Voodoo
Laws
A
Bryson Coventry Mystery
Jim
Michael Hansen
Dark
Sky (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-7-4 (0976924374)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-7-1 (9780976924371)
Publication Date: March 2009
List Price: $13.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Denver homicide detective Bryson Coventry is thrust into his most haunting and eerie case yet in Jim Michael Hansen's stunning new thriller, Voodoo Laws. As Coventry frantically searches for a missing woman and finds himself pulled deeper and deeper into an edgy world of voodooism and death curses, beautiful young attorney Mackenzie Lee takes on a terrifying case--a case born of shadowy origins; a case prone to shift with the night; a case that is destined to sweep everyone who touches it into the spiraling vortex of a deadly thriller.
Review:
A relatively routine homicide investigation Denver homicide detective
Bryson Coventry quickly escalates into a complex web of crime that may
also include elements of the black arts in Voodoo Laws,
the seventh mystery in this series by Jim Michael Hansen.
The dead man is an attorney with a law firm familiar to Coventry; a
year ago an employee with the firm was found dead, a screwdriver thrust
through her eye. But the connection between the two is even stronger to
Coventry; in the dead attorney's home he finds a doll with a needle
stuck through its eye. Separately, an attack on two women, one of whom
was killed, the other kidnapped, also attracts Coventry's attention. As
he investigates the murder of the attorney, he discovers links to the
kidnapped woman and he knows that the longer she remains missing, the
lower the chances he has of finding her alive.
Voodoo
Laws alternates between three
points of view: Coventry's, Mackenzie Lee (a practicing attorney, who
is also trying to become a full-time mystery writer), and Dalton Wrey
(a marketing executive, who does contract murder on the side).
Eventually it is revealed that the common thread between each of their
stories is the law firm of the dead attorney. And though the author is
known for his carefully constructed, intricate plots, in Voodoo Laws
the storyline is overly elaborate, complicated to the point of being
nearly incomprehensible. Coventry actually has very little to do, being
rather obsessed with the new woman in his life; his story arc is the
least interesting of the three. Some of the events that take place seem
unusual, random even, but are eventually explained. But that's part of
the problem here; it's not possible for the reader, or even any of the
main characters, to figure out why they're happening; secondary, minor
characters have to, in the end, explain what went on and why.
The characters themselves are well-developed and interesting, but all
share a most annoying trait: they chuckle. All the time, and at the
most inappropriate times. Every 3-4 pages someone chuckles. Not laughs,
or giggles, or snickers. Chuckles. Occasionally someone grins, but
almost always just before or after they chuckle. There's something
quite incongruous, for example, when two killers are having a
discussion about their next victim and one chuckles. And unlike "said"
or "asked", which are often easily overlooked by readers, "chuckled" is
a verb that is hard to ignore. Especially when it's most often used in
a two word paragraph. "Coventry chuckled." "Mackenzie chuckled." "The
pirate chuckled."
Though Voodoo
Laws isn't Hansen's best
novel in the series, it still has quite a lot going for it. There's
very little extraneous narrative or dialogue to weigh it down, the
characters frequently do unexpected things that keep the reader's
attention and interest, and the plot, though unnecessarily complex, is
still gripping and absorbing. This is a fine series and one worth
checking out.
Special thanks to Jim Michael Hansen for providing a copy of Voodoo Laws for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Voodoo Laws? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Night
Laws
Dark Sky (Hardcover), March 2006
ISBN-10: 0-97692430-7 (0976924307)
ISBN-13: 978-0-97692430-2 (9780976924302)
Shadow
Laws
Dark Sky (Hardcover), October 2006
ISBN-10: 0-97692434-X (097692434X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-97692434-0 (9780976924340)
Fatal
Laws
Dark Sky (Hardcover), June 2007
ISBN-10: 0-97692436-6 (0976924366)
ISBN-13: 978-0-97692436-4 (9780976924364)
Deadly
Laws
Dark Sky (Hardcover), October 2007
ISBN-10: 0-97692433-1 (0976924331)
ISBN-13: 978-0-97692433-3 (9780976924333)
Bangkok Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), March 2008
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-1-5 (0976924315)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-1-9 (9780976924319)
Immortal Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), September 2008
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-5-8 (0976924358)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-5-7 (9780976924357)
Voodoo Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), March 2009
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-7-4 (0976924374)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-7-1 (9780976924371)
Ancient Laws
Dark Sky (Trade Paperback), September 2009
ISBN-10: 0-9769243-2-3 (0976924323)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9769243-2-6 (9780976924326)
Omnimystery
keywords for Voodoo Laws
...
Location(s) referenced: Denver,
Colorado, New Orleans,
Louisiana, Miami,
Florida.
