
I don’t know what happened with Ms Rawlings between the two novels but kudos to her on the growth and execution of Witch Hunt.
Witch Hunt is a more complete book. I found myself more involved in the story and with the characters. I became engrossed enough not to want to stop.
Maurin no longer works for the Salem Police Preternatural Task Force. With her powers still growing, she is now the liaison between The Council and the SPPTF. She’s not entirely happy with this turn of events, but deals with it the best she can.
Their are still a lot of characters in the story but the nucleus is better handled than in The Morrigna. Witches are being tortured and killed with clues left on their bodies for the coven to find. Maurin feels Mahalia, the coven High Priestess, knows more than she’s saying but the coven is a secretive bunch. Maurin’s romance with Oberon is advancing but they are taking things slowly due to their previous life connection.
As I mentioned, I feel Witch Hunt is a much better novel. There was one aspect I didn’t like. The resolution of finding and punishing the bad guys felt contrived. It felt like more of an afterthought to the ending Ms Rawlings had planned. There was also one glaring editing error. A major character from The Morrigna makes a surprise appearance in Witch Hunt. The problem: his name was misspelled enough that I didn’t know who he was. It’s very important to know who he is! (I read this novel in May, maybe a correction has been submitted)
Ms Rawlings also has a mean curveball. I did not see much of what happened coming. That’s saying a lot as I’ve been reading for soooo long. That’s all I can say about that. See if you can hit the curve ball.
While still a little raw in some aspects of her writing, Ms Rawlings is learning, growing and executing much better.
If you read The Morrigna and stopped, I highly recommend giving Witch Hunt a try. I was very pleasantly surprised.