The Changeling

This is the eighth book in Cate Tiernan's outstandingly successful Wicca series, following the adventures of Morgan and her fellow witches as they continue to fight the powers of evil. Although the books are closely linked, a reader coming to Changeling without reading the earlier novels will soon be caught up in the magickal world of Widow's Vale where most of Morgan's high school friends are practising witches, and homework comes a poor second behind coven meetings and spells. When Morgan's adoptive parents go off on a cruise and her younger sister stays with a friend, she anticipates a few days of peace and quiet, a time to reflect upon the horrendous events of the previous book, which led to the breakdown of her relationship with her boyfriend, Hunter. But her hopes are short-lived as Eoife McNabb turns up on her doorstep. A member of the Wiccan council, Eoife has an important task for Morgan: Ciaran MacEwan, Morgan's biological father, is intending to destroy the Starlocket coven, and the Council wants Morgan to get close enough to him to find out what his plans are. Torn between abject terror of her father and her instinctive duty to save the Coven, Morgan must use all her powers to combat the evil that she knows she must face. Her half-brother, Killian, arrives in Widow's Vale, and quickly has Morgan's schoolfriends literally under his spell. Morgan is drawn to his wayward personality and fascinated by his cavalier attitude to the arts of magick - it's only her sense of duty and her undying love for Hunter that keep her focussed on her aim: to use Killian to get Ciaran to Widow's Vale, and find out what he plans to do. As time runs out and the day of reckoning, the Feast of Imbolc, approaches, Morgan finds herself in the grip of a magick more powerful, more terrifying than anything she has encountered before. Forced to choose between her love for Hunter and the overpowering magnetism of her father, will she make the right decision? Tiernan's books are full of Wiccan detail, and are a fascinating insight into all things magickal. A winning combination of high school teen fiction and witchcraft, the Wicca series continues to prove compulsive reading. Ages 12+ (Kirkus UK)