Grave Intent [Mass Market Paperback]

Deborah LeBlanc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005

In all their years at the funeral home, Janet and Michael Savoy had never seen anything like the viewing for ninetten-year-old Thalia Stevenson. That's because they had never seen a Gypsy funeral before, complete with rituals, incantations and a very special gold coin placed beneath the dead girl's hands.....When that coin is stolen, a horror is unleashed!

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While emerging novelist LeBlanc's second chiller returns to south-central Louisiana (her own stomping ground and the setting for 2003's Family Inheritance), the story is flavored this time not by the author's familiarity with Cajun culture but by another aspect of her personal background: funeral management consultation. During a chaotic gypsy burial service at the funeral parlor of Michael and Janet Savoy, a ritual gold coin is stolen from the corpse of the teenage daughter of an egomaniacal Roma gypsy chief. The theft unleashes a curse on the Savoys, unwitting unbelievers who come to realize their own five-year-old child is doomed to a gruesome death if they can't unravel a foreign culture's arcane mysteries in time to return the coin "before rising of second sun [sic]." Funeral industry scenes that are vividly detailed down to the last drop of embalming fluid make the plot's unreal supernatural situations seem equally believable. But regrettably, except in a moody but brief prologue, the Roma characters (and their culture) remain undeveloped. The curse, therefore, is less compelling than merely creepy—and confusing: a mysteriously unmotivated, if unrelenting, barrage of monsters and walking dead.
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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843955538
• ISBN-13: 978-0843955538
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #943,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A deadly curse, July 5, 2005

By 

Eileen Rieback (Coral Springs, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grave Intent (Mass Market Paperback)

Janet Savoy has an eerie premonition that something horrible will happen to her family. At the same time, her father-in-law Wilson, running from a loan shark he owes a large debt to, shows up in town looking for cash from his son Michael. When a gypsy family holds a funeral at the Savoy funeral home, a special gold coin is placed between the deceased teenage girl's hands, meant to pay her safe passage to the next world. Wilson steals it to pay off his gambling debts, but promptly loses it. A ghostly presence later appears to Michael and warns him that if the coin is not returned to the gypsy girl's grave by the rising of the second sun, a deadly vengeance will be exacted upon the Savoy family. As Michael and his father conduct a desperate hunt for the coin, Janet, unaware of the menacing threat, takes her daughter and niece to a family cabin for a short vacation. The gypsy curse follows them there, and Janet's worst nightmares are about to come true.

"Grave Intent" is chock full of scary themes and scenes: a gypsy curse, ghosts and otherworldly terrors, demonic possession of a child, and a series of ghastly things that go bump in the night. At the beginning of the story, there is a bit of comic relief in the form of the gypsy antics at the funeral and Wilson's attempts to weasel money out of his son. But that is short-lived, and the horror builds to a heart-pounding crescendo. Although the haunting is sometimes a bit over-the-top, this is a fast-paced and creepy novel that will keep you turning pages far into the night.

Eileen Rieback

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read!, July 6, 2005

By 

Dena M. Martin "Dena" (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Grave Intent (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed Ms. LeBlanc's first book and this one is even better. Vibrant characters and a chilling concept make this an exciting read. If you are looking for a true storyteller, this one is for you.

Can't wait for her next one. I'm officially a fan now!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique tale of horror, September 13, 2006

By 

Keith J. Kraemer "A fiend for horror" (Sheboygan, WI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grave Intent (Mass Market Paperback)

With "Grave Intent", Deborah LeBlanc presents a boldly unique story, treading ground that few current horror authors have covered. When the Savoy family becomes the center of a gypsy curse, their lives hang in the balance, threatened by a supernatural chain of events that only they can reverse.

The characters in this book are very well-developed, and the narrative is flavored with vivid descriptions. With the exception of a few brief scenes, the horror depicted here is relatively subtle and quiet, lending the tale a touch of realism that I found enjoyable.

My biggest complaint is that I would have enjoyed a deeper glimpse into the culture of the gypsy characters who are central to the first half of the book. A bit more explanation could also have been served up in regards to several of the events that unfold. In all, though, this book was an entertaining read, and I look forward to exploring more of what LeBlanc has to offer.