"Season of the Witch" by Natasha Mostert? I picked this book up last week and I really liked it. It's a novel about witchcraft and telepathic abilities but set in the present day, and mixed in with it is a sort of cyber thriller plot with a computer hacker investigating the witches. It ultimately becomes a romantic tragedy as he falls in love with one of them by reading her diary. It's the kind of thing I think (and no offence intended) is not easily done unless the author is a woman. What made the book so appealing to me were the strong characters - it's not often in fantasy do you get characters who are not just cardboard cutouts, I find, and the flawed genius of the protagonist Gabriel Blackstone is neatly counterbalanced by the subtle but quirky brilliance of the two women (Minnaloushe & Morrighan) he meets with (and eventually does battle with one of them). As well as that the research is really good - delving deep into history and mythology and bringing them both out in a modern context - the author does it in a very skilful way. I totally recommend it, especially if you are looking for a book that is a bit different from the usual fantasy fare.
