The Witching Hours

[cornerofmadness]

The Witching Hours by Heather Graham

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Definitely a 2.5 star review and some of that is on me. it's been so long since I've read Graham's paranormal FBI series that I had forgotten about it and forgotten it wasn't exactly to my tastes. And this one was even less so than others if I'm honest. I nearly DNFed it in the first half but since Netgalley gave me an arc I felt obligated to move forward.

It's easy enough plot, people are going missing Salem, MA, kids especially (babysitter included) so the FBI has been called in, specifically Crowe's krewe of paranormal investigators, in this case Skye who can view the past and Zach who can hone in on people via personal objects of theirs. Who is taking the people (and who killed one old man)? Some one or more than one dressed up in green wicked witch of the west paint ...to cash in on Salem's witch history? I guess? The officer, Gavin, who asked them in has secrets of his own.

This is a straight forward plot. Almost too much. Maybe that explains the endless filler in this thing. If I had to sit down to breakfast one more time with Zach and Skye I was going to scream. Stephen King's writing advice is to never end a chapter on characters going to bed. I'm going to add to start every chapter with them sitting down to breakfast. The romance in this was even more forced and boring than the last one of these I read, mostly because Zach and Skye are flat and nearly interchangeable in terms of personality.

So why did I nearly DNF this? Because the duo had faked one bit of information in order to do their jobs (because they can't come out and say 'psychic vision') and were willing to do it in another setting later in the book. However when they know the victims have been taken into the woods, instead of faking another 'tip' they whine on and on about having no evidence. Why the heck not fake it again and get search and rescue out there with dogs? Oh right because the book would have ended as a novelette. So frustrating.

As was the endless love letter to Salem and its history. Don't get me wrong. I love Salem. I go there any time I'm in MA. I love its history in spite of the tragedy of it. But this was obviously a case of the author doing some research and wanting to use it up. It wasn't even well used where it was (though it was repeated often) including taking time for Zach and Skye to play Salem history trivia with each other pretending it was shedding light on the case (It wasn't, it literally had nothing to do with anything).

When I was 90% into it I was wondering how Graham was going to wrap her book up in the remaining few pages. The answer was at lightning speed so we had time for a Zach/Skye epilogue I couldn't have cared about less. In retrospect maybe I should give this two stars but I'll be kind and I will not get more of the series in the future. Consider it lesson learned.



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