Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis

This is the second "official" book the real "Supernatural Book Club" has read.
Plot Summery (from the back of the book):"Occult investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.

The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworlds of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself—the very heart of darkness."

When I read the title of this book I had my doubts, several of us did. "Black Magic Woman"? That's a pretty poor title for the book, and that picture on the front? After reading the book we still couldn't figure out who that was supposed to be. The title and picture did not accurately portray what the book was about, BUT thankfully we were able to get past that. The one thing that gave me hope that the book might not be so bad was the endorsement on the front by Jim Butcher, and reading int eh acknowledgments section that Gustainis aspires to write books like Butcher's. Having read many of Butcher's books I'd say that this book is in a definitely similar style to Butcher's "The Dresden Files". And Mr. Gustainis is well on his way to his goal.

The general consensus of the book club is that "Black Magic Woman" was more enjoyable then the last book we read ("Undead and Unwed"), but really that isn't saying much. It offered mystery, intrigue, supernatural beings, all the things we love. There are also several different plot lines seen from the perspectives of several different characters in different settings. All the different plot lines are connected and tie together at the end. I think this element was what we all seemed to like best about the book, it was more complex in that regard then some of the books we've read before. The one thing missing was romance, this book is really a supernatural detective novel. Not having romance wasn't a bad thing, but if that's what you're looking for, you might be disappointed.

Bottom line: An entertaining read, plenty of action and adventure. I would recommend it for fans of Jim Butcher and The Dresden Files.