Witch Hunt by Devin O'Branagan

I read Witch Hunt by Devin O'Branagan this past week. All I can really say is "Wow!"

Ms. O'Branagan turned a deft hand to the difficult subjects of prejudice, fear and hatred and crafted a very fine novel. In real life, this story has been lived again and again in many different forms, we are living it yet again here in the States in the fight for equal rights for the LGBT population. My hat is off to you, Ms. O'Branagan. If the powers that be listen to me, this will be an important book for everyone, not just me.

Witch Hunt is the story of the Hawthorne family. They are witches. They survived the witch hunts of the past in the forms of the Inquisition and Salem among others. They've fought and worked hard and are now an influential family in the town of Montvue in Colorado. This is also the story of Preacher Cody, who survived Afghanistan and found God. And in Montvue, Colorado, has found his calling: He has been called to once again try to rid the world of witches.

I cannot recommend this book enough. The historical portions are accurate and the present day scenes are chilling. In the political climate that we are currently living in, the present day scenes are almost too real. This book scared me, and it should. The idea of anyone choosing how anyone else should live and believe is frightening. The lessons of the past have not been learned and they need to be. We, as a people, are too quick to forget the bad things and that is wrong. We need to remember them so that we don't repeat them over and over again. The Inquisition and the Witch Trials of Salem aren't dead history. They were repeated in the Red Scare of McCarthyism and in today's demonizing of gays, Muslims and women's health care. We need to remember.