"Witch 13" starts off strong with a great creepy atmosphere and a dark fairytale vibe. One of my absolute favourite story scenarios is a small town during a bad storm and a stranger appears, so I was really excited to see where this story would go. Unfortunately, the story peaks early and then drags for a time before taking a dive.

I really enjoyed the lore in this story - right up until the author started to explain it. The whole "blackhole" story and the identity twist at the end were real eye-roll moments. It felt like the quality of the story plummeted towards the end and started to lean more towards amateur world building which I felt was at odds with the quality of the writing up to that point. It would have been better to leave things unexplained.

Having said that, there were too many other elements that made little sense that were never explained. The Stranger was a great character until he started talking and creating a myriad of unanswered questions. Even the truck accident went from satisfyingly unexplained to a boring plot device full of loose ends once the story focused on it.

The creepy atmosphere that the start of the story has is altogether lost over the course of the second half of the story and I found myself struggling to stay interested. I honestly swore aloud at the identity twist/protagonist's motivation part and laughed at the whole 'name' thing. Was this really the same author who wrote the first half of the story? It honestly felt like someone else took over writing the story once the Witch reached the police station.

This book is shelved as being 'Horror, LGBTQIA, Sci Fi & Fantasy'. Whilst I agree with the 'Horror' and 'Sci Fi & Fantasy' tags, I question the 'LGBTQIA' tag.

Despite the main character mentioning a previous relationship with a woman and a weird scene involving fantasising about the Witch, the main character spends most of her time pinning after her male co-worker. That's literally the limit of LGBTQIA themes.

There's also an unintentional sexist thread throughout the story that I found really frustrating. Not only are women called 'girls' (note that no men are called 'boys') but, despite the main character being a female sheriff, the author refers to all other police officers as being "policemen" and every single State Police officer in the final showdown is male. Every. Single. One.

There a multiple instances of police brutality (including murder and sexual assault) which are written in a manner to suggest that it is justified or acceptable because the victim deserved it/made them do it. Like, wtf?

If you asked me prior to the Witch reaching the police station I would have said that I expected to give a four or five star review, despite it ultimately ending up being a two star review. As such, I'm curious to read another book by this author on the chance that this is the weakest of their stories.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a dark and twisted fairy tale, but instead of teaching you a dark lesson it leaves you unmoored and looking over your shoulder! Delaney has crafted a great story that is simultaneously self-contained (everything takes place over a single night, more or less) but still offers glimpses at huge implications and world-building outside of itself.

The primary character was interesting and didn’t fit neat genre-archetypes, and the secondary characters, while not as well-developed, were all engaging and all felt distinct and real. The writing was smooth and propulsive, changing tone slightly when following different characters but consistently moving forward, and dragging the reader along for the ride. Delaney isn’t afraid to go dark and mean, starting with the prologue itself, and it serves this book well. Nothing feels sanitized or workshopped, there is a visceral fear and uncertainty that oozes from the book and really positions this book deep into the lore of what witch stories can feel like. The world-building is commendable, too. Everything takes place in a small town in CT, and most (but not all) of that in a single location, yet it feels grounded and real.

What was really refreshing about the story was that Delaney didn’t go out of his way to give easy answers. There is a tendency in supernatural horror to have lengthy exposition dumps to keep everyone up to speed, but in this case, we, along with the characters, aren’t up to speed. We don’t know what is going on, we don’t know why it is happening or how to stop it. It is a bold narrative strategy that leaves the reader feeling just as disordered as the characters, and I really appreciated the way it set this book apart. I tore through this book, reading it in just a few days, and that is in large part because the story and the writing were so compelling.

I want to thank NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book had an interesting concept that I did really enjoy but I struggled with some of the Lore. The main character sterling was an interesting perspective to read from. But I found myself not liking her about halfway through.

At the end of the day, I don’t really think this was a book meant for me. I found myself waiting for it to be over about a third of the way in. I know this is something that other people will enjoy if they like a slower build but I enjoy something a little faster than the plot of this novel. It did have beautiful illustrations that really added to the text and were very atmospheric.

I received an early e copy of this book. Is NetGalley and the publisher.

Witch 13 follows sherif sterling marsh on her last evening as sheriff in a small town. A storm happens and all comms break down and then strange occurrences happen.

This book is definitely scary, especially the illustrations that are spaced out within the book. They are terrifying. The witch is definitely a scary character but you don’t really see much of her, it is more about how she makes others feel/act. This may be what leads to her being more scary, I feel that more time with her would have made it even more obvious why she was there.

Overall I feel that this book was scary and ok. It wasn’t overly memorable though. I finished it 2 days ago and can only remember a few scenes from the book already. A solid 3 star read and a good book for spooky season.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for making this possible.

While reading this I felt immense amounts of anxiety and just pure claustrophobia. This almost reads like a movie the way its a close proximity with bursts of gory action. I truly enjoyed the unraveling of the backstories of the characters, the majority of them being morally grey which I always get giddy about.
I felt it could be trimmed a bit and while the ending was pretty fantastic I almost felt like it was an entirely different book at that point. It went from reality/horror elements to fantastical within a few pages. I would have loved this to actually be a duology because the back story of Witch 13 has so much potential. It just had this disjointed feeling towards the end where there were too many good ideas that just didn't match up properly to reinforce the atmosphere that was a pivotal part of the book.
That being said I couldn't put it down because this makes you feel absolutely dragged through the dregs. And any book that elicits feelings of dread and is ripe with atmosphere is enjoyable.
I would definitely read more from this author and recommend it to my fellow horror enthusiasts so I could discuss it even further since I have THOUGHTS about this one!

The disappearance of a child and the appearance of a witch mean double trouble for disgraced Sheriff Sterling Marsh.

Witch 13 starts off incredibly strong, with the mysterious disappearance of a child. The atmosphere is excellent and haunting. However, afterwards, although the psychological horror elements are also quite strong, I felt the story quickly became fairly predictable, and that the story was bloated by an excess of drama from other characters, when I felt it would have been stronger sticking to the witchy horror. While the story had a lot of potential, personally I found the pace too slow to make it enjoyable, and too bogged down in inner monologues.

I am grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of Witch 13. These opinions are my own.

my final rating is actually more of 3.5 stars. i thought this book would be a solid 4 at the beginning, but around the 70-80% mark, i had to knock it down to a 3.

i just could not get behind on the lore. honestly, the entire concept was interesting and i was immensely intrigued. the way it was told, though? it was very lacking. i wanted to badly to know about the story behind the witch, and was so excited when we were getting to that part. but the whole lore just did not make any sense and felt forced, like it was added just for the sake of saying there's one. i would have accepted it more if there was an air of mystery instead because the whole dream sequence backstory had me even more confused.

the ending was also both sudden AND predictable. i badly hoped i was wrong and there would be a better twist, but as it turned out there wasn't, which was honestly disappointing.

the good parts outweigh the bad ones, however. the psychological horror that happens for majority of the book was phenomenal. the gore at the end was intense. some truly horrific things happened that will stay in my mind for the rest of my life. basically, i enjoyed the horror aspects A LOT. the descriptions of the witch were genuinely creepy, and i loved it. gave me chills just thinking about her.

my main issues were in the last 20% of the book. it came to a point where i almost couldn't even be bothered to read the final 10%, and i had to force myself to pick it up because i was just so close, and MAYBE it would redeem it. it didn't.

overall, an okay read. still would recommend for psychological horror fans (like me) who enjoy some gore in their story. but for people looking for satisfying deep and intricate lore, this may not be for you.

*arc provided by netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

The book is filed under LGBTQIA, and yes, the protagonist is queer. But it's only mentioned in passing, something you should know if you are interested in the story because of that.

Witch 13 was an all-around enjoyable read for me. I wanted to read it because I like a good witch horror story, and it absolutely delivered. It's creepy and suspenseful, and I appreciate the way Patrick R. Delaney uses all senses of his characters to build his atmosphere - they don't just see and hear, they smell and feel temperatures. During a lot of scenes, it's not quite clear if their feelings are their own, or if the memories on the forefront of their minds are not triggered by something else that wants to use them. Very immersive!

I'm a big fan of how the witch is described, she's really alien and creepy, not human to such an extent, the protagonists have a hard time convincing themselves she is, but still try desperately. (Except for the clever kid, of course, but I didn't even mind that trope, because it was done very well, the character was still believable.)

Something I usually struggle with is the ending in horror books, so I'm glad to say I really liked this one. Whether you find the twists surprising or not will depend on the amount and kind of horror books you've read, but personally, I don't think it's necessary for a horror book to surprise me with every twist to be great (some, though, please). Expecting an author to deliver to my specific tastes in the genre and my experiences based on previously read books is just a stupid thing to ask. I want my twists to be well executed, and they are, so I like them. The foreshadowing was well done, too.

I stumbled a little when the backstory was explained in too much detail for my taste, and like those things often do, it shifted the feeling away from horror and suspense towards fantasy. I'd have preferred the explanation to be more vague, but level of explanation is a very subjective thing, so opinions will vary on this.
Also, the mystery around the strange object was not really a mystery and shouldn't have been dragged out that long.

Bonus points for:
...the not-so-subtle nod to beloved genre classic movie Jennifer's Body. I see what you did there, Patrick.
...the inclusion of cosmic horror at the end, because that's just my favourite kind.

Big shout-out to Mr. Delaney for being a male author and writing female characters without being sexist. Unfortunately, that's rare, so it deserves mentioning. Makes the queerbaiting all the more disappointing.

So, overall, 4.5 stars for the story and the writing itself, rounded down because you shouldn't queerbait and I hope this will be corrected in the future.

PS: There is some artwork in the book and I don't know who did it, but I like it. It's sufficiently obscure to be atmospheric.

Thank you so much to Oblivion Publishing/the author and Netgalley for providing a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whoa! What a ride. It was very fast-paced. The writing style kept me hooked and I didn't find myself losing any interest. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and how real the story felt. The author did a great job painting the setting, so it was easy for me to visualize the scene played out before me. I recommend giving this one a chance!

A creepy story with a great introduction, the horror comes from the people, wondering and usually knowing how you would act in the same story.

again this had a witch in it and so of course i was going to read it. i was hooked before i even started reading it and was very creepy and had the tense vibe i was looking for in a book, i shouted at this book a few times and had to put it down once when it was just a little too creepy. but the story is good and would make a great movie, i would have liked a little more character development but i am use to longer books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Oblivion, and the author for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Two things about this book caught my eye: the cover and the LGBTQIA shelving. The summary convinced me to give this a shot. Unfortunately, both the shelving and the summary were a bit of a stretch compared to what I expected.

What I liked: It had a strong, really creepy beginning that hooked me in right away. I loved the Hansel and Gretel witch vibes. I liked the role Max played. The final confrontation was visually interesting. The final plot twist surprised me.

What I didn't like: The book had a lot of editing and pacing issues. There were several instances where a detail was stated and then repeated in exactly the same way right below. Despite the strong beginning, the story slows down and drags its heels once the witch is at the station. The witch literally does nothing, and it's not explored enough that she's the one getting inside people's heads, which makes it seem as if everyone is insane for no reason. This got mixed up with police brutality issues that weren't explored at all.

All of the characters are also *constantly* getting flashbacks. In some cases it makes sense either to explain the backstory or how the witch was getting into their heads, but not always, and it ended up being a lot of exposition in the middle of a scene. Practically all of the characters had a scene where they had been talking to someone and they froze mid-sentence to reminisce, and the other character had to be like "hey, you still there?".

The main character just wasn't good. Her background story had three prongs and we were trickle-fed the details until it all came together, but it felt tedious to get there. Her relationship with her partner Chase made no sense at all. It's presented as a way bigger story than it ended up being, and it was either an unconsciously sexist choice or a naive one, but made Sterling come off as emotionally immature. I'm leaning towards "unconsciously sexist", since everybody kept referring to grown women as "girls".

As I said, the book was shelved as LGBTQIA. That's because Sterling, turns out, is bisexual - it's mentioned in passing that she dated a woman when she was younger. That's not the only reason, though, as there's one scene that involves the witch getting into her mind in a sexual way. That's all the LGBTQIA content.

Is it representation? Sure, she's bisexual, I appreciate it. But it's a scrap. It's a whisper. It has no bearing on the narrative whatsoever. I feel misled, because I thought this was going to be a queer story between Sterling and the witch, not a story of Sterling pining like a schoolgirl over her married male co-worker who doesn't return her feelings. Sterling is half-Indian; that doesn't make this Indian literature.

The ending was interesting, in a way, but felt incredibly undercooked. I'm sorry to say that, overall, this book just didn't do it for me.

Ratings 3.5 stars

*I received an advanced reader copy in advance from NetGalley for my voluntary and honest review.

It is Sheriff Sterling Marsh’s last night as sheriff for Drybell, CT. Her coworkers are throwing her a surprise farewell/Christmas party and there is a huge storm rolling in to make her last night memorable. But then a strange woman shows up and looks like an old folk-tale description of a witch. Long black dress and tall pointed hat seemingly stitched together from different fabrics. And Sterling’s last night becomes something straight out of a horror movie as Drybell becomes cut off and the witch causes havoc.

Now I gotta say I don't really read a lot of horror stories, but the synopsis I saw on NetGalley had me intrigued in this book. And while I did like this book and it gave me the creeps the last two pages literally had me going WTF was that. I would have put this at 3* but the illustrations in the book made up the half star that the ending lost.

I do have to say though, the Witch was terrifying. She seems so cliche in the outfit but damn does it add to her presence. Most of the book has her completely still, staring off at the wall doing and saying nothing. And the simplicity of that while she is still able to wreak such havoc on everyone in the station just gave me chills. The end of the book sees her unleashing, what I assume, is her full power and nobody stood a chance.

Even then though, as terrifying as I thought she was …. That ending. I just felt deflated afterwards.

Witch 13 captured me with its cover and illustrations throughout but unfortunately by around the halfway mark I started to lose interest in the story itself.

I enjoyed the creepy Witch character but I wasn't really a fan of any of the others.

Great concept but sadly it was a little too long winded for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc copy!

I really wanted to like this book, but the more I read, the more I was less interested. I always say I want to read more books like this and ultimately don't end up enjoying them. I really wish that I could. Not to say that this book isn't good, it just wasn't something that I really got into.

This one really failed to engage me. After a strong opening in which a girl is tricked into her death by a mysterious witch figure in the woods it just really failed to maintain any momentum.
Fans of Delaney's previous work may find something here but it wasn't to be for me.

I genuinely did not expect this book to be what it was. It started off very supernatural-esque but really what it is was a detective story.

The writing style was great and the plot although not what I expected was quite riveting!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Part horror, part fairy tale and part suspense - 100% great book!

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

After finishing Silvers Hollow, I noted Patrick Delaney as an author to keep an eye on. So when Witch 13 became available, I leaped at the opportunity to read it. I was once again blown away by the author's writing, character development, and overall grim tone.

Witch 13 is an intriguing and spooky thriller that begins with a bang and just keeps the action going. Real characters, a strong protagonist, and a shock at the end that will make you want to stay the entire time rather than leaving wondering, "What the f—k did I miss?"

Thank you to Netgalley, Oblivion Publishing, and, of course, the incredibly gifted Patrick Delaney for the opportunity to read this ARC.

My views are entirely my own.