It's nearly Christmas, a bizarre storm has settled over Drybell, Connecticut, and Sheriff Sterling Marsh is staring down the long dark of her last night on the force.

Then the witch shows up.

She's a complete caricature of herself: long black dress, tall pointy hat. She also has silver eyes that reflect the light and the ability to stand perfectly still for hours without moving or speaking. She's a weird one.

There are just seven people at the police station that night: Sheriff Marsh, her deputy/sometime adulterous lover Chase, dispatcher Rosa, receptionist Georgia, Chase's young son Max (there for the office Christmas party and some free babysitting), and two people down in lock-up--a stranger who refuses to give his name, and the witch, who refuses to speak at all.

Strange and awful things begin to happen. The witch worms her way into people's brains, making them see things that aren't there and do things that would appall them were they in their right minds. One by one, the characters get picked off in increasingly bizarre ways, until only two are left.

The good: the witch is creepy. There's a serious feeling of claustrophobia as the characters are stuck inside the station while the storm rages outside, the lights flicker, and communication with anyone outside their little bubble is impossible. I appreciate the author pulling in strange little bits from other witchy stories, like the fact that witch smells like baked goods and near the end conjures a twister of Oz-worthy proportions. A couple of the characters are likable. The last few chapters are one grotesque death after another as the witch faces down everyone who stands in her way.

The bad: unfortunately it seems to be a trend with Delaney's books that nothing is ever really explained. There are things which happen that seem as if they should be important to explaining the plot but then they're just dropped and forgotten. There's not enough backstory to this witch and what little we do get is bizarre and vague and I found the ending unsatisfactory because, again, there's no explanation for anything. None of it makes sense. I found myself asking, "But...what? And why?"

I want so badly to love Patrick Delaney's books. They've got great titles (The House that Fell from the Sky, Silvers Hollow, Witch 13), great artwork, great synopses. They never quite satisfy me, though. I feel like maybe Delaney himself knows the answers to the mysteries that would make all his stories work, he just never gives his readers enough information for them to figure out the answers, too.

Witch 13 is a suspense thriller set in Drybell Connecticut. Sheriff Sterling Marsh is on duty for the last time in her career, it’s the eve of her resignation. It’s two weeks before Christmas, and a terrible storm has rushed into town. Along with the storm, an eerie character shows up as well. It seems this new stranger is a witch…she has no fingerprints, a tall pointed hat that seems to have a life of it’s own, and an expressionless face. As strange things start occurring throughout the night, Sterling starts to piece together who is at the center of it all. Even her fellow workers are acting strange, and there is no one available to help out this small town Sheriff in her time of need.

I wish I could give a great review to this novel, after reading the Prologue, I had high hopes for this. But that’s where it ends. The rest of the story is all over the place. The characters are not well liked, there are flashbacks just thrown in which fall flat, and it’s more of a slow burn that just fizzles out. The writing seems amateur at best. There were so many unanswered questions, and I really just got bored.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Oblivion Publishing and the author for an advanced reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed the creepiness and weirdness of this one- especially a witch! A perfect autumn/Halloween read for definite!

I picked this book up because I like stories about witches and I love the cover. The story is set in the small town of Drybell, Connecticut. Sterling Marsh is the Sheriff and she is working her last night after ten years in the job. The storm of the century is raging outside, but her co-workers are still throwing a going-away party / Christmas party and trying to make the best of it. When her deputy's wife calls to report a problem at City Hall, Sterling responds. When she arrives she finds someone dressed as a witch and some strange evidence of something unnerving. Havoc ensues for the little town and Sterling does her best to hold things together as the storm continues and communication is cut off.

This is a horror story with a good plot and creepy paranormal scenarios. I didn't really warm up to any of the characters though and there really wasn't a lot of character development. I think it's a good, scare read though.

Thanks to Oblivion Publishing through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 7, 2022.

The beginning was extremely engaging and I wanted to read on immediately - but it declined in quality as time went on unfortunately. The writer did a great job of creating the eerie atmosphere, and the book felt like a movie. But the witch felt comical to me, the fact the witch was a stereotypical Halloween costume witch took away the seriousness of the story.

I... what the ever loving f@&k did I just read? In hindsight, I should have probably dnfed this but shit just kept happening and I needed to know where it was all going. This book was a jumbled, disjointed mess but it entertained me so I can't be too mad. It was longer than it needed to be and that kind of killed the whole build up it was trying for because I got tired of waiting. The ending was a big WTF moment and then just BAM, end clip, black screen, confusion ensues.

Overall, I have the book 3 stars.

An atmospheric and creepy thriller, Witch 13 starts out with a bang and just keeps the action rolling. Real characters, a strong protagonist, and a twist at the end that will make you want to start the whole thing over saying, "What did I miss?!?!"

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for this e-arc.*

I read the prologue and the first chapter for this and I think I'm going to have to skip the rest. I'm sure it will be a perfectly enjoyable book to some people but I just don't like the writing style at all. We get huge info dumps every other paragraph about every person or concept that is mentioned and it makes the whole thing seem somehow both stilted and flowery/over-descriptive at the same time.

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Oblivion Publishing, and Patrick Delaney for providing me with an ARC of Witch 13 in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this as I'd not read any horror recently and when I saw this on Netgalley and the fact it was a horror about a creepy witch I had to give it a shot.

Sterling Marsh is the Sheriff in the small town of Drybell, we meet her on the day she plans to hand in her resignation as she'd shot someone in the line of duty and had an affair with her deputy and his wife finds out.

Sterling isn't going to get thr easy last night of paperwork she planned as the first call comes in and it's her deputies wife makes a startaling calling about an intruder at city hall. Sterling decides to go on her own to investigate and this is where the nightmare begins.

Here are my thoughts and I'll start with the good.

The horror elements were creepy the author did a good job of building the atmosphere in the scenes where the witch was involved. The fact that throughout the majority of the book the witch was completely still just added to the overall atmosphere and I thought that worked really well as in my head I was anticipating what would happen when she got moving.

The witches hat really creeped me out too the scene in the supermarket with the young boy really good and it being it's own entity or at least an extention of the witch I thought was a brilliant idea.

Sadly I didn't get on with the writing style for me it was too overly descriptive when it didn't need to be.

I love world building but this just seemed over the top and didn't add anything to the story. An example of this is where the sherif saves Kayla's life and we get a page of her back story and that's the only part of the book she was in - it just seemed unnecessary and it made the book overly long.

A lot of the writing could have been trimmed down as it made reading some parts a slog and I could feel myself losing interest.

One silly thing that annoyed me was that Georgia had baked cupcakes and has an exchange with Stirling where she says 'It ain't Yorkshire pudding, but I figured best not compete with your mama' which was a really bizarre comparison as Yorkshire puddings are typically savory lol it would have made more sense to be a Victoria sponge, at least to me anyway.

This book gave me The Wizard of Oz vibes and the ending just didn't do it for me so with that I gave this 2.5 stars but rounded up to three.

Sheriff Sterling Marsh has made a long series of bad choices, leading to her resignation. When she settles in for a long night of paperwork, a witch appears and her entire world changes. The witch appears to be straight out of central casting, black dress and pointed hat and all. Things go from bad to worse and leaves Sterling fighting to keep her town from going into the darkest nightmare she has ever seen,

There are so many high reviews on this book, that I feel like maybe I got a different copy...

The beginning of this book was very intriguing. I loved the introduction of the witch, but as the story progressed, I started disliking it more and more.

This book is slated as a horror novel, which is the main reason I requested it, and this felt much more thriller/suspense than horror. Mainly because the witch literally just stands there for 95% of the book and is not really all that menacing after the very beginning of the book. A character can be menacing by literally doing nothing if written correctly. I give you Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt as a great example.

I don't feel like being super aggressive against what I didn't like about this today, but I think my largest struggle was that the writing just felt super amateur, and I think that was its biggest downfall. I didn't find it scary or intriguing, and I could not get behind the characters. Everything was so detached.

There is artwork throughout the book, which was very well down and super cool. If the book gave off the same vibe, I think I would've loved it.

(A side note: This is marked as LGBTQIA and I think it's cheating a little to use that. There is one tiny passage about the main character dating a woman in the past but blink and you miss it, and then it's just about her pining after her married male coworker. Sexual preference doesn't need to be the main subject of a book to get the tag, but I felt like this was 100% cheating by the author to gain attention in a genre/subject field that it wouldn't have gotten without that one sentence.)

Sterling Marsh is a sheriff in Drybell, Connecticut. On the eve of her resignation, strange unexplainable things start to happen around the town. People started acting crazy doing unthinkable things. People were dying. Speaking to the dead. Just when Sterling thought things couldn’t get any stranger, she came across the most bizarre thing yet? A witch. Witches aren’t real though…are they?
Thank you Netgalley, Patrick Delaney, and Oblivion Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this extremely creepy book. This book is very descriptive with all that is going on as well as in describing the witch and while it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it may not sit well with some people. This definitely fits the category of being a horror book. I was completely sucked in the entire story, though some parts really made me a bit squeamish to say the least. There are a few topics that seem lacking and unnecessary to the overall storyline. The whole book seemed to be going fast paced and then you reach the end and it’s like it comes to a screeching halt. I literally finished the last sentence and said “wait, what!?”. I’m not sure it was the best ending. It was like being on a roller coaster whipped around and just when you’ve reached the top and start flying down at full speed, it just stops. I’m rating this 3.75/5 ⭐️.

A lovely new holiday horror read, that is surprising and pleasant. Highly enjoyed the different characters, and the pacing of the story was very welcomed. A bit confusing a points, as is with some horror. But clears it's self up later in the story.

I love a good horror book now and then, and this one looked like it would fill that need. The prologue to the book sets the tone for the creepier parts to the book. Then, it slows down a little to introduce us to the cast of characters. To be completely honest, I’m not sure I ever got to really like Sterling, but also TBH, you don’t really need to. What you do need though is to get through the slow beginning to get to the better, creepier parts of the book. Once you do that, the book really shines in most details. That end, though…I’m still not sure about that. This is a good way to spend a few hours. 3 ½ stars rounded up to 4. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

Witch 13 is a book which would be perfect for reading on a Winter’s Night with a chill in the air. The creepy atmosphere of the writing is perfectly balanced by the eerie drawings by Ross Nischler. These black and white illustrations are dotted throughout the book and really helped your imagination soar. These were also well-formatted for my Kindle which made for a nice change!

Witch 13 really reminded me of some of the older Stephen King novels – it is set in a small and remote town, full of characters with their own dramas all pulled into a supernatural event. There’s plenty of switching of perspectives and gory details which makes for a fun read as you can never be sure who is ‘safe’. The book also balances building suspense with a lot of action sequences.

My main problem with the book was the fact that suddenly a new plot and backstory is introduced at around 85% of the way through. I didn’t really understand why this was done so late in the game and it ruined the enjoyment a bit for me as all of a sudden we are trying to follow a completely new storyline. I think a much simpler ending would have suited the story better and kept it from feeling like the entire book had just been a prologue for something bigger that wasn’t properly paid off. There was also quite a lot of backstory and flashbacks built into the plot which weren’t really needed, I felt that if these were edited out we could have introduced the ‘ending’ at 50%, more thoroughly explained it, worked on the plot-holes and wrapped it up properly instead.

Overall Witch 13 starts well but really falls apart in its conclusion as it tries to jumps to a whole different plot without reason. Thank you to NetGalley & Oblivion Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tonight is Sterling Marsh’s final shift as sheriff. She really should have called in sick and left Drybell for the evening, preferably before the truck crashed into the bridge. Sterling and her colleagues being cut off from the outside world in the middle of one of the worst storms in Drybell’s history isn’t their biggest problem. They now also have a troublesome witch to deal with.

“There’s no such thing as witches.”

The bulk of the evening takes place inside the sheriff’s station with the witch in custody so you wouldn’t think she’d have much opportunity to create a ruckus. You’d be wrong. Sterling, Chase, her deputy, Georgia, the receptionist, Rosa, the dispatcher and Max, Chase’s seven year old son, are about to have one of the longest nights of their life.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this night”

This witch looks like something out of a fairytale, donning a black dress and pointy hat. She smells sweet, but she’s anything but.

Although it was clear based on results that she was actually doing quite a bit, she spent most of the book impersonating a statue. Part of me was fascinated by this, wondering what she’d be capable of once she started moving, but frustration took over more often than not. When I’m enjoying horror that includes people’s insides becoming their outsides, my preference is for it to be as over the top as possible.

The witch’s backstory didn’t work for me and the ending felt rushed.

If I’d visited Drybell before the shemozzle started, I definitely would have spent some time at Hallowed Grounds Coffee.

The cover image is absolutely incredible. There are illustrations scattered throughout the book, which I loved. Although there were some wonderfully dark ones featuring the witch, my favourite was the creepy snowman.

Content warnings include death by suicide and domestic abuse. Readers with emetophobia may have trouble with some scenes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

On her last night at work, Sheriff Sterling Marsh expects a quiet night. She plans to hand in her resignation when she gets there. Things don't go as planned.
There's a major storm raging outside and there's a witch in town.

This was not for me. I thought it was fantasy, but it was more like horror. I didn't like the characters. I just wanted to finish it so I could move on to a good book.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Witch 13" was both suspenseful and thrilling, with a balanced amount of gore and body horror. I quite enjoyed this book, as well as the story. It was creepy and at times, I could really feel the characters' fear and desperation. Especially when it came to Max. Seeing the events through the eyes of a kid was a nice touch and really added to the whole "there's this scary thing going on, but we can't explain why it's scary" throughout the book. I think I would have preferred if the narrative had only been focused on Max and Sterling, as they were the most interesting characters.

At times, I did feel that something was missing. Maybe a little more depth to certain events and backstories. There was this sense of mystery throughout the whole story, that I didn't really feel was explained or explored in a satisfying way. A lot of things were just there, like the event at city hall or the parts about Rosa's sister, and I would have loved to know just a little bit more than what I was given. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to horror, but I think this book would have benefitted by adding a little more after all.

As the book was tagged as a LGBTQIA+ book, I did feel a bit let down. There was brief mention of a queer relationship in Sterling's backstory and it would have been nice to know a little more. Especially in contrast to the relationship with Chase being such a main thing for her character progression. I'm all for normalising queerness and having it mentioned briefly in a story, but I don't feel it's enough to have the book marked as an actual LGBTQIA+ book.

Either way, I'm glad I got to read this book. Mostly because it made me remember how much I enjoy horror stories.

Im not a hug fan of this genre but the book is ok. I enjoyed it a lot, Thank you Netgalley and the author for the copy. I really appreciate it

While ultimately I did like Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney, I can’t say it was love at first sight. The first chunk of this book is a bit of a slog with its onslaught of pity party introspection and one after the other stereotyped female side characters. It is a poor set up for a genuinely interesting story.
Call me a jerk, but I just couldn’t understand all the guilt Sterling had piled on her shoulders. The internal investigation, the family issues, the tension with her partner and his wife—it was a lot. I think my problem with it was that it was too much. Had the narrative paused and focussed on one or two of these character faults, then it probably would have stood a better chance at making Sterling's situation feel organic as opposed to forced. As such, it kind of came off a little too woe-is-me
Looking past that, I also had a major issue with how the female side characters were written. They just felt far too generic. From “you bitch” slap fights to the cocktail loving secretary. Side characters are usually used to add perspective to the overall narrative; to fill in gaps. If you’re filling the gaps with blatant stereotypes then it detracts from all the effort you put into any other character development, including that of your protagonist.
The unfortunate thing is that Witch 13 is fairly slow burn, so you have to read quite a bit before the plot begins to draw you in enough to ignore all of these issues. That being said, it does eventually get there.
Personally I can’t really see myself recommending this over some of my other horror go-tos