Kevin and Ginny are best friends. They enjoy spending their summer vacations exploring Sharper's Woods, coming up with neat experiments, pretending to be Sherlock Holmes and Mister Watson, and sometimes just sitting in the clubhouse of The Holmes and Watson Mysterious Events and Objects Consortium. They are the only members of the club, but that doesn't stop them from having fun.Sometimes their exploring gets them into trouble, either for going somewhere they shouldn't have or by finding something that was better left unfound. In this case, it is a strange metal object, a talisman, which calls forth, unbeknownst to Kevin and Ginny, a powerful witch.
The kids do know that weird events have been happening in their small town. Animals have been found dead, and then they disappear. The metal object they found has a strange effect on Ginny when she touches it. It will take all their detective skills and courage to solve the mystery, and to defeat the witch once they realize who they... More > are up against.< Less
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By Elmore Hammes
Sep 14, 2009
"latest review - from Rambles.net" from Rambles.net review (review copied from http://www.rambles.net/hammes_hwwt07.html) ---------------------------------------------- Kevin and Ginny are best friends in the small town of Kanapolis. They have founded a club, "The Holmes & Watson Mysterious Events & Objects Consortium," of which they are the sole members. Ginny emulates Sherlock Holmes, Kevin acts as Dr. Watson, and the two collect unusual objects, mostly odd-looking rocks and bits of scrap metal. The first part of the story describes their friendship, their town and their relationships with each other and some of their peers. This part of the story is a bit slow, but it lays necessary groundwork for later, and for what I suspect will be a series of sequels. What injects the excitement, action, intrigue and suspense into this story? Well, it starts when Kevin and Ginny find a dead squirrel, which disappears before they can bury it. The same happens with a... More > dead rabbit, and the disappearances do not stop. They relate to an event that occurred centuries earlier, when a powerful, good sorcerer banished an evil witch, but not entirely successfully. Just as Sauron returned in The Lord of the Rings, Voldemort disappeared in Harry Potter and Lord Foul was not quite destroyed in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, so in this book we discover that evil is not easy to destroy permanently. And, as in both Rings and Potter, the evil needs something to finish consolidating power. Well, from the other stories, we know what must happen: the evil power must be defeated and the evil object must be destroyed! The kids are very credibly portrayed. I work with children all the time, and Elmore Hammes has given us a nice sample of realistic 12-year-old characters. There are friendships, crushes, alliances and mini-feuds. Another strength is the character of the witch. This is one gleefully nasty and cruel villainness. She is not on a par with Sauron, but I would like to see her go up against Voldemort. Once the witch enters the story, the book becomes entrancing and is hard to put down. The pace goes from "a little slow" to "run-away freight-train" in a heartbeat. While the book is aimed at ages 9 to 12, it grabbed my attention and did not let go. I am not sure that this story might not be too scary for some 9-year-olds. Much will depend upon whether the child has a firm grasp upon the fiction-versus-reality distinction. If your child has nightmares from scary movies or found the Harry Potter books or movies too scary, this tale might also cause problems. However, if your young reader can enjoy a good haunted house, this book might be just the ticket.< Less
" THE CASE OF THE WITCH’S TALISMAN" Wow, what a nice surprise! As a High School Special Education Teacher, I am excited at the potential this new author holds within his pen/keyboard. There are far to few stories written for this reading ability, yet maintaining high levels interest. I encourage book lovers to give this author an opportunity to blossom, Mr. Hammes has proven that a novel can be written in just 30 days. Oh, by the way, I must admit that I am a very close friend of the author's. I, too, am an aspiring writer that is simply giving my support to Mr. Hammes, who has actually pulled on his boots and began to climb the story mountain. Despite that he has a long way to go before his plot and view are what he expects of himself, at least his boots are on each foot. I'm not even sure where my boots are hiding. Take a chance on this aspiring author and buy this novel. If not for yourself, for all those who dream of writing and despite the stories they hold inside,... More > never let them go.< Less
