HOKUS POKUS – Fern Michaels
Sisterhood Series
Zebra
ISBN: 978-1-4201-0185-0
April 2008
Contemporary Fiction

McLean, Virginia; Barcelona, Spain, and Big Pine Mountain, North Carolina – Present Day

Pearl Barnes, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and Nellie Easter, retired judge, have been friends for years. Escaping her security detail, Pearl, comes rushing in to see Nellie, incognito, demanding a drink. Distraught, Pearl begs help from Nellie and the Sisterhood, a vigilante group of men and women located in Virginia and Spain, a group of which Nellie is a member. Pearl confesses that she and her live-in friend, Grant, are involved in an underground railroad rescuing women and children of abusive husbands, but now, her ex-son-in-law, Tyler Hughes, is blackmailing her, wanting money and for her to vote a certain way in her capacity as Chief Justice. Desperate, Pearl threatens Nellie and the Sisterhood with exposure unless they help her.

In Barcelona, Charles Martin is in the command center of the Sisterhood. He is surrounded by all of the high tech paraphernalia used in their fight against injustice. He calls the Spain Sisterhood group together, and they hold a teleconference with the members in Virginia to decide what needs to be done. Because of their last mission, the Spanish group could be in danger of arrest by going to the U.S. The Virginia group wants to take control of the situation on their own, but the Spanish contingent is determined to be part of the plan, so they sneak into the U.S. Charles has located a perfect safe place -- similar to their Barcelona location -- on Big Pine Mountain in North Carolina, where he can set up his equipment and direct the mission.

Nellie invites Pearl for lunch at a local restaurant with a plan in mind. Several Sisterhood members are sitting around the restaurant. Ted Robinson, a reporter, is sitting at the bar, and when he notices all the friends sitting separately around the restaurant, he knows something is going on, but what? Ted is determined to find out, even if he has to hurt his live-in girlfriend, Maggie, to get the story.

Readers revisit old friends from Fern Michaels’s previous Sisterhood novels as the group congregates to solve the latest crisis in HOCUS POKUS. Not having read the previous books, it was sometimes difficult for me to keep all the members straight and how they all participate in serving their own brand of justice through membership in the Sisterhood. It is a story about strong friendships and dedication to seeing justice served as the characters work together to a satisfactory conclusion of their mission. Although I find it a little frightening for people to take justice in their own hands, the Sisterhood does not resort to committing any heinous or violent crimes. Ms. Michaels has written an unusual series with very little romance in HOCUS POCUS, but a tale of a group of friends committed to helping, and having fun as they do so. HOCUS POCUS is the second of four new Sisterhood novels by Ms. Michaels to be published this year. It follows January's HIDE AND SEEK.

Readers who enjoy contemporary fiction with a bit of suspense and a very slight touch of the paranormal, will enjoy HOCUS POKUS. It is a story that doesn’t seem realistic, but more of a women’s imaginary power trip on the wrong side of the law to bring justice and help others in the process.

Marilyn Heyman