Black Magic Woman fails to bewitch me

By Tiffany Young
This novel by Justin Gustainis begins with supernatural investigator Quincey Morris showing up in a small, Texas town to rid the town of vampires. Morris is a likeable, if not predictable, character, with his take-charge attitude and quiet demeanor. When Walter LaRue comes into his office telling Morris about supernatural acts in his home threatening the lives of his family, Quincey takes on the case, saying he will take care of it.

After arriving at the home, Quincey finds charms left behind by the wife's mother that had been protecting the family against a powerful dark source and he calls in a friend, white witch Libby Chastain, to help out. The two go on a hunt quite literally to find the witch who is causing all the strife to the family.

In time, the detectives find out that the wife, Marcia LaRue, came from a family that had helped persecute a witch in the Salem witch trials and the descendants of that family are willing to do anything to get revenge.

Meanwhile, an FBI-type agent from South Africa—who has experience with supernatural activity—is flown in to help with a case of repeated child murders. Agent Van Dreenan and Agent Fenton may not have immediate respect or affection for one another, but in time come to an understanding as Fenton discovers a new respect for things that seem implausible.

Both teams set out on a series of leads to find the culprit behind their respective crimes only to find they may be looking for the same criminal or criminals.

"Black Magic Woman" may have been a bit too supernatural for my tastes. While I enjoyed portions of the book, there were times when sexual-type activities seemed to just come from nowhere without any kind of romance, there were so many demons and witches it was difficult to keep track of what was going on at times and some of the grammar and spelling mistakes in the book were distracting. There are also times when the novel gets a bit cheesy going from one silly spell to another—especially toward the end of the novel.

That being said, it wasn't a terrible novel and it certainly wasn't one that took much time reading. If you like dark novels, you may want to check it out despite my unenthusiastic review.