Book Blurb
The Red Man is coming ...Five years after her sister disappeared, seventeen-year-old Adrienne finds the strength to return to her father’s home in New Orleans. But soon after she arrives, the mark of a curse appears on her, leaving her worried. Will she be the next victim of a four-hundred-year old family curse ... the next to be claimed by a serial killer roaming the back alleys of the city?
The day before his senior year begins, Jayden is given a skeleton key passed down through his family for generations -- a gruesome reminder of how his ancestors betrayed their own people and sold them into slavery. He doesn’t believe in the curse the key allegedly bears and puts it away with the intention of forgetting about its message. Until he meets Adrienne, a girl he’s compelled to for more reasons than her beauty.
He’s not the only one who notices her. A man in a skeleton mask and a voodoo gang member are also drawn to Adrienne. One is determined to protect her. The other intends to mislead her. Haunted by the mythical Red Man, all are connected to the ancient curse.
Can they overcome their misgivings about one another and prevent the dark prophecy looming over them? Or will they be lured away from each other by evil’s siren song?
Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala
Madame Marie Toussaint knows that evil is on the way to New Orleans. In fact it is coming for her grandson Jayden. She is determined to protect him. She gives him a set of dog tags, a family heirloom, from her father. She casts a protection spell on the tags and he must never take them off. She strongly believes that her Voodoo religion and the spirits of her ancestors will help keep Jayden safe.
Jayden is entering his final year in school. He wants to play football, date pretty girls and be a normal teenager. Of course that isn’t going to happen with his mother’s family, their Voodoo beliefs, his father’s family secrets and the situation with his younger sister Izzy. Jayden has a lot on his plate and the pressure is coming from all directions.
Adrienne St. Croix is seventeen. She has moved from Georgia to New Orleans to live with her dad and attend the school where she received a music scholarship. On the side to raise money she reads tarot cards at Madame Estelle’s shop. Her mother is a strong believer in the Voodoo religion. So Adrienne has been raised to respect the spirits of her ancestors and the stories that her cards tell her.
Adrienne is also in New Orleans to find out what happened to her sister, Therese. She disappeared while living with their father and is presumed dead. Adrienne believes that the Red Man, thought to be a serial killer in New Orleans, killed her sister. She is determined to find out.
Jayden and Adrienne meet at school. Jayden is drawn to her when he hears her voice. They instantly start forming a bond. Jayden knows she is poor and his father would disapprove, but there is something about Adrienne that he can’t get passed. She is full of light. Unfortunately for Adrienne, Jayden doesn’t believe in Voodoo. In fact he thinks it is for crazy people. So she must keep that part of herself from him.
They both find themselves in the middle of a voodoo curse that is four hundred years old. The Red Man is coming for Adrienne. She bears the mark. He has been cheated out of her sister and now Adrienne is marked for his wrath. Adrienne’s life is turned upside down when she learns the truth of what happened to her sister and how she and Jayden play into the curse. With the help from a Mambo named Candace, Adrienne and Jayden try to figure out what is really going on and how they can fix it. Their lives are in danger and the curse is closing in on them.
I liked this book. It has lots of twists and turns. The darkness of the curses and dark magic the characters encounter is intense. The voodoo culture is intriguing and I find the storyline a refreshing one for magic. It left me hanging and wanting more.
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