I got this book from the author. He requested me to review all the four books in this series. This is the first book. This is also my first to read a book by the author. This is a story about Carlie. She's a cook at the town diner and is also a witch who people depend on to solve some problems and illnesses. One day, a handsome stranger came into town and Carlie had no choice but to follow him into the depths of the forest. There she encountered a thousand-year old vampire that had been trapped in the forest. Carlie had to attempt a few things she had never done before and to fight a very evil being.
Halfway is a name of the town where Carlie lives and where the story is set. It's called halfway because of it's location which is exactly halfway in the middle of Utica, New York and the Canadian border. It's a tourist destination town and a repository for magical things which I think, both an advantage and disadvantage for Carlie being a witch. Just like her being a witch, it's both a gift and a curse and that's what's we're going to find out in this story.
Like all fantasy and paranormal stories, you'll meet here different magical creatures, including those evil ones. Carlie, being a new witch, has to navigate through this magical side of her life with the guidance of her grandmother and learn more about her abilities. Then, Jim Dietrich came to town to ask for Carlie's help. She didn't know that the help he requires may actually get her to use her gifts and go into the forest where something bad happened and Carlie may need her magic to put things to right.
I did enjoy this story. What I really like was what started out as just a routine investigation to prevent corporate espionage has turned into a battle to get rid of evil spirits. It's a turn of events that you will not normally expect but it was done very well in this story. I was actually hanging on to every chapter because I was so curious. Then, it gets curiouser when other magical beings appeared and their origin is even more interesting. I'm glad that Carlie succeeded in this first mission of sorts with her using her abilities. I'm dying to know what adventures and creatures she had to exorcise in order to protect Halfway and it's people.
I give the book 4/5 delicious waffles. This is a really good start to a new series. It's very suspenseful and you won't really know what's going to happen next in the succeeding chapters. I basically had no idea. I had no way of knowing. I did not formulate any theories as to what Carlie will do or what's going to transpire. I just enjoyed the story as it took me to where it went next and it was fun and a relief that Carlie succeeded. It was scary and nerve-racking having to watch Carlie face an enemy she had never seen before, except in books or heard from stories of her grandma. Having all these other mix of characters, both immortal and ordinary humans also add up to the whole dynamics of the story. I like the fact that in the first few chapters the author has laid it out that Halfway is a magical place. It's like a disclaimer or a warning. So definitely, you would expect supernatural and paranormal things to happen. I like that it somehow prepares the reader but not really that prepared because you'll never know what creatures are going to make an appearance. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series and how the rest of the book will unfold and as to what direction the story will take. This is a book that falls halfway between an easy and a not so easy read. Easy on the beginning but you will have to brace yourself in the later part because that's where the real fight begins. And then, you can take a deep breath of relief because Carlie was able to get out of that forest unscathed and probably just advanced into the next level, if there are levels in being a witch. After this assignment, she may have just become a newly-improved witch from being just a newbie.
But for now, I treat my magic like a new pair of shoes. Someday, we're going to love each other, but for now we're just trying to fit together comfortably.
You insult my waffles, and you've just launched the first salvo in a war.
Tea first, troubles second.
- Terry Maggert, Halfway Dead -
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