'Salem Falls' (Jodi Picoult)

Jodi Picoult is the ‘new big thing’. Having established herself with My Sister’s Keeper as the queen of family, relationships and love, garnished with a slice of ethical dilemma, she’s thrilled the literary public.

Bookclubs countrywide are salivating over their tea and melktert, and book publishers are frantically re-jacketing, re-printing and re-launching.

But many don’t know that Picoult’s been around for a while. She’s a big thing, sure, but she isn’t new. In fact, she’s written twelve books. My Sister’s Keeper was number 11.

Salem Falls (number eight) is interesting - unveiling the darkness of modern-day witchcraft, the consequences of lies and empty malice, and the heartbreak of damaged people who find love and then lose it.

We meet Jack St Bride, a former teacher, forced to admit to an ugly crime he didn’t commit and to submit to a prison term he didn’t deserve. Eight months later, Jack’s a free man. But he’s different, troubled, hollow. And as he tries to build a new life in a small town, four teenage witches design a game in which Jack is the straw man.

"Think how powerful you felt tonight, healing someone. And then imagine how powerful you'd feel if you could ruin someone's life."

Salem Falls lacks the gasp factor of My Sister’s Keeper and its plot, barring the Wiccan element, is a little passé. But considering that the former came first and that Picoult appears to be getting better with each novel, it’s a good solid read.

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