Rating: 3 stars

Savannah Levine is a 21-year-old, motorcycle-riding witch who feels she’s ready to come into her own in the PI business run by her guardians, Paige and Lucas (also supernaturals). When Jesse, a telekinetic half-demon and friend of her adoptive parents, presents her with the opportunity to lead an investigation, Savannah jumps at it.

The job takes her to the very small town of Columbus, Washington, where three young women have been murdered in an abandoned building in what looks like voodoo or Santeria sacrifices. Finding it difficult to break through the “small-town” mentality, Savannah finally wins them over; although she finds not everybody has put out the welcome mat and danger lurks around every corner—both supernatural and human.

Savannah does a good job with her investigation, with just the right amount of tact and maturity required for a good PI. However, some of the investigation seemed a bit disjointed, not quite getting fleshed out or forgotten all together. Even worse, Armstrong’s use of the “surprise twist” came off as totally random—although bordering on ridiculous, it doesn’t ruin the book.

Not knowing what to expect, I jumped into Armstrong’s 11th book in the Otherworld Series hoping for the best. Luckily, things went pretty well. WTW was more urban fantasy than para-romance; although I’m not sure how die-hard fans feel about what seems to be a bit of departure for the series.

I, as a newbie, found Waking the Witch to be entertaining enough to make me care about a bunch of characters I’ve never met and ride it to the end to see what happens. I wasn’t disappointed.
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Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (July 27, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-0525951780