White Trash Warlock 
Author: David R. Slayton
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
American release date: October 13, 2020
Format/Genre/Length: Kindle/Fantasy/260 pages
Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes
Adam Lee Binder of Oklahoma is on a mission to find the amoral warlock who is making and selling charms at the expense of the misery of members of other species. Being a practitioner of magic himself, Adam takes umbrage at this misuse of magical power, but his search is also a bit personal. He thinks the warlock just might be his dear old dad, long missing in action.
Adam lives in Oklahoma with his Aunt Sue, another practitioner, and has since his release from Liberty House, the cruelty-ridden mental institution where he was relegated as a teen by his older brother, Robert, with the assistance of their mother. Unable to handle Adam’s being different, they shut him away in what was essentially a hell-hole. No wonder he doesn’t exactly stay in close communication now that he’s out and on his own.
However an urgent text from his usually reticent brother sends Adam driving up to his brother’s home in Denver. Bobby’s wife, Annie, is… ill, for lack of a better word, and Bobby think he needs Adam’s expertise to deal with the situation. Looks like a family reunion is in the cards, as their mother, Tilla, is staying with Bobby too.
As far as witches go, well, Adam doesn’t consider himself a witch, and his power is somewhat lacking, but he does believe in patterns. The first mention of Denver came from a Saurian named Bill, the second is that Bobby lives in Denver. And the third has to do with a pool cue Adam is trying to find out about which apparently came from a pawn shop in Denver. So going to Denver becomes a no-brainer.
As Adam nears Denver in his beloved Cutlass, he sees quite the disturbing sight in the form of a large creature hovering above the city, with tendrils that reach into various places, including Bobby’s home. Probably right into his wife, if what Adam suspects turns out to be true. This task is not going to be easily accomplished, and most likely Adam can’t do this alone. Might even have to talk to the elves about it, which he really doesn’t want to do, seeing as he has an ex who is an elf, one who ran out on him years before, breaking his heart.
Not to mention, elves can be… difficult to deal with.
Damn, life is so complicated.
I was given a copy of this book by my daughter-in-law, and I fell in love with it from the beginning. In some ways, it reminds me of the Dresden Files, which I also happen to love. And happily this is just the first book in a series.
The writing is great. David Slayton has a deft touch with humor that I can relate to, and his characters come alive on the page. Even the ones you want to punch for being jackasses. Adam is not your typical warlock in that he considers himself to be white trash from Oklahoma, isn’t rich and doesn’t think of himself as particularly good-looking, not to mention that being locked up in a mental institution as a teenager has given him serious insecurity issues. But I think he’s great, and a much better person than he realizes. He just needs to find the right person who can convince him that he is worth loving. The story is very imaginative, and I love the different types of supernatural beings we get to see, including but not limited to Saurians, elves, leprechauns, and gnomes. And let’s not forget Death and death reapers. Throw in a little romance, and I’m in heaven.
The only criticism I can really make is that the book would have benefited from a little more careful editing, but that’s because I’m an editor and I notice these things. Most people wouldn’t. I look forward to reading more books in the series, whenever they are published.
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