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dreavg's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
scorpstar77's review
4.0
Marie Laveau is an ER doctor at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, where the city's poor, uninsured, and disenfranchised go for medical treatment. She is also the great-great-great granddaughter of the infamous Marie Laveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, and she has inherited her ancestor's gift for sight and healing. When a dead body turns up on the docks at the Port of New Orleans, killed in a very unusual and puzzling manner, the NOPD directs a relatively new detective from New Jersey to Dr. Laveau for further information. Between restless ghosts howling for revenge, the detectives skepticism of her voodoo powers, an unknown black spirit roaming the city, and more bodies piling up, Marie must use both her medical and her voodoo skills to find and stop the killer - and to protect herself and those around her.
Apparently, I read these all out of order, but as a first introduction to Dr. Marie Laveau, this book served its purpose fine. A sort of mash-up of detective fiction and supernatural fantasy, this book rang a lot of my bells. Marie Laveau is both strong and emotional; independent and loving; standoffish and sensual; a healer and a fighter. She is kind and gentle, but also hard as steel when she needs to be. And she's not flawless - she has some emotional baggage that she has to work to get past. I don't think I've totally gotten a good feel for her after one book because she's pretty complex. Suffice it to say, I'll be reading more books in the series!
Apparently, I read these all out of order, but as a first introduction to Dr. Marie Laveau, this book served its purpose fine. A sort of mash-up of detective fiction and supernatural fantasy, this book rang a lot of my bells. Marie Laveau is both strong and emotional; independent and loving; standoffish and sensual; a healer and a fighter. She is kind and gentle, but also hard as steel when she needs to be. And she's not flawless - she has some emotional baggage that she has to work to get past. I don't think I've totally gotten a good feel for her after one book because she's pretty complex. Suffice it to say, I'll be reading more books in the series!
claudiaswisher's review
4.0
New Orleans lives in this book...the contemporary New Orleans, and the city from years past. It's vibrant, and yet there are foreshadowing clues to the dangers it faces from Katrina. We, the readers, know what's coming.
Marie has become comfortable with her dual-role as healer...doctor and voodoo queen of New Orleans. She seeks and finds a balance, and I believe each role complements the other. She has found a balance in her private life as well, after her losses in the first book. She has little Marie-Claire and is raising her with the help of her extended adopted family.
What could go wrong? A lot. An entirely new creature seems to be roaming the streets, killing by draining victims of all their blood. There are nods to Anne Rice, vampire queen of New Orleans, and to James Lee Burke, mystery writer, but this is Marie's story, no doubt.
She and a new NOPD detective, Parks, hunt for clues, each in his and her own way. They form an uneasy partnership, because Parks, a good New Jersey boy, can't quite accept the truth in front of him.
The antagonist is not a stranger to fans of Parker Rhodes' stories. The battle is epic, and Marie's losses seem unsustainable.
Marie is an interesting, layered, flawed, character...sometimes I want to shake her, but then I remember the difficult back story she is carrying, and the huge burdens that have been added since her days in New Orleans. Hoping Marie Claire becomes more of a presence in the next and last book.
The prose here is NOLA jazz...syncopated, poetic, with artistic riffs that lift the soul.
Marie has become comfortable with her dual-role as healer...doctor and voodoo queen of New Orleans. She seeks and finds a balance, and I believe each role complements the other. She has found a balance in her private life as well, after her losses in the first book. She has little Marie-Claire and is raising her with the help of her extended adopted family.
What could go wrong? A lot. An entirely new creature seems to be roaming the streets, killing by draining victims of all their blood. There are nods to Anne Rice, vampire queen of New Orleans, and to James Lee Burke, mystery writer, but this is Marie's story, no doubt.
She and a new NOPD detective, Parks, hunt for clues, each in his and her own way. They form an uneasy partnership, because Parks, a good New Jersey boy, can't quite accept the truth in front of him.
The antagonist is not a stranger to fans of Parker Rhodes' stories. The battle is epic, and Marie's losses seem unsustainable.
Marie is an interesting, layered, flawed, character...sometimes I want to shake her, but then I remember the difficult back story she is carrying, and the huge burdens that have been added since her days in New Orleans. Hoping Marie Claire becomes more of a presence in the next and last book.
The prose here is NOLA jazz...syncopated, poetic, with artistic riffs that lift the soul.
mochagirl's review
3.0
Yellow Moon is the second in a trilogy inspired by New Orleans's infamous Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau; a woman still revered (and feared in some circles) centuries after her death. The first novel, Voodoo Season, is a suspenseful tale centering on a young woman's apprehensive discovery of her kinship to Marie and the unwanted "gifts"; she inherits from her grandmother; powers such as the ability to heal nearly everyone, an uncanny sense of foresight, and the ability to see spirits. These powers seem to have grown stronger upon her relocation to New Orleans for a medical internship.
Years pass and Yellow Moon picks up where VooDoo Season ends. The newly licensed Dr. Marie Laveau (appropriately named following the tradition of her foremothers), has seemingly accepted her fate, embraced New Orleans as home, and with the help of believers is aptly honing her otherwordly crafts. She happily practices both traditional medicine at the legendary Charity Hospital and the more controversial voodoo religion during off-hours. Her blissful life is interrupted when a string of blood-drained corpses start littering the city: the first being a hardened dock worker, then a boozing jazz musician, the third a prostitute - they are reminiscent of the underprivileged and downtrodden that seem to flock to Marie both in life and death. It is not long before the ghosts of the murdered appeal to her for justice. Her reluctance is culled by the handsome lead detective assigned to the case. Vampiric markings on the corpses baffle police but supernatural indicators and warnings from beyond eventually propel Marie into action. As the case progresses and the body count increases, the reader is taken on a tour of New Orleans revealing interesting tidbits of its rich history steeped in the unique blending of culture, music, religion laced with equal doses of exorbitance, decadence and debauchery. They finally discover that something ancient and evil is gaining strength in their midst and it is out for vengeance against Marie. Marie is soon in a fight for her life; she realizes she must conjure the gods and push her powers beyond her limits to save herself and her loved ones - both old and new.
Yellow Moon is seemingly written as a mystery/suspense that focuses on Dr. Marie Laveau's quest to find a vampiric murderer. However, the author also includes Marie's inner-struggles with her destiny, previous relationship baggage which affects her love life, and vacillating confidence in her powers as a Voodienne priestess. It is here that the novel slows to allow for character development or perhaps character empathy/sympathy; all of which I found a bit repetitive (from VooDoo Season) and distracting from the search for the killer. There were a few tangental episodes that caused me to wonder where the author was going with the subplots. When the climatic ending finally plays out, I instantly thought, "That's it? This could have happened 50-60 pages ago;" so I was a bit disappointed with the pacing and conclusion. However being a fan of literary and historical fiction, I absolutely loved the reflections on old New Orleans and the infusion of African folklore - these elements kept me turning pages and it is in these aspects where the author's research shows and talent shines.
Years pass and Yellow Moon picks up where VooDoo Season ends. The newly licensed Dr. Marie Laveau (appropriately named following the tradition of her foremothers), has seemingly accepted her fate, embraced New Orleans as home, and with the help of believers is aptly honing her otherwordly crafts. She happily practices both traditional medicine at the legendary Charity Hospital and the more controversial voodoo religion during off-hours. Her blissful life is interrupted when a string of blood-drained corpses start littering the city: the first being a hardened dock worker, then a boozing jazz musician, the third a prostitute - they are reminiscent of the underprivileged and downtrodden that seem to flock to Marie both in life and death. It is not long before the ghosts of the murdered appeal to her for justice. Her reluctance is culled by the handsome lead detective assigned to the case. Vampiric markings on the corpses baffle police but supernatural indicators and warnings from beyond eventually propel Marie into action. As the case progresses and the body count increases, the reader is taken on a tour of New Orleans revealing interesting tidbits of its rich history steeped in the unique blending of culture, music, religion laced with equal doses of exorbitance, decadence and debauchery. They finally discover that something ancient and evil is gaining strength in their midst and it is out for vengeance against Marie. Marie is soon in a fight for her life; she realizes she must conjure the gods and push her powers beyond her limits to save herself and her loved ones - both old and new.
Yellow Moon is seemingly written as a mystery/suspense that focuses on Dr. Marie Laveau's quest to find a vampiric murderer. However, the author also includes Marie's inner-struggles with her destiny, previous relationship baggage which affects her love life, and vacillating confidence in her powers as a Voodienne priestess. It is here that the novel slows to allow for character development or perhaps character empathy/sympathy; all of which I found a bit repetitive (from VooDoo Season) and distracting from the search for the killer. There were a few tangental episodes that caused me to wonder where the author was going with the subplots. When the climatic ending finally plays out, I instantly thought, "That's it? This could have happened 50-60 pages ago;" so I was a bit disappointed with the pacing and conclusion. However being a fan of literary and historical fiction, I absolutely loved the reflections on old New Orleans and the infusion of African folklore - these elements kept me turning pages and it is in these aspects where the author's research shows and talent shines.
amythebookbat's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know much about voo doo and I had never heard of the African "vampire" in the story before. I thought it was interesting, but it sometimes felt like it got bogged down in having to explain everything constantly, so it interrupted the flow.
hlandes1's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first book in the trilogy more than this one. This reminded me a bit of one of the Preston and Child novel - Relic or Reliquary. Can't wait to read the final book.
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