Jay Barnson delivers a wonderful urban fantasy coming of age story in his debut novel, Blood Creek Witch.Jenny Rose discovers she’s a witch soon after her parents die in a car accident. She is just weeks away from graduating from high school in Chicago and Aunt Hattie comes to help her take care of the arrangements. Then, they return to Hattie’s home in the small town of Maple Bend (also known as Blood Creek) in the deep woods of West Virginia where Jenny finds out her family has a history of witches.
Barriers between the world we know and the land of mythical creatures are keeping the worlds apart. But, the man in the white suit worked for years to create an unguarded crossroads he can use near Maple Bend. It has been a long struggle because some members of the Rose family have taken it upon themselves to hide and protect the gate. The man in a white suit has his own coven which is now on the verge of locating the gate and getting through.
Barnson has done a wonderful job of weaving an intriguing tale from beginning to end. He creates a coming of age/origin story for Jenny Rose. Thrust into a small town where she has never lived with abilities she never knew she had, she struggles with her own identity and where she fits in.
Jenny meets her cousin Jessabelle, who is a shape changer, and a local boy Jack, who is struggling with his public image with the rest of the town. Another visitor to the town of Maple Bend is Sean, who can see ghosts and has been manipulated to arrive in Blood Creek to help Evelyn, a witch in the coven controlled by the man in the white suit.
The four young adults are racing against the powerful witch, Evelyn, to find the gate and how to get through it. The battle continues into the otherworld where Jenny meets her grandmother who protects the gate from the other side.
The book ends with a new beginning. Blood Creek Witch is the first book of a continuing story. Jenny’s journey has begun, but it’s not over. There is more for the young witch and her friends as they are all now caught up in the struggle to make our world a safe place.
Style
For readers of young adult and adult urban fantasy Blood Creek Witch is a fun read. There is murder and bloodshed, personal battles dealing with loss and hardships. The characters are outcasts in their own ways and are learning who they are and where they fit into the world.
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| Jay Barnson |
The style is light, even in covering darker subjects and provides a point of distance to the events which allows the story to be told without being overly detailed. Barnson uses his knowledge of the area to great effect to create a setting that is believable, with enough fantastical element to bring the story off the page and into the imagination. As a reader I was brought along with the characters and not just reading/watching what they were going through.
Overall
Blood Creek Witchis an enjoyable, fun read for young adults and fans of urban fantasy. It is on the edge of transition into more mature themed work.
I’m looking forward to the continuation of the story of Jenny Rose and her friends.
Blood Creek Witch is scheduled for release on March 13, 2018 from Immortal Works Press.
The Author
Jay Barnson is an award winning writer, software engineer, and an award-winning video game developer. He has written for The Escapist and Cirsova magazines, and has been published in numerous anthologies, most recently Altered States II: A Cyberpunk Anthology. He is the first place winner in the 2016 DragonComet award. A transplant to Utah, Jay was born in the hills of West Virginia, and uses the word “y'all” by choice, not by habit.
Jay Barnson’s blog is Rampant Games (http://rampantgames.com/blog/).
I received a review copy of Blood Creek Witch from the author.
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