Nearly a decade ago, Randall Oakes left hedge witch Chance Monroe for dead.- Now he-s back along with her ex-lover Jack Parker. The FBI wants Chance in protective custody, but Chance knows that it won-t be enough to protect her from Oakes.
Connected to the earth, Chance must rely on her supernatural senses and her own wits to survive this game of cat and mouse

Prime Evil by Heather Long
Paranormal Suspense
November 15, 2009
e-book, 232 Pages
Sapphire Blue Publishing
Reviewed by Mandi

Chance Monroe is a hedge witch – she can commune with the Earth and all its beings, whether that means she is ridding someone’s house of imps, or helping garden fairies along with their work. Crops and nature are her calling, just as it has been with her ancestors. Being a hedge witch is not the only thing that defines Chance’s life. Eight years ago, she was attacked as she walked to her car after her college class. She was brutally stabbed, and left to die. But she survived and she has come to find out the person who attacked her, Randall Oakes, is responsible for over twenty similar attacks, and sadly, Chance is the only one to survive.

Five years ago Randall Oakes supposedly died on a plane crash, but now dead girls are reappearing killed the same way as all of the other victims. With traces of his DNA and a fingerprint, all signs point to his return. Jack Parker, a good friend of Chance’s and an FBI agent who worked the case comes into town and decides to stay with Chance to see her through this. Jack is confident, overprotective, and although they dated briefly in college, he is more of a solid shoulder to lean on than a romantic interest. With the help of the FBI, and using her abilities to talk with the Earth, she must keep herself safe from a serial killer that she knows is still alive.

Prime Evil does a good job combining paranormal with suspense. I think sometimes when I read a paranormal suspense, it feels like the two butt heads and there is too much going on. However, in this book, there is a good balance between the two. Chance’s ability is really the only supernatural aspect introduced, and the way she can sense violence (or peace) by becoming one with the Earth is a nice twist while trying to solve a murder case. I really enjoyed Chance as a heroine. She is strong and confident, yet deals with the terror of what happened to her eight years ago in a very real manner. She suppresses it for the most part, and when she learns Oakes is around again, you could really feel the terror coming off her. There is not really romance in this book, but the relationship between Chance and Jack is strong and I like their friendly chemistry.

Sometimes it felt like there was too much description given in this book. When Chance goes on her jobs to help the crops or someone’s garden, it took on a very slow pace. While it gave us more background on her hedge witch abilities, it really had nothing to do with the murder, and it slowed down the pace.

I also had a problem at the end – Chance unfortunately had a TSTL (too stupid to live) moment. Now she admits it saying, “I still can’t believe I actually went along with this. It wouldn’t surprise me if this car pulled up to some dark, spooky looking house with Oakes waiting just inside the door to finish the job he started eight years ago.”

Then why go Chance? At the time she is mad at Jack because she overheard him saying he doesn’t believe she is actually a witch. This leads right to the big finale of the ending, which just took some of the steam out of it. With that being said, this book really kept my interest and I really enjoyed it. I like suspenseful books and this one delivers the nail biting moments, but also give great characters and fun dialogue.

I like the concept in Prime Evil, and even though I didn’t love how it ended, it kept me intrigued throughout. Heather Long does a nice job in this genre and I am really looking forward to book two.

Rating: 3.5/5

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