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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hear Me Roar!,
By sweetmolly (RICHMOND, VA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Witches' Hammer: 2 (Hardcover)
After being thoroughly delighted with Jane Stanton Hitchcock's latest novel, "Social Crimes," I couldn't wait to read this earlier outing. Before reading 20 pages of "The Witches' Hammer", I could hardly believe it was by the same author. The plot was sheer comic strip, the characters were one-dimensional, and it had "movie" written all over it. (Though I find it hard to believe even Hollywood would think of taking on this potboiler.)Totally repressed, gently bred, convent educated Beatrice O'Connell is confronted with the murder of her book collector father the day after he receives an ancient book of evil spells. She feels the police are apathetic and vows to find her father's murderer and is convinced the answer lies in the little book. She descends to Spanish Harlem to meet with an occultist and meets a totally erotic, sensual man. She goes with him and realizes her inner "wolf" woman. She returns from the wild and steamy assignation a charged and changed woman. She discovers an evil cabal within the Catholic Church who are willing to go to any lengths to recover the now lost book. This group wants to return to the practices of the Spanish Inquisition, locate and burn witches, and completely repress women because they are inherently evil. Her allies are her ex-husband and a strange frail little rare bookseller. The evil ones have a big spread in upper New York State that Beatrice infiltrates. The conspiracy is everywhere. The action becomes increasingly bloody and violent when Beatrice is confronted on all sides by malevolence. I felt like Beatrice stepped into a phone booth and came out in her Superman suit to take on the forces of evil. I could not make the leap of faith that Marion the Librarian is in reality a Wonder Woman/Superman. Feminists would be better served by Pat Buchanan than "The Witches' Hammer" over-the-top silliness. The only thing I learned from this book was the definition of "grimoire." Read "Social Crimes" and give this one a pass.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An absorbing read,
By "ljarvi" (Prescott, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Witches' Hammer (Paperback)
I was very intrigued and entertained by this novel. I felt that it was well-written, had believable characters, and presented a fascinating story which kept me hooked to the end. I certainly do not believe that the modern world is beyond the sort of fanaticism described in this book. I'm not surprised at the negative reviews from people who are obviously disturbed and/or threatened by its frank and unflinching exploration of the themes of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion. Ms. Stanton has worked to illuminate the complexities of human experience and motive through her characters, and has managed to spin a good yarn in the bargain! She has also tried to avoid having her characters become mere mouthpieces for one perspective. She succeeded admirably in this with her female lead character, allowing her to grow and deepen in her understanding of the conflicting aspects of herself, but was not as successful giving this same capacity to her male characters. Ms. Stanton seemed content to leave them hopelessly stuck in their automatic reactions and compulsions. Despite the feminist male stereotyping, it was a fun read. I will definitely be looking for other novels by this author.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Witches' Hammer (Paperback)
Its not easy to write a realistic thriller about witches and witchhunters set in present day New York, but Jane Stanton Hitchcock pulls it off beautifully, with humor, variety and utterly wonderful prose. The characters and their motivations are utterly believable, in fact I think I've met some of them under other names! The activities these characters engage in are something we confidently tell ourselves is a part of the dead past. The combination makes this a truly scary novel, with its reminder that while witch hunts may no longer exist outside of the pages of novels, misogyny, repressed sexuality, scapegoats and obsession with and fear of the other did not die out with the thees and thous and funny hats of Salem, but are alive and well in our own century. An excellent read.
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