Wow! What a creepy, suspenseful, tension filled ride this book turned out to be!


A little backstory for you readers:

Detective Lawrence Ribaud has his hands full as he tries to figure out his latest case as this case is more personal when his wife has become one of the victims. Beds are saturated in blood but no bodies and the only thing left of the person is their heart. Welcome to New Orleans.

Ribaud knows that this is no ordinary crime and that to find the truth he will have to go into the underground of the city. As he digs deep into the case he enters the world of voodoo and the more he learns the worse off he is as now the tables have been turned on him as things happen to him to warn him of not going any further with the case. When you poke a stick in a hornets nest you are going to get stung or in this case when you poke a stick in a snake pit you are going to get bit!

What happens to Ribaud? Who or what is stealing bodies and leaving the hearts? Does Ribaud find the person or persons responsible for the crimes? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Thoughts:

This book literally kept me awake nights as I just could not put it down. I told myself that I was just going to read a couple of chapters, but the more I became involved in the storyline the more hours I stayed awake!

The author, John Everson, obviously did some research on this book as there is quite a bit of the voodoo lore within these pages. Lots of twists and turns along with some blood splatter throughout the book as I made my way through the storyline. Giving this book five "blood soaked" stars!


My thanks to Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for letting me review this ARC. ( )

This book is an interesting mix....a blend of hard hitting detective novel and occult horror Voodoo style. Set in New Orleans, the story has a lot of rawness about it -- sex, blood, human sacrifice, pure evil....

Although I enjoyed the story, I just couldn't get away from the thought that I'd read so many stories like this before. There are 10000000 New Orleans Voodoo blood and guts everywhere books out there. And this is really just another one on the stack. I didn't particularly get into the characters, the action or the horror edge.

This is a well-written story....and I did enjoy reading it for the most part. In the end, I think it's just a matter of the story not being for me. I've read too many jaded-detective-gets-embroiled-in-evil stories before,and just didn't get lost in this story like I wanted to. But that is just my opinion. It didn't work for me....doesn't mean others won't absolutely love it.

It's a miss for me this time. I do look forward to more by this author though. The next book might be something I really love!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book by John Everson. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

I haven't read a ton of scary stories this October, but the ones I have gotten my hands on, I've really enjoyed, and this one is no exception. Though I do have to say that there were a few parts that I was too immature to read and had me laughing harder than I should have, I did really like reading this, and I'm happy to have a copy for my bookshelf. If you're looking for a New Orleans Detective style murder mystery novel with a ton of magic and voodoo mixed in, than you might want to check this out next.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/voodoo-heart-by-john-eve... ( )

A horror novel set in New Orleans involving voodoo? Yes please! I had been wanting a read like this for a while and rather enjoyed it.
The lead character comes across as a bit shallow at times, but he is who he is, and it all ties in with the story. Plenty of mystery to go along with the horror, and a refreshingly modern treatment of witches and witchcraft, all while maintaining an air of menace. ( )