The Witching Elm (Memento Mori, #1)

by C. N. Crawford

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

My mind is reeling after reading The Witching Elm by C.N. Crawford. This novel is jammed packed with creepy supernatural creatures, a mysterious world that sits parallel to Boston and a coven of down-on-their-luck kids trying to save TWO worlds. It's a page turner to say the least! A page-turner that ends on a cliff hanger!

As you can tell, I really enjoyed The Witching Elm. My heart aches for Toby as he is forced to flee his home, Maremount, and make it in Boston, which bears some resemblance to his hometown. He's a true gentleman worrying about his family and his friends (new and old). He has a mission and is determined to save those he can. It's somewhat painful as he realizes that it may not be possible to save everyone.

There's a lot of fantasy and folklore woven into this story. There's a bit of Native American legends, the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritans, some stuff about The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne plus the world of Maremount has its own brand of magic. I often felt a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of it all. The one character, Thomas, a professor at the local college, that I felt could have explained it all came and went from the story. I wanted the kids to spend more time with him or at least go to history class and learn more! However, an adult spewing information isn't the most exciting thing to read (or listen to) so I can understand why the kids kind of flew by the seat of their pants.

Can I just take a minute and state how creepy Rawhed and his band of supernatural creatures were? Holy smokes, my skin is just crawling thinking about it. Whenever the bone wardens were mentioned, I thought of the Antler Room from season 1 of Hannibal.



And that Redcap Toby and Celia raised from the dead looked nothing like the Redcaps I encountered while fighting crime in City of Heroes. Let's just say the author did a great job of creating some nightmarish creatures that sent shivers up my spine.

In short, I am giving The Witching Elm by C.N. Crawford a thumbs up. The book weaves a known history and known world with a new world in a fashion that compels the reader to keep reading until the end.


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews.