Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong

Purchased August 8, 2010

Read 8/23 & 24

Kindle Edition

File Size: 448 KB

Print Length: 320 pages

Publisher: DUTTON ADULT (July 27, 2010)

Sold by: Penguin Publishing

This is book eleven in the Otherworld Series.

US Cover

Canadian Cover

UK Cove

Waking the Witch

The orphaned daughter of a sorcerer and a half-demon, Savannah is a terrifyingly powerful young witch who has never been able to resist the chance to throw her magical weight around. But at 21 she knows she needs to grow up and prove to her guardians, Paige and Lucas, that she can be a responsible member of their supernatural detective agency. So she jumps at the chance to fly solo, investigating the mysterious deaths of three young women in a nearby factory town as a favour to one of the agency’s associates. At first glance, the murders look garden-variety human, but on closer inspection signs point to otherworldly stakes.

Soon Savannah is in over her head. She’s run off the road and nearly killed, haunted by a mystery stalker, and freaked out when the brother of one of the dead women is murdered when he tries to investigate the crime. To complicate things, something weird is happening to her powers. Pitted against shamans, demons, a voodoo-inflected cult and garden-variety goons, Savannah has to fight to ensure her first case isn’t her last. And she also has to ask for help, perhaps the hardest lesson she’s ever had to learn.

Savannah is sassy, maybe a little arrogant, young, powerful, headstrong, makes mistakes and feels remorse, is really good at her job, knows how to protect herself physically and magically. She is all these things but her youth and her headstrong attitude are her Achilles's heel.  Having worked in her guardians' shadow since she was a minor, Savannah is ready to break out on her own, and the opportunity presents itself when her friend, co-worker and major crush Adam's pal Jesse comes around to get help with a case with occult overtones in a town nearby.  Is she in over her head?  Not at first but complications develop when another investigator gets under her skin (in a good way) and when it turns our the town has some other magic going on.

In this book the best developed character is Savannah.  What I liked about her was her strength and her soft spots.  Sometimes she underestimates her strength, and other times she is over confident. She is vulnerable to kids with crappy or neglectful parents because of her past. She thinks she is more mature than she is and makes some rash decisions that backfire on her. She thinks she has it all figured out, and that  she is over Adam's indifference to her as a woman.  She thinks she has the people she interviews all sussed out, but they keep surprising her. Written in the first person, we see others through Savannah's lens. The daughter of one of the victims in this mystery, Kayla, comes across as a vulnerable Savannah-without-the-magic. Michael Kennedy,  police detective brother of one of the other victims comes to her as a romantic replacement for Adam and she sizes the Michael up against him. It is clear there are no substitutions for Adam in her heart.  Savannah lives in a Savannah-centric world; super-gifted, well-off, fearless.  But of course she isn't all grown-up and her foibles put her and others at risk, when the worst happens, she blames herself. 

Armstrong keeps the pace of the book going from the start. The action starts within the first five pages, and really keeps going except for when the girl is eating or sleeping.  The story has lots of twists and turns as well as a few red herrings. Why was the high-school teacher introduced? Could he be the perp? How about the chief of police? The Waitress, Lorraine? And, the solution to this mystery is as complex as Savannah's personality.  I don't know whether I have ever read such a complex ending to a mystery. The question is whether Savannah and her pals can survive what happens.  Your will hope they do because you will want more of Savannah and Adam in future books.
Not much in the way of romantic heat, but Ms. Armstrong can make necking pretty hot. The real action here is in the plot.  I highly recommend Waking the Witch.

Note: this is book eleven in this series, but even without prior knowledge it is pretty easy to follow. Armstrong's web site offers a character guide and a guide to the demon-world.  Also, this is the first book with Savannah as the narrator, so it would naturally stand up on its own.

Ms. Armstrong has three kids and lives in Ontario, Canada. She received a degree in Psychology and then studied computer programming. Having been a programmer myself (before Windows was a glimmer in Bill Gates eye) I can tell you that programming prepares one for endless writing and rewriting. Currently Ms. Armstrong writes and parents full-time.