pages I’ve worked on so far are now so red they look like they’ve been sitting on the floor of Eric’s dungeon! I have to admit, though, perhaps the story isn’t quite as messy as I thought.

I will sign off here and get back to work! Good luck, ROW80-ers!

New Writing Goals

In the spirit of shared insanity, I have decided once again to join a writing challenge. Every year for the past five, I’ve done NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – write 50k words in the 30 days of November) and met my goal each time save one – and that’s only because I didn’t set my time zone correctly on the website. It makes November crazy, but always productive!

I recently discovered another writing challenge site, called A Round of Words in 80 Days. In this one, you set your own goals to complete within 80 days. Sounds a little less hectic than NaNo! I do well with deadlines, so I figure I’ll give this a try.

Anyone who’s been asking me when my next book will come out has heard me say that it is written, but unedited. Every time I get into editing it, I get frustrated because it’s not going to be so much an edit as a compete rewrite. Especially after my recent trip to New Orleans. There are so many things I want to incorporate from that trip into my next book, that a rewrite really is necessary.

So here’s my goal for the next 80 days: Finish the rewrite of Free Spirit. I’m not going to say it’ll be completely edited by then, but I’d like it to be in pretty decent shape with only some cleaning up and polishing to do before I send it in to the folks at Crescent Moon Press.

I have to make this goal! And here’s why: I have another book that I’m working on that is due to the publisher in less than a year. I’d really like to complete my sequel before I get any farther into that book though. Also, I want to be able to answer people’s questions about a sequel with a date! And the only way to do that is to get it into my editors’ hands.

I’m very excited that my husband, John, already jumped into the challenge with me. We may not have a very clean house for the next 2 and a half months, but I think writing a couple of books is a fair trade!

The 3^rd round of ROW80 just began July 4^th – who wants to join me? Yes, Sam and Amy, I’m talking to you!

Skyrockets in Flight Blog Hop and Giveaway

Happy Independence Day!

Few things say July 4^th to me like cookouts, fireworks, and Jaws. Jaws is my favorite movie! What could be better than Peter Benchley's story, Spielberg's filmmaking, and sharks? For me, it's the quintessential summer film!

"Martin, it's all psychological. You yell barracuda, everybody says, 'Huh? What?' You yell shark, we've got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July."

What’s your favorite summer movie? Tell me in a comment below and click one of the follow buttons on the right for the chance to win an electronic copy of my book, Magick Charm!

Sorry - the contest is over!

Review: Hybrid by Brian O'Grady

Hybrid by Brian O'Grady

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m a science geek, so O’Grady had me with the cover, which depicts winding DNA strands. But this book is more than just genetics, a killer virus, and a race against time! The human element in this story is strong, with the quirky main characters having well-developed back-stories that blend together into a compelling narrative. There’s plenty of action and suspense here too.

One thing that I particularly appreciated was the scientific discussion of the virus itself. It shouldn’t be surprising that O’Grady is able to give a thorough description of the medicine behind it since he’s a neurosurgeon!

I got lost a couple of times among the plethora of characters and subplots, but overall, this was an entertaining story. I give it between 3.5 and 4 stars.



View all my reviews