Who knew that he knew voodoo so well.
Bad Juju
by Dina Rae
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Tom and Jessica Novak are proud to be doing God’s work. They’ve traveled to Port au-Prince as part of a missionary group with others of their church. They’re going to help with rebuilding the island after the 7.0 earthquake that shook all of Haiti, causing massive destruction.
Their 15-year-old son Henry’s Asperger’s Syndrome had them questioning their decision. He’s intelligent and quite functional, but changes in routine, surroundings and new faces could cause problems. Henry doesn’t communicate well or understand social interaction.
But Henry’s the one that urged them to go. He’s been obsessed with Haiti. So here they are, the whole family, including Henry’s younger sister Natalie, who’d rather be back home. This is not her idea of a great summer vacation.
Since Henry’s been doing so well, they decide to extend their stay. If they had only left earlier, they wouldn’t be searching for their missing son. Henry has simply vanished and wandering away from the protection of the armed camp is dangerous. There are a lot of bad people out there and he wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
If they had only known the reason Henry wandered away, they never would have brought him there.
My favorite character is Jake. He befriends Henry when they meet in detention class. They aren’t really bad boys, just a couple of kids who got in a little trouble.
Jake is a kind-hearted boy, helping out the elderly residents in his trailer park. He does odd jobs, cleans house and run errands for the less able ones. You wonder how he turned out so well when you learn he suffers violent beatings from his uncle. After losing his parents he came to live with his aunt and uncle and his aunt suffers the same abuse.
Jake brings Henry home with him after school to introduce him to his favorite neighbor, Lucien.
Lucien is a powerful bokor, a voodoo priest, and with his black skin, unruly, long white hair and piercing eyes, he looks every bit the part.
It becomes a regular routine for the boys to visit with Lucien after school and after much pleading, he begins to teach them about Vodun, the voodoo religion, beginning with simple spells and hexes.
Lucien feels death coming for him and can’t bear the thought of all his vast knowledge and power going with him to the grave.
After Jake receives another very brutal and bloody beating, the three decide to create a voodoo doll to rid Jake of his uncle.
This is where it all starts to go weird.
Bad Juju was a surprise. I thought it was going to be all about voodoo, raising the dead, and voodoo dolls. Well, it was. I learned how to do voodoo, what the religion is about, good and dark arts of it, and how to raise someone from the dead. Some of it creeped me out, but a lot of it was really funny.
Having the characters as teen-age boys made this story. Boys will be boys and they had me rocking and rolling! I can’t wait for you to meet the dead guy.
Getting back to the surprise part, there were several deeper subjects tackled throughout this book and I could tell the author did a lot of research and included that knowledge in the story to make it believable and engaging.
If you’re looking for something different, look no further. Bad Juju has plenty of interesting characters, some tough topics, plenty of laughs, and lots of scary voodoo magic. Oh Yeah, I almost forgot the zombie!
I felt like I got a crash course in voodoo, like voodoo for dummies.
And now please welcome Dina Rae. She’s here to tell us about zombies! Afterwards, follow the link to enter her amazing giveaway!
Do You Know Your Zombies?
With the so-called zombie apocalypse approaching, one must be educated about the different kinds of zombies before prepping for defense. First, there is the most common and believable-the human that turns into a zombie because of mental collapse, disease, infection, and/or radiation. They stagger around dazed and confused and cause panic to others. Then there is the man-made monster kind or the kind Hollywood and horror authors like me tend to capitalize on.
Zombie interest continues to fascinate the world. Jeffrey Dahmer drilled holes then poured acid down his victim’s heads in hopes of creating his own zombie. His madness didn’t work. Can man make his own zombie? Are these monsters real?
According to Wade Davis, author of The Serpent of the Rainbow, zombies are real. They are a product of the Voodoo religion. He was originally hired by a pharmaceutical company to find out about the drugs Voduists used in their death rituals. He believed that datura also known as zombie’s cucumber was a plant that could medically make one who ingested it appear to be dead for a certain length of time. Sounds like the stuff Juliet used to fake her death. Could Shakespeare known about the magical zombie-making plant?
Datura or sometimes Cimora, a close relative of Datura’s, eventually wears off but leaves the victim in a state of confusion, highly susceptible to the art of persuasion. Presto! A zombie slave is at the captor’s disposal. Mr. Davis didn’t just find his datura flower, but witnessed zombie phenomena as he immersed himself within the Haitian culture.
Bad Juju is a unique blend of horror, romance, and fantasy. Besides The Serpent and the Rainbow, I read volumes of other Voodoo material and watched hours of TV specials. Some of the terms I learned can be found below:
Bokor: A wizard who practices black magic, a zombie maker.
Loa: deity/spirit
Ghede Family: A family of loas known as the spirits of the dead. Three barons rule the family. Baron Samedi is the loa of resurrection. Baron Kriminel is the most feared loa associated with cannibalism and souls. He’s honored on The Day of the Dead. Baron LaCroix is the loa of the dead and sexuality.
Poppet: Voodoo doll
Ti-bon-ange: “little good angel” The part of the soul that represents a person’s individuality.
Gros-bon-ange: “great good angel” Part of the soul that is collected into a reservoir of the Cosmos or spirit world.
Baka: Voodoo spirits in animal form.
Loup Garou: werewolf
Djab: a devil
Dessounin: Death ritual that separates the gros-bon-ange from the body.
Bizango Society: Secret society of Vodouists. They have Freemason-like qualities such as aprons, secret handshakes, oaths, hierarchy, and symbols. Legend states they change into animals at will. They are known for stealing black cats and boiling them to death for Voodoo services. They drink each other’s blood from a human skull chalice.
You need to check out Dina’s Holiday Bonanza: An Unholy Trinity of Dina Rae’s Novels. Go here to enter her awesome giveaway. Gift cards and books, books, books!
About Dina Rae and where to find her
Dina Rae is a new author here to stay. As a former teacher, she brings an academic element to her work. Her three novels, Halo of the Damned, The Last Degree, and Bad Juju weave research and suspense throughout the plots. Her short story, Be Paranoid Be Prepared, is a prequel of sorts to The Last Degree, focusing on the James Martin character. Dina also freelances for various entertainment blogs.
Dina lives with her husband, two daughters, and two dogs outside of Chicago. She is a Christian, an avid tennis player, movie buff, and self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories. She has been interviewed numerous times in e-zines, websites, blogs, newspapers, and radio programs. When she is not writing she is reading novels from her favorite authors Dan Brown, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Brad Thor, George R.R. Martin, and Preston & Childs.
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