Oldies But Goodies
{Put This One on Your TBR List}
Book Review: Wendy Ward Series by John Passarella
by Karen S. Wiesner
A bit of an explanation: Wither, winner of a Bram Stoker Award for First Novel, was written by the authors John Passarella and Joseph Gangemi (writer of Inamorata) under the pseudonym J.G. Passarella. The rest of the books in the series were written by John Passarella alone. Wither was his very first book, and it was intended to be a standalone. Passarella might be better known for his media tie-novels from the series Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Grimm.
Wither follows Wendy Ward a college student who's a white witch living in the fictional town Windale, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Wither is a late 17th century witch who, with a murderous coven of witches, terrorized the town. Now she's reawakened and intends to find a human host for herself and her most faithful.
Wendy was an engaging character along with Abby, an abused eight-year-old, and Karen, a pregnant professor. Wanting to see them succeed became more and more intense as the story progressed and on into the follow-up stories. There was something slithering about this series, starting from the very first installment. The terror crept up until all I could do was jump, bite back a scream, and then hold on with clenching fingers. I found a used copy of it, but, before I'd even finished, I rushed out and purchased the next two books in the series, Wither's Rain and Wither's Legacy. Both were equally enjoyable. Additionally, a collection of short stories in the series is published under the title Exit Strategy & Others, but most of these stories are also available in other anthologies as well. According to his website, the author is currently working on a fourth Wendy Ward novel.
If you like supernatural terror combined with characters that you can emotionally invest in, this is a great series to read nonstop over the course of a stormy weekend.
Next week, I'll review another Oldie But Goodie you might find worth another read, too.
Karen Wiesner is an award-winning,
multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.
Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/
and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog
Find out more about her books and see her art
here: http://www.facebook.com/KarenWiesnerAuthor
Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/
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