SEASON OF THE WITCH

SEASON OF THE WITCH
By Natasha Mostert
New American Library
395 pages

Before getting into the review of this book, I have to take a minute and applaud Carla Bolte and Spring Hoteling. Who are they? They are the extremely talented designers who made this book so beautiful. We bibliophiles don’t only to read books, we also appreciate the very objects themselves and are fully aware of the tasks involved in producing a product that is pleasing to the eye. The moment I pulled this book out of its package, my breath caught in my throat. So beautiful was the cover, its colors, fonts and over-all design composition, I simply held it for a few minutes appreciating the true skills of its designers. Take a bow, Bolte & Hoteling, you do exceptional work and I’m sure because of it, lots of people are compelled to pick this book off the store shelves and take a closer look. That is, after all, what book covers are for.

Gabriel Blackstone is an industrial thief who uses the latest wireless computer technology to steal. His best friend is a geek hacker named Isadore and the two of them have a lucrative business going for themselves in the heart of modern day London. People from various scientific and financial companies are their primary clients, as all of them are willing to pay large amounts to know what their competitors are doing. It is a colorful, if often times boring, life and Gabriel is most content with it.

He is not at all happy when the wealthy husband of a former lover approaches him with the request to find his missing son. Gabriel wants nothing to with the man or his offer. Within days of turning him down, he is visited by the man’s wife, his former paramour. It is through her we are informed that Gabriel is a gifted psychic who, at one time, worked for a special organization using extra-sensory abilities to help the police. During a kidnap case, Gabriel refused to use his talent and a young woman was brutally killed before the police could track down her abductor. Blaming himself for her death, Gabriel left the group and ceased using his gift. Now, Frankie, his lost love, wants him to use that talent in finding her missing stepson and Gabriel, still harboring feelings for her, reluctantly acquiesces to her request.

Here the story moves into the realm of an arcane, erotic thriller. It seems Robbie, the lost youth, was last seen in the company of two wealthy and beautiful sisters who consider themsevles witches. Upon meeting them, Gabriel is instantly mesmerized by their sensual graces, their quick intellects and their bravura joie de vivre. As he delves deeper into their mysterious lives, he soon learns that the young man he is seeking is dead, drowned by one of the sisters. But which one? And why? Then, as if that wasn’t enough of a puzzled, Gabriel is attacked psychically and the entire matter takes on horrific implications. His sexy unknown advisory is capable of killing with her mind!

As a writer, Mostert is wonderful at building a very deceptive pacing that seems leisurely. Her choice of words and descriptive passages paint complete atmospheres that captive the reader and pull us into the world of the two sisters. Yet each scene seems to come along like a literary freight train, each moving swiftly towards a taunt, gripping duel that takes place in ever shifting realm of pure thought. Her characters are well drawn and believable, enough to earn the reader’s empathy from the start and to elicit emotional investment.

This is a one powerful, highly entertaining novel that I will remember for a long, long time. If you enjoy tales of modern witchcraft and fantasy, look no further. SEASON OF THE WITCH is your cup of herbal tea.