Occult investigator Quincey Morris and his "consultant", white witch Libby Chastain, are hired to free a family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem witch trials. Fraught with danger, the trail finds them stalking the mysterious occult underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York, searching out the root of the curse. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself—the very heart of darkness. (from justingustainis.com)
Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis is one of the best urban fantasy novels that I read in 2008 and that is definitely saying something as that was a VERY good year for me, bookwise. In my local library system, there is only one copy of this awesome book for the whole region and every time I check its shelf at my local library, it is always there and I am sad.
There is no romance here. Not that they have time for it but Libby is a lesbian. I found that refreshing; eliminating that factor from the story left plenty of focus on the magic and a foundation of true friendship between Quincey and Libby. The plot moves along at a pace that is neither too fast nor does it allow for boredom to sneak in. It is clever and fresh with plenty of humor. I originally borrowed it from the library but got my own copy afterwards. I also bought the next book in the series, Evil Ways, and do plan to read it someday or whenever I can conquer the curse of the TBR pile.
Book three, titled Sympathy for the Devil, has been in the works for a few years now and has a release date of July 26, 2011 on Amazon.com. Look for Those Who Fight Monsters, an anthology edited by Gustainis with an awesome lineup on March 1, 2011.
Gustainis is also working on Hard Spell, the first in a new series about a supernatural cop who lives in Scranton, PA. Maybe he can check out Dwight Schrute? There has got to be something supernatural going on with that guy.
2 comments:
LMAO! I like what you did there with the Dwight thing. ;)
I've read mixed reviews about Black Magic Woman so I've been hesitant to give it a shot. Once I have some breathing room I'll give it a try since it got the Jen stamp of approval and all.
Thanks for the kind words about my work, Jen. A few million more like you, and I could quit my day job. If you don't mind a small correction, I would mention that Libby Chastain isn't a lesbian, she's bisexual -- which, as Woody Allen has pointed out, doubles one's chances for a date on Saturday night. ;)
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