Natasha Mostert, Season of the Witch

Season of the Witch

Natasha Mostert

Dutton, Apr 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 0525950036

"Information thief" Gabriel Blackstone uses his gift "remote viewing" to obtain the thoughts of other people. He has no scruples about stealing from a mind for a paying customer.

London investment banker William Whittington is dying, but wants to see his missing son Robert before he expires. Encouraged by his young trophy wife Cecily Franck, who intimately knows Gabriel, William hires the man. Gabriel uses his talent by "slamming the ride" to trace the vanished heir only to find Robert dead. The Monk sisters Morrighan and Minnaloushe are the prime suspects as both have the occult talent as direct descendants of sixteenth-century alchemist John Dee. Feeling a bit of ethics towards his client, Gabriel courts the siblings with hopes of learning which one killed Robert, but he soon finds himself bewitched by love.

This is a one-sitting, exciting, paranormal whodunit that grips the audience from the opening Prologue and never stops for even a gasp until the words The End. The storyline is fast-paced, filled with action and makes the impossible seem plausible. The support cast enhances the plot, but clearly this terrific tale belongs to the Gifted as the readers, like the hero, wonder who the killer is and whether Gabriel has fallen in love with a murdering occultist or an angelic practitioner.

Harriet Klausner