GRAVE INTENT: Novel

This book was filled with action from beginning to end. I could not put it down. Very well written. This is the second book I have read by Deborah LeBlanc and will definitely be reading more.

, I adored this novel. Deborah LeBlanc's masterfully drawn characters command the narrative in this dark and brooding novel set in a Louisiana funeral home. A deftly conjured atmosphere of onrushing doom overlays a fast-paced and suspenseful story in which a gold coin is stolen from the stiffly clenched hands of a 19-year-old girl's corpse, a theft that plunges the owners of the funeral home, Janet and Michael Savoy, into a desperate search for the missing coin that must be placed in the dead girl's grave before the second sunrise following its disappearance or a member of the Savoy family--and they fear it will likely be their own daughter--will suffer a hideous death. This is a claustrophobic tale of dark magic and deadly spells that could only rise like a black miasma from the Bayou swamps. Louisiana writer LeBlanc cranks up the horror, drawing the reader into nightmarish landscapes of a countryside she understands so well. This is a heartstopper. Don't miss it!

I enjoyed Ms. LeBlanc's first book and this one is even better. Vibrant characters and a chilling concept make this an exciting read. If you are looking for a true storyteller, this one is for you. Can't wait for her next one. I'm officially a fan now!

Janet Savoy has an eerie premonition that something horrible will happen to her family. At the same time, her father-in-law Wilson, running from a loan shark he owes a large debt to, shows up in town looking for cash from his son Michael. When a gypsy family holds a funeral at the Savoy funeral home, a special gold coin is placed between the deceased teenage girl's hands, meant to pay her safe passage to the next world. Wilson steals it to pay off his gambling debts, but promptly loses it. A ghostly presence later appears to Michael and warns him that if the coin is not returned to the gypsy girl's grave by the rising of the second sun, a deadly vengeance will be exacted upon the Savoy family. As Michael and his father conduct a desperate hunt for the coin, Janet, unaware of the menacing threat, takes her daughter and niece to a family cabin for a short vacation. The gypsy curse follows them there, and Janet's worst nightmares are about to come true. "Grave Intent" is chock full of scary themes and scenes: a gypsy curse, ghosts and otherworldly terrors, demonic possession of a child, and a series of ghastly things that go bump in the night. At the beginning of the story, there is a bit of comic relief in the form of the gypsy antics at the funeral and Wilson's attempts to weasel money out of his son. But that is short-lived, and the horror builds to a heart-pounding crescendo. Although the haunting is sometimes a bit over-the-top, this is a fast-paced and creepy novel that will keep you turning pages far into the night. Eileen Rieback

Ephraim Stevenson branded his infant daughter with the imprint of a gold coin that he made for her so that she will have payment when she dies and not be stuck in the netherworld. At the age of nineteen Thalia dies in a freak riding accident in a small town in Louisiana; her family arranges for her funeral to be held at Savoy's Ephraim takes the gold coin off the ring he is wearing and puts it in his daughter's coffin. Michael Savoy's father Wilson comes back home during the Stevenson funeral because some very bad people want to collect on his gambling debts. He sees the gold coin and steals it with every intention of using it to pay off his bookie but he loses it before that can happen. The ghost of Thalia's grandfather warns Michael that unless the coin is returned to Thalia within forty eight hours, death will come for his loved ones. Michael's wife and daughter are at their summer retreat under supernatural siege with his child's life slowly slipping away, Michael and Wilson are also under ghostly attack at the funeral home. Only returning the gold coin to Thalia will save his daughter from certain death. GRAVE INTENT is a chilling horror story worthy of a Bram Stoker nomination. Wilson's sets events in motion by stealing from a corpse, which doesn't phase this hedonist, who symbolizes selfish me-me negative behavior; in contrast Michael and his wife risk their lives to save their daughter and readers believe they would insure that Thalia has the money to take passage to the other side even if their offspring was not in danger. Harriet Klausner