"Witches Protection Program" by Michael Phillip Cash

Witches Protection Program by Michael Phillip Cash
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I admit, I got excited when I read the title "Witches Protection Program". All sorts of questions popped into my head. First and foremost, who could threaten witches enough that they need their own protection program? The obvious answer is ... other witches. Okay, it could also be witch-hating zealots or other close-minded people.

That is the premise behind "Witches Protection Program" by Michael Phillip Cash. There are two groups of witches out there, and they have been at odds for a long time. For those who hate spoilers, I'm not going into details here. The author actually covers this information fairly well in the beginning chapters. This story centers around a guy named Wes. He comes from a long line of ridiculously talented and famous people. He father currently runs a division in the police department that was founded by his grandfather. So Wes feels compelled to make a name for himself, and feels all sorts of internal and external pressures to do so.

Only Wes is more of a regularly talented guy, and he's a bit thick. At least that's my first and so far lasting impressions of him. It's also the first problem I had with this book. Despite lots of evidence to the contrary, Wes stubbornly refuses to believe in witches and magic well past the point that makes sense. While I applaud critical thinking and not accepting a situation at face value, Wes goes beyond that into "I don't want to believe this so I just won't" territory before he starts to believe in spite of himself.

The other problem I have with this book is pacing. There is choppiness in the narration and the action. At times, Mr. Cash slows down to explain the situation well, or slows down to capture a scene. Then, Bam! You're thrust somewhere with new characters gaining information you think will be relevant at some point in the future, but uncertain as to the whys or how behind it.

Overall, the characters are good, if a bit stereotypical at times. The plot is interesting enough, and where Mr. Cash might lack in originality he makes up for in good storytelling. But I still give this book only three stars because I am not a fan of his writing style.

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