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The air was suddenly charged with a bright actinic glare: she could see millions of raindrops, each one separate and distinct, frozen on their fall to earth. Lightning, she thought ... and surely it was thunder that followed immediately, even though the groundshaking rumble sounded eerily like the laughter of some grimly amused giant or elemental... But a thunderbolt didn't explain the vision Lia saw against the clouds, stark in the bright light, frozen like those myriad drops of rain: the vision of a gigantic gaunt man, towering as high as the clouds themselves, wearing black vestments, a stovepipe hat and small, round glasses. She could see the clouds dimly through him, and it seemed, as he moved, that his tattered coat was full of stars.
That's a Voudoun (voodoo) god. Pretty impressive, eh? This loa (spirit-god) and a few others join a male houngan (Voudoun sorcerer-priest) from Haiti, a female probation officer, a male jazz musician, a female ER doctor, and a little girl as the cast of good guys in Voodoo Child. Add to that crew one powerful bad guy--another sorcerer named Mal Sangre (Bad Blood) who hopes to win favor with some very bad loas with a sacrifice of thousands of human beings. You now have a potent brew for a supernatural thriller. And what's the obvious locale for a big voodoo showdown? New Orleans.
It's a surprisingly light novel for one with such heavy themes--rather like a crime or caper tale. The language is fluid, the plot is well paced and suspenseful, and the fact that the characters are two-dimensional doesn't detract that much. You'll learn a lot of fascinating Voudoun and Creole words, too. Some readers may long for a glossary, but if you're patient and wait a page or two, Reaves will give you each word's meaning in context.
SOurce: Fiona Webster, Amazon.com.
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