White Witch : Black Witch: Initiate

by W. Calder Bennett

Lily Lennox, sixteen, lives on a farm in Northern California with her mom, Angela. Lily’s father died in a car accident several years earlier, and being an only child, she and her mom have since become very close.

One Saturday morning at a farmers’ market, Angela becomes strangely panic stricken when she sees three hostile biker women cruising the stands, looking for someone. Angela flees with Lily in tow, but instead of going back to their farm, they hide out in a motel. Lily is confused and angry - confused because her mother acted so oddly, angry when she doesn't explain why.

That night, her mom slips away from the motel and doesn’t return. In the days that follow, Lily learns that her mother has been leading a shadow life, and that she’s been abducted by witches.

Accompanied by a young man, a Native American shaman, Lily sets off to find her mom, but she quickly discovers that the witches are now coming after her too. The only way she can hope to fight them, and rescue her mother, is to become a witch herself.

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 6, 2015

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Our adversaries are everywhere,” Angela warns her daughter Lily. “They take all shapes and sizes.” And then one day, Angela herself is gone, kidnapped by an organization of black witches called The Golden Order of Baphomet. Lily is left alone and vulnerable. Her mother had been the ancestral leader of an organization of white witches called the Cygnet. Baphomet and Cygnet have engaged in spiritual warfare for centuries. Lily is next in line to succeed her mother, so it’s not enough for the wicked pursuers to capture Angela; they need to take Lily, too.

At sixteen, Lily’s powers haven’t kicked in yet. The smartest thing would be to remain in hiding, but Lily goes in search of her mother. W. Calder Bennett has invented a colourful cast of witches, both good and bad. He is a good storyteller. The suspense never flags. Like Hunger Games, and Twilight, this book is the first in a series. It ends on a cliffhanger. I eagerly await the next installment.

[Michael Tamura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book! It was engaging, entertaining, and thought-provoking. It's a wonderful fable, full of deeper lessons, that is a wonderful blend of metaphysical mystery, historical action thriller, and a spiritual coming-of-age story served with a touch of horror on a solid foundation of compassion and love. What more could I ask for? I would have loved to read it all in one sitting kicked back on my couch on a rainy day with the fireplace going. But, I had to sneak it in piecemeal whenever I could in my loaded daily schedule. The author wrote the book in a way that made reading it more like watching a good cliff-hanger TV series. I had to tear myself away from it every time I had to get some work done or some sleep!