Customer Reviews

The Witches' Hammer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

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.

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.

Jane Stanton Hitchcock has certainly sharpened her writing skills. In The Witches' Hammer, one of her earliest books, she sets up an intriguing plot line, in which a somewhat priggish thirty-something researcher comes home one evening to find her world famous book collector of a father dead on the floor of the parlor. She suspects that his murder is connected to a new book he has acquired about black magic. She drops everything and sets out to avenge him.

So far, so good. Now protagonist Bea must be propelled headlong into her quest, so Hitchcock throws in a Santeria diviner, Bea's philandering ex-husband, the owner of an occult bookshop, and an uber-sexy social worker. After a hundred or so pages, this pot is boiling. Actually, it's boiling over. Our author looses control of her creative impulses, going so far over the top that this book approaches parody. Unfortunate, but true.

The good news is that Hitchcock's most recent novels, Social Crimes and One Dangerous Lady, are written in a much different vein and are great fun. Genuinely witty and suspenseful. Try them instead.

Jane Stanton Hitchcock is perhaps my favorite author. And she should be, with such great books to her credit as Trick of the Eye or Social Crimes. This book, however, does not show her at her best. Amazingly well researched and detailed, however a bit dark for my taste. If you like reading about dark themes connected to the Catholic Church and witchcraft, this is your book. Personally, I found it a bit heavy.

I enjoyed Hitchcock's first novel "Trick of the Eye" because it was different from your average mystery novel. Her second novel did not disappoint. It was interesting and kind-of quirky. The novel did reach a point where it became somewhat over-the-top but none the less it was fun and it kept me entertained.

The story focuses on Beatrice O'Connell who has recently moved back in with her father who collects rare books. He receives a grimoire from a patient. A grimoire is a rare black magic book - usually from the 1300-1600's (or so). Intent on discovering the secret behind the book (after her father is murdered and the book disappears) Beatrice is lured into a bizarre world filled with interesting people, people who would do anything to harness the power held within the mysterious grimoire.

This extraordinary book grabs you by the lapels and pulls you into a complex, mysterious dazzling story from the opening page. It shimmers with sexuality, delicious details, humor and a true understanding of what it's like to be an intelligent woman. That's the point. It's a page turner, a treasure chest of wonderful imagery, but it's also a serious book about women and their history in society. I loved every sparkling scene, every bit of perfect dialogue, every skillful twist of plot. What a writer!

I enjoyed her first novel "Trick of the Eye" because it was different from your average mystery novel. Her second novel did not disappoint. It was interesting and kind-of quirky. The novel did reach a point where it became somewhat over-the-top but none the less it was fun and it kept me entertained.

Today,The DaVinci Code and Angel's & Demon's have stormed the literary scene as bestsellers. A lover of mystery thrillers based on historical facts enmeshed in conspiracy, spirituality and religious themes ... I, along with the PR hyped masses, ran to read The DaVinci Code. After reading, scratched my head and wondered what the big fuss was all about. Yes, facinating theories but explored in much more depth by other authors, read like a made for TV book, hollow characters making predictable decisions. The PR hype was way over the top; leaving my appetite unsatiated and wanting more.

I first read The Witches'Hammer in 1995, my first introduction to Jane Stanton Hitchcock. I loved it then and love it now.
10 years later, rereading The Witches Hammer; I could not put the book down, even upon a second reading. It is that good!

You owe it to yourself to read Jane Stanton Hitchcock's The Witches Hammer; a well written psychological - mystical thriller exploring themes of sexuality, religion, witchcraft, the physical and spiritual complexities of our human exsistence. Full of moving intrigue, a plausible storyline, realistic modern characters. Jane Stanton Hitchcock was way ahead her time and the masses in 1995 were not ready for her style of writing, depth of insight and originality in storytelling.

This book would make great a movie. We deserve original stories by great storytellers. I believe Jane Stanton Hitchcock is one of those writers that has what it takes, to write a great novel of our times, transcending time and space. I urge her to step back in time, save chick lit for later (hers is good,too) ... Please treat us with another great novel similar to The Withes Hammer.

Beatrice O'Connell is the daughter of a rare book collector. In the opening credits her father receives a gift of gratitude from a patient whose life he saves, a grimoire. This grimoire is not only a rare and priceless book, but also a dark one as its chief concern is the art of black magic. Somewhat predictably Beatrice's who by the way in nice touch by author is named after Dante's Beatrice)father is killed for this book.
So begins a very dense novel. I mean dense in the most literal sense it is packed with conspiracies, ex-naxi intrique, feminism and erotic passages. So this novel has something for everyone right?
Almost unfortunately Hitchcock through her protaganist makes it all too clear who her main audience is ( as one reviewer titled their review "Hear me Roar"). I say unfortunately because I picked up this book due to interesting synopsis on back working at a used book store I thought it was a novel for me. My interest in paranoral and occult also added to its appeal.
While I give credit to Ms. Hitchcock for having a suspenseful fun and well researched; as I could tell it was largely based on fact novel I did find some things that prevented me from giving it five stars. The main point is that Beatrice transforms into a feminist so quickly and completely its almost as if her purpose is to make male readers as uncomfortable and guilty for enjoying the book. I guess I'm saying I think Hitchcock was very brave writing this ( assuming at least part of her is contained within Beatrice's new outlook), but feel saddened she felt she had to be so in your face to get her point across. Like Beatrice almost knocking her ex-husband over the head with frying pan to prove shes changed and became darker in her sexuality with her wolf. I fear Ms. Hitchcock didn't give her male readers' enough credit for getting it. Thereby I think and almost suspect she intentionally alienated a portion of her readership but these musings didn't diminish my enjoyment of the novel in the long run.