witch and wizard

i totally love james patterson.  years before, i read some of his more mature works.  what initially got me interested were the titles that were borrowed from children's rhymes or stories.  those earlier works were full of mystery, action and suspense that stirred my adrenaline as if i was one of the heroes within the novels.

years after knowing his works, i found maximum ride and like his adult novels, i was hooked to his YA titles.

yesterday, i was fated to have a copy of his WITCH & WIZARD series.  and excited as i was with a new book and an opportunity to once more savor a world that patterson has designed, i read it like there was no tomorrow.  finishing the whole hardbound copy almost straight from page one to the last page.

the story is great.  a pseudo x-files, sorcerer's apprentice come xmen type of story where a brother and sister were taken from the comfort of home and sentenced to die only to find out that they have powers beyond their understanding.  it grabs the interest.  but i believe it only stops there.

the chapters shift from both the character's point of view.  the only problem was i failed to distinguish one from the other.  i believe the personalities of both were not truly developed as to be distinct.  in fact, i find myself flipping back to the beginning of the thankfully short chapters to find out which was one speaking.  also, some of the situations were comical if not downright silly.  predictable in some places, absurd in some.  

but you truly can never take anything away from patterson.  maybe because he wrote this for the younger ones; but then again, there was something totally absorbing with the max ride books that i failed to see here.

all in all, the WITCH & WIZARD book was a respite.  a rest from the more slowly paced epic-fantasy that i have been known to get addicted to time and again.  the descriptions are good enough, the characters are there if a little 2 dimensional.  it all feels like an invitation to read further, like an introduction of sorts.  

for sure I'll get a copy of the next book in the series.  as usual, a good story needs to be given another chance to grow.