Witches Protection Program by Michael Phillip Cash

-Carrie Anne

Wes Rockville, a disgraced law enforcement agent, is given one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he's reassigned to a 232 year old secret government organization.  The Witches Protection Program.  His first assignment:  uncover a billion-dollar cosmetics company's diabolical plan of using witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt's evil deeds.  Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in both witches and himself.  Filled with adventure, suspense and a rousing good time, Michael Phillip Cash creates a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern day New York City (taken from Amazon description)

I typically love Cash's books.  They usually have relatable characers and interesting plots, with a healthy dose of humor thrown in.  For some reason, this one fell flat for me.  The story did have its humorous side and the idea is clever; I think we'd all wish for a little magic in our lives.  Unfortunately, Cash never spells out the rules of magic in today's world.  There were times I thought "Just cast a spell already,"  though I didn't know if the witch in question really could.  Then there were the BIG spells that we were to assume could just be explained away from an unsuspecting public.  Of course, today's media can feed us any story they want...

I felt there were too many side characters and even side stories that were unnecessary to the plot.  The 'ah ha!' moments weren't for me.  At one point there was probably a major plot point presented and I was just scratching my head.  It was more of a 'huh?'  moment for me.  I think by that time I was just bored of the whole story.  My favorite character was Wes with Morgan running a close second.  I'd love to see Cash bring them back, with a longer story and more time to fully flesh out the people involved.  The Witches Protection Program is a good one, but I think it needs a different story for us to really get to know them.