EVIL WAYS: A Morris and Chastain Investigation - Justin Gustainis

From the back of the book: Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, "white witch" Libby Chastain, are each in pursuit of a vicious killer. One is murdering small children for their bodily organs; the other is hunting down white witches----and Libby may be next. Along a trail that leads from Iraq to Turkey, to the US, all clues point to crazed billionaire Walter Grobius, a man obsessed with harnessing the ultimate evil. Morris and Chastain, teamed with the deadly Hannah Widmark, must fight desperately to stop a midnight rendezvous between forces so powerful that the fate of the world may be at stake. And the clock is ticking.....

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EVIL WAYS is a fab mixture of grim and humor, just the way I like my UF. A little snark, a lotta magical mayhem. And the good guys to step in and stomp on Evil after proving to the nonbelievers that Evil, magical Evil, exists and it needs eradicating.

I had a difficult time with an aspect of the story, the child mutilations and murders. It was handled as well as could be expected and I kind of skimmed those.

This is one of the best UF series out there. Justin Gustainis adds these neat little touches thoughout the book. Like the mention of Harry Dresden when Morris and Chastain reach Chicago as well as meeting in Mac's pub that Harry likes to frequent.

Or that news reporter in Chicago, Carl, is mentioned. A reporter who investigates supernatural stories when his boss isnt' sending him out to cover flower shows. Could this be Kolchak?

Black witch, Christine Abernathy, mentioned....she died of snake poison, but no snakes anywhere....from BLACK MAGIC WOMAN. *shudder*

I do love this series and can't wait to read the third, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. As well as really anything that Justin writes. http://www.justingustainis.com/ to keep up with his goin's on.

Five Evil stompin' beans.....

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN - Justin Gustainis

From the back of the book:

Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, white witch Libby Chastain, are called in to help free a desperate family from a deadly curse that appears to date back to the Salem Witch Trials. To release the family from danger they must find the root of the curse, a black witch with a terrible grudge that holds the family in her power.

The pursuit takes them to the mysterious underworld of Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans and New York, stalking a prey that is determined to stay hidden. After surviving a series of terrifying attempts on their lives, the two find themselves drawn inexorably towards Salem itself--and the very heart of darkness.

I can't get over how MUCH I enjoyed reading this book! I had to set it aside for a bit as I'd forgotten I was to have read and reviewed a book, the thankfully fast paced DON'T CALL ME A CROOK - Bob Moore for Online Publicist. I whomped on that one and quickly got back to Quincey and Libby's dark adventure.
Quincey starts the story with his quest to eradicate a nest of vamps from a small town in Texas. He's smart and quick, vamps cleaned out in a concisely excellent manner. Then he gets a visit from Walter LaRue, a man whose house is being attacked by a supernatural being that is progressively getting more violent. Quincey calls upon his friend Libby, a white witch, to help him out. They arrive at the house to find that there is more to the story than meets the eye and both realize they are going to have to move fast or someone, if not all, in the house will die.
There are four different points of view throughout the book, mainly the story is told through Quincey and Libby. The thriller is pushed forward with a pair of serial killers, a pair of detectives, and the black witch all are circling.
I admire Quincey's presence of mind that gets rattled from time to time and the way he knows his life is preordained destiny and he is good with that. Libby is straight forward, gentle and smart. They make a great team.
This is a book where evil is truly awful and good is fighting the good fight against it. I can't wait to read the next in the series, EVIL WAYS. I can only hope that Justin Gustainis has many more stories and adventures for this team to journey.

Five fiendishly haunted beans.....

Amberkatze has a Guest Blogger Today...Justin Gustainis

Amber over at Amberkatze's Book Blog has a guest blogger today. Justin Gustainis, author of EVIL WAYS and BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, is guest blogging on how to write a bad guy. It's pretty cool and it's a chance to win a signed copy of EVIL WAYS. Get on over there....see how to be bad or at least how to write!