Customer Reviews

Habeas Campus

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I almost didn't read "Habeas Campus" by Wendi Lee because of the bad reviews ... I ended up buying this book simply because I like Wendi Lee's other writings. This book turned out to be enjoyable (so there)! It's true that in this country the thought of voodoo is far-fetched, but there are countries, such as Haiti, where zombies are accepted as real. I got a kick out of reading this mystery. Not your everday, run-of-the-mill subject, it was nonetheless entertaining and fun to peruse.

Clearly one of the worst mysteries I've ever read. Poorly constructed--it's as if the author made a list of every trite gimmick and off-the-wall idea that ever was mentioned in her lady writers support group, and threw them into one novel. A voodoo queen on a college campus, and a cast of Vermont college characters who have all been to Haiti? Missing potions and antidotes? Get real! This kind of shallow frivolity gives a bad name to the genre.

The previous reviewer said it all. Wendi Lee thinks that zombies can be created and sent out to work in sweatshops and behind the counter at McDonalds. Oh??? The book is badly written as well. Dull and unbelievable -- a deadly combination.

When a professor finds voodoo warnings in his office, he calls in private detective Angela Matelli to pose as a student and find the truth. Are the warnings really a gag, or are there real zombies within the ivy walls of his Vermont college? Once at Hartmore College, Angela finds that almost everyone she comes in contact with has been in Haiti and had some contact with the voodoo religion. And tensions are high among them. Somehow, Angela has to cut through the clutter and find the truth--and manage to avoid becoming a zombie herself.

Author Wendi Lee writes with an engagingly light style. Angela, with her overprotective mother and marine background makes for an attractive protagonist. The story itself, however, may be a little too light for real mystery fans. Although everyone has been to Haiti, sorting through the suspects shouldn't be so easy.

HABEAS CAMPUS is enjoyable light reading but is unlikely to stick with you for long.

I agree with Judith Lindenau's review completely. I have seldom seen so many cliches and illogical metaphors and similies even in my years of teaching high-school English. I don't see that any of the characters she introduced (barely) in the first few pages were relevant to the so-called story line or plot. I wonder if Wendi Lee has ever been to Massachusetts or Vermont? She seems not to be aware of the driving time between Boston and the Northeast Kingdom and says nothing about the effect of the Big Dig on Angie's trip from Boston. The most she seems to know is that leaves fall from the trees in autum in New England. Worst of all, at the end she drives off leaving us wondering what eventually happens to the two burn victims and the two zombies, physically or legally. She doesn't seem much interested in the fate of her characters. I fear that the zombie paste has been wasted on the wrong person.

A large part of Angela Matelli's charm has come from her interactions with her extended (and supportive) family. In this entry in the series, her family is minimized to a couple of phone calls and a few minutes in the first chapter. The plot is unusual--voodoo on a New England college campus and the supporting characters are fairly well written. But without the help and interference of the Matelli family, Angela seems to lose her edge and could be any number of interchangeable female private investigators. Despite a better than average writing style and story line, Habeus Campus disappoints. I probably will wait for the next to come out in paper back and am glad I bought this used.