This is the third book in the Esther Diamond series by Laura Resnick. It was published around 2010 by DAW, while the audiobook was published by Graphic Audio with a full cast narrating the voices. The story is a Paranormal comedy with a hint of mystery on top. It also has a bit of a romance, though it isn’t in focus of the story.
The story follows Esther Diamond as she plays a hooker in a television series only to encounter a man who has been died, and gargoyles controlled by a dark shaman who intends to create a zombie army. So, with the help of trusty old magician Max, her two ex-boyfriends and a voodoo practioneer with her sword wielding brother, Esther Diamond tries to find the dark shaman, preferably before the curse cast upon her kills her.
Esther is back, with snarky comments and screams while her boyfriend, ex or not, Connor Lopez is back with a possible magical talent and absolutely no faith in the supernatural. The new characters don’t really have much to give the story. Her ex-boyfriend is a failed actor but we get a bit more about Esther’s background, though he is mostly there to cracking jokes by pointing out how ridiculous the situation is.
What’s interesting in this story is the use of Haitian Vodou which is explained and explored in excruciating details. The author was a bit too enthusiastic here, info dumping happens often and is not discreet either. All of the story and dialog just suddenly stop to give us an infodump on random things and they often halt the story. It still interesting and is not often seen in books so it makes the story feel new.
It was fun and a fast-paced story, with plenty of humor, though it fell a bit flat in this book, and interesting foundation. It is slowed down a bit because of the info dumping but I wasn’t too bothered. Though I enjoy the main character and Max, I am not sure about this dragged out storyline about Esther and Lopez romance. They never felt like a couple and here the author tried to pull on the heartstrings of them having broken up but I was unaffected. I adore the characters but never bought their relationship, it felt more like lust and nothing beyond that but the author really trying to push that these two has a deep and complicated relationship.
Not to mention, I don’t know how to feel about Lopez and his cynical nature. In some sense it is understandable and is suitable for the story. It grounds a otherwise wild story into reality, but he feels so… off. Like an outsider who just stumbled into the wrong story and his disbelief is becoming more of a nuisance by each book. There is no development on his part, he doesn’t slowly start to question his beliefs and are just… bullheaded. It needs to be addressed soon or he will stick out like a sore thumb in the story.
Overall, it is a decent story. I liked it better than the Dobbelgangster book, but it wasn’t as good as the first book that had more humor, which is a big part of these stories. This one has a better structure story and a better mystery which makes the plot feel a lot more planned. Especially along with the author’s clearly studied knowledge of Vodou. I would give it a 7 out of 10, and would recommend it in this series for those who want to explore Haitian Vodou.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
Read with Senefer 