ARC Review: Witch Hunt by S. M. Reine

Witch Hunt by S. M. Reine



Publisher:  CreateSpace indipendent Publishing Platform
Series: Preternatural Affairs #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 31, 2014
Summary:
A brutal murder.

There are scratches on Cèsar Hawke’s arms, a discharged Glock on his coffee table, and a dead woman in his bathtub. Yeah, maybe he brought the waitress home for some fun — he was too drunk to remember it — but he knows for a fact that he didn’t kill her. He’s an agent with the Office of Preternatural Affairs. He doesn’t hurt people. He saves them.

The cops disagree. Now Cèsar is running.

The search for a shaman.

Isobel Stonecrow speaks with the dead…for the right price. She brings closure to the bereaved and heals broken hearts. But when she resurrects someone for the wrong client, she ends up on the OPA’s most wanted list.

One risky solution.

Tracking down Isobel is the last case assigned to Cèsar before he bolts. If he finds her, he can prove that he didn’t kill that waitress. He can clear his name, get his job back, and bring justice to the victim.

She’s just one witch. Cèsar has bagged a dozen witches before.

How hard can one more be

Rating: 

Review:
Witch Hunt reminded me of a mix of Man in Black (add witches instead of aliens) and Miami Vice (plus paranormal bits) set in LA.

To be honest I kinda wish I would have liked this better. Because if this would have been a movie- I probably would have loved it.
This is your paranormal mystery action flick. Totally my way to wind-down in front of the screen.
I probably would have liked this better as an audio book as well. Assuming obviously the narrator did a good job.
But reading it myself... nah, kinda didn't work for me.

The plot is good fun. Lots of action, mystery - it's non-stop really and had me guessing and working out things.
The world building is also quite well done. Clever paranormal mystery- not anything amazingly new. But really fun.
The writing style was a bit to simple for me at times but also ok
So why did this not work for me? Honestly I didn't care much for Cesar. I mean the character building was done, ok. He is your typical male action dude- down to the corny jokes. And even the support cast was ok, kinda been there done that character wise. But Reine did a decent job at this. I just didn't enjoy reading this from Cesar's POV, I found his humor not particularly funny and in general wasn't able to connect with him.
This is in the end just a taste thing. Which is one of those odd things. In theory this should have worked for me, but it just didn't.

I don't think I will be reading the next book of the series, I might try it as an audiobook if that ever happens. I will also read another book of Reine in the future.
And I definitely will go watch the movie...

ARC was provided by Publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

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