Customer Reviews

Voodoo Season

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

 

 

There is a legend that the infamous New Orleans native and Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau never died, that, in fact, her spirit lives on in selected female descendents, each a namesake, and Laveau's faithful are awaiting her return. Jewell Parker Rhodes (Voodoo Dreams, Douglass's Women, Magic City) births a modern day Marie in the second book of the Marie Laveau/Voodoo trilogy, Voodoo Season: a Marie Laveau Mystery.

The novel centers on first year medical resident, Marie Levant, a cum laude graduate from the school of hard knocks. As a child living in Chicago, she discovered her mother's lifeless body on the kitchen floor and was whisked away only to be abused in the foster care system. She defies the odds by excelling academically and winning scholarships to medical school, which she views as a natural progression to her inherent life-long healing abilities. She is an animal lover, empathetic to her patients, and acts rather impulsively on her rather sensuous nature. The novel opens with her relocating to New Orleans, after being drawn there by unknown forces. She battles disturbing dreams that contain vivid images of ritual ceremonies, childbirth, and a woman being persecuted. The tale is largely told from Levant's perspective and uses flashbacks/memories to show her immediate past as a forlorn child and haunting dreams to reveal her spiritual past as Laveau, the Voodoo Queen. As you can guess, Levant is the chosen one, and it seems everyone knows it but her.

Rhodes sprinkles elements of suspense and foreboding in lines such as, "Summer. Sin season. Fever season. Anything could happen. Even the undead," and emphasizes Levant's confusion and struggles as she comes into her "season" or her reckoning with her destiny. She initially rejects her increasing power of healing, insight and intuition and balks at the awareness of herself as a Marie Laveau reincarnate; a powerful Voodooienne. However, along the way, she begrudgingly embraces her fate as she discovers painful family secrets and the truth behind her mother's death and its eerie similarity with the murders of the young, unclaimed girls who keep showing up in her wake.

Although not a strong mystery (more so filled with anticipation), the book does a wonderful job clarifying and dispelling misconceptions about the Vodun religion and the origin of Voodoo as the merging of African beliefs and Christianity. One character explains, "Religions from the African Diaspora all value the snake as knowledge, all-knowing, an infinity and fertility symbol. White Christians bemoan that a snake tempted Eve in the Garden. But in voodoo, the same myth is a cause for celebration. Snakes represent knowledge. `Knowing is what keeps you safe, strong.' What good is Eden with ignorance?" Going a step further, she parallels spiritual icons. In one example, Legba is akin to St. Peter and serves as a gatekeeper.

Rhodes masterfully blends in the historical decadence of the New Orleans of old - the true purpose of the Quadroon Balls with hints of the La Placage lifestyle, lessons on racism/colorism (New Orleans style), complete with beguiling glimpses into another world complete with ghosts, zombies, spirit gods, and ritual sacrifices.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub
Nubian Circle Book Club

Marie Levant relocates from Chicago to begin a medial residency at the New Orleans' Charity Hospital. However, upon returning to the hometown of her ancestors, Marie begins to have strange violent dreams about her heritage. That is followed by ritual serial killings that force Marie to look into her past as the direct descendent of Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau and two subsequent Maries who were bathed in blood.

Marie learns that young females are being abducted to serve as prostitutes at reenactment galas of nineteenth century quadroon balls; the unfortunate innocents are used and abused before being converted into slave zombies. New Orleans Police Detective Reneaux struggles to save the girls and uncover the monster behind this hideous practice, but only Marie by claiming her heritage can hope to stop the evil that engulfs the young of the city.

VOODOO SEASON is a terrific paranormal police procedural that will make believers of readers that there are strange unexplained essences and inexplicable powers out there. The story line is action-packed as Marie slowly accepts her ancestry "gifts" while Reneaux struggles with a nasty case and how Marie fits in the middle of the maelstrom. Fans of fast-paced exciting supernatural mysteries will want to read this jewel of a thriller.

Harriet Klausner

I have read different fictional books on the topic of Voodoo and thought this one was going to be especially good as one of my favorite authors, Tananarive Due, gave a review on it. I was disappointed however. I think throughout the book the author might assume you are following right with her but I was lost and felt she was leaving information out. I was drawn in for maybe the first half but then she lost me. Overall I think the story had potential but it's unlikely I'll read this author again.

In this sequel to the fascinating Voodoo Dreams, the fourth descendant in a line of Maries, is a resident at New Orleans's Charity Hospital. Drawn to the city for reasons that she cannot explain, Marie is suddenly confronted with a number of beautiful young girls arriving in the Charity emergency room...all very young, very beautiful, and very pregnant....and seemingly also very dead. The first to arrive is the gorgeous Marie-Claire; who, although "dead," has a pregnancy that goes unnoticed by all medical personnel except for Marie. Word soon spreads through the hospital that Marie has a gift....and when Marie-Claire's baby is delivered by Marie herself, there is a bond formed that is beyond Marie's comprehension. A bond that is as timeless as the gifts and the spirituality that flows within a bloodline...a bond that could potentially result in saving the lives of dozens of innocents........

A book that will keep readers turning the pages. The author seeks to dispel the myth that voudon, or voodoo, is synonymous with evil...and whether you believe or you don't, this tale will appeal to all who can appreciate a good story.


DYB

I liked the book, along with Voodoo Dreams, but if your going to write about Louisiana, you have to make sure to get the little things right. In the book she says "Crayfish", but no one in southern Louisiana would say that, instead they are called "Crawfish", only tourists call them crayfish. And Marie hears "Crocodiles", but what she should have heard were "Alligators". Shows some lack of reasearch about the place she is writing about.

Voodoo Season is the 2nd book in the Marie Laveau series by Jewell Parker Rhodes. There is a huge chronological gap from the 1st novel that ended in 1822 to the 2nd novel that takes place in 2005. I wish the 2nd novel was the story of Marie and her baby girl that she had with John. It would have been interesting to see the dynamic between the two women considering Marie murdered her abuser/lover for survival. Voodoo season only teases you with tidbits of information about Marie and her daughter and how the family split in 2. There was obviously a story before this story (voodoo season)that should have been written. The whole drunken chief of medical staff was completely far fetched and insulting to southerners. Dr.DuLac should have been portrayed with more dignity and self-respect considering he was a dark-skin black man who went through medical school and was practicing medicine in a southern state. Overall I give the book a C-.

The apple must have fell a little further from the tree this time. I LOVED the first novel, but didn't too much care for this one. I felt like a reader versus feeling like I was on the scene (which to ME defines a good novel).
I have not given up on Rhodes however.

I really enjoyed this book..far more than I did voodoo dreams, in fact I enjoyed this one so much i'm thinking about going back to read the first one (it was just so hard for me to get into) Fortunately, the first book wasn't a must read to understanding this one. Love JPR!

I've read Voodoo Dreams and fell in love witht this author and she is becoming one of my favorites well my favorite at the moment because I seem interested only in the topics she writes on. :) I really enjoyed this book I couldn't put it down, up late nights and on the train every day deeply into the lives of those in this book. A great read.

This book is a great continuation from her first one, Voodoo Dreams. It is also a very easy read. It only took my 4 days to finish it. I think that anyone would enjoy this book and I can't wait until she publishes Voodoo Jazz!!!! :)