Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Published: September 12, 2023
Pages: 342
Something wicked this way comes . . .
When fifteen-year-old Nate Watson moves to Windsor to live with his mysterious Aunt Celia, the last things on his mind are witches and magick and ancient vendettas. While Nate focuses on building a new life for himself and his younger brother, making new friends and adjusting to a new high school, he can't escape the feeling that something isn't as it seems.
When fifteen-year-old Nate Watson moves to Windsor to live with his mysterious Aunt Celia, the last things on his mind are witches and magick and ancient vendettas. While Nate focuses on building a new life for himself and his younger brother, making new friends and adjusting to a new high school, he can't escape the feeling that something isn't as it seems.
Nate's search for answers leads him to a forbidden, locked door in Aunt Celia's mansion. Inside, he finds a witch’s workshop full of mystical artifacts, some dating back to the time of the earliest Puritan settlers. It's no coincidence that Nate is now living in the very same town where, forty-five years before the Salem witch trials, Alse Young was hanged as America's first witch.
Could magick be real? Nate remains skeptical until he picks up the witchfinder’s serpent--a powerful, demonic bracelet that wraps itself around his arm and permanently imbeds itself into his flesh. Now Nate must confront the truth about Aunt Celia's unlikely ancestry--as well as his own. And with her help, he must find a way to remove the bracelet before the serpent's previous owner returns--an ancient and powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to get it back.
I received an audiobook version of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.
This story had some serious religious overtones as it connects to the Puritans and the Salem witch trials. It is set in the modern day, but the events currently happening are heavily influenced by events from the past. This aspect of the story kept me engrossed as I was just as excited as the kids in the story to learn about the connections and what they meant. I was most intrigued by the flashback scenes set during the lead up to the witch trials (side note, Alse is pronounced like Alice).
I found the narrative itself to be a bit juvenile, but as the target audience is about my daughter's age (13) that's to be expected. It would make a great book to read with your middle grade children, or to listen to on a road trip with the family.
The narration itself was well done. The voices for the characters were distinct enough without feeling like a mockery. Overall I give The Witchfinder's Serpent 4.0378 out of 5 stars. - Katie
Rande Goodwin is a full-time IT professional and part-time raptor trainer (the prehistoric kind). In his free time, he enjoys reading and travel, restoring vintage Borg drones, dusting vamps in Sunnydale, and being one with the Force. Oh, and writing is fun too. He lives in New England with his wife, two daughters and four dogs.
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