Witches Protection Program
With elements of romance, action, crime, and fantasy, there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Badges and broomsticks collide in Witches Protection Program, a fast-paced, lighthearted piece of crime fiction with a supernatural twist from screenwriter and novelist Michael Phillip Cash.
Reprimanded and reassigned after a particularly disastrous case failure, Agent Wesley Rockville has serious doubts about his new orders. The Witches Protection Program, an undercover, black ops extension of the police force is so secret that even Wes isn’t really sure it exists, but in no time he is trading in his Glock and cuffs for a Steampunk Vaporizer, curious green liquid, mirror, and duct tape, all much more effective for dealing with witches, or so he is told.
With a new partner and a lot to prove, Wes must learn to navigate the world of renegade, shapeshifting, spellcasting witches while unraveling a clever but destructive plot involving the girl of his dreams, world domination, and some extra special face cream.
Witches Protection Program starts off at a sprint and maintains an action driven pace throughout. Wes, along with his mysteriously wise and unflappable partner/mentor, Alastair Verne, finds himself in an increasingly dangerous series of situations ranging from typical cop chase and apprehend maneuvers to battling alley cats after morphing into a frog and treating a wound filled with deadly venom with essence of goat. Just when the plot seems to settle onto the path of predictability, Cash throws out some twists and surprises.
This book is more humorous and fun than dark or suspenseful. The witches cast their spells with often groan inducing rhymes such as, “Box them in, seal the door, ship them all to Singapore,” “No time to waste, give me speed, slide down forty floors on my ass, indeed,” and “Time for you to listen to me, do my bidding like a robotic zombie.” World domination through cosmetics actually makes sense given the circumstances, and Wes’s instant romance with reluctant witch and heir to the Pendragon legacy, Morgan Pendragon, is sweet rather than steamy. Brawls and battles notwithstanding, Witches Protection Program does not seem to take itself too seriously, hitting just the right note between mischief and mayhem.
Although Wes, Alastair, Morgan, and even Bernadette Pendragon, the evil mastermind pulling the strings behind the conspiracy, are more than one-dimensional, with hang-ups, histories, and heartaches galore, action definitely supersedes character study, and heartfelt moments are typically revealed quickly through dialogue without much fuss, angst, or inner deliberation. Even Bernadette’s nefarious henchmen, the voluptuous Scarlett and leather clad Wu and Vincenza, are so colorfully drawn that it is difficult at times not to cheer for them as well the heroes.
With its lively characters, quickly moving plot, and amusing dialogue, Witches Protection Program is a great summer choice, ideal for beach or poolside reading, and with elements of romance, action, crime, and fantasy, there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Reviewed by
Pallas Gates McCorquodale
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
