Today is my day on the tour for Bad Juju by Dina Rae
Before we get to my review I have a little treat for ya!
I’ll be discussing voodoo dolls and accessorizing them.
Some people like to use a traditional voodoo doll for their curses. Here’s an example. But always remember to make your doll comfortable before sticking the pins in!
Lots of people like to create their own special voodoo dolls. I’m not talking just putting somebodies face on the doll.
Check out these images of some fun ones.
and a couple more.
You don’t have to accessorize your voodoo dolls. From what I inderstand, as long as you follow the directions and believe it will work, it will.
Happy pinning!
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Title: Bad Juju
Author: Dina Rae
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Self Published
Formats Available In: Digital
Release Date: September, 2o12
Blurb:
Two teens turn to a Voodoo bokor to right a wrong. Their curiosity with the dark arts backfires into obsession.
Lucien Nazaire flees his Haitian homeland and settles in a Wisconsin trailer park filled with elderly tenants. He hires sixteen year old Jake for odd household jobs. The boy proves to be the perfect candidate to pass on his Voodoo legacy.
Jake LaRue lives in foster care with his abusive uncle. The Voodoo gives him a sense of power within an otherwise helpless situation. Despite his loner status, he instantly connects with Henry, his only friend in high school.
Henry Novak has Asperger’s Syndrome. He fixates on historical events, most recently the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Like Jake, he becomes passionate about the dark side of Voodoo. They learn how to cast spells on those they hate and lust.
Months after the Haitian earthquake, Henry convinces his family to volunteer for the island’s reconstruction. Their mission turns into a nightmare when he mysteriously walks off of the campsite and returns in a catatonic state.
Bad Juju is a balance of horror, romance, and literary fiction intended for adults and mature teens. The plot uses research involving the Voodoo religion.
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My Review
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.
4 Stars
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I’ve also read and reviewed these books in The Halo Trinity
Halo of the Damned
A chain of advertising agencies, a new breed of humans, and a fallen angel to worship… Andel Talistokov is known for his slick advertising agencies across the globe. He is a fallen angel that uses advertising as a weapon for Satan‘s work. His growing power emboldens him to break several of Hell‘s Commandments. Furious with his arrogance, Satan commands him to return to Hell after finding his own replacement. Yezidism, an ancient angel worshiping religion, quietly expands throughout the West. Armaros appears as a guest of honor during their ceremonies. He mates with young women to produce nephilim, a mixed race of humans and angels. They are alone and unprepared for their supernatural power. Joanna Easterhouse, a recovering drug addict, steps out of prison shortly after her mother’s fatal accident. She and her sister, Kim, unravel their mother’s secretive past. Intrigued, they learn their bloodline is part of a celestial legacy. Both worlds collide. Halo of the Damned is a horrifying tale that weaves research together with suspenseful twists and turns.
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Book Two in the Halo Trinity
Can a fallen angel, his band of broken souls, and his nephilim children change the world?
Armaros the Cursed, Satan’s favorite of the Fallen, falls once again after breaking the rules. Fearing an eternity of punishment, he desperately attempts to save himself by sending a bird to his island. The SOS message is received by his beloved congregation. They prepare the great Armaros’ kingdom for his return. Can his loyal worshipers rescue him from the pit? Halo of the Nephilim is the sequel to Halo of the Damned.
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Halo of the Madonna
A short prequel to the Halo Series
After leaving her family’s angel cult to start a new life, Lydia Easterhouse’s past comes back to haunt her. Halo of the Madonna is a short prequel to the Halo series (Halo of the Damned and Halo of the Nephilim).
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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.
Blog / Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter
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Giveaway Prizes:
A Feature Page In Reader’s Shadow
- PTBT Book Bundle featuring Spark (Karyn Pearson), Memories Of Hel (Jason Dodge), Birth Of An Empire: The Beginning & Consequences (Catrina Taylor) and Bad Juju (Dina Rae)
Click on the rafflecopter link below to enter.
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