The bones said death was comin’, and the bones never lied.While on an early morning patrol in the swamps of Whiskey Bayou, Louisiana wildlife agent Gentry Broussard spots a man leaving the home of elderly Eva Savoie—a man who bears a startling resemblance to his brother, whom Gentry thought he had killed during a drug raid three years earlier. Shaken, the agent enters Eva’s cabin and makes a … and makes a bloody discovery: the old woman has been brutally murdered.
With no jurisdiction over the case, he’s forced to leave the investigation to the local sheriff, until Eva’s beautiful heir, Celestine, receives a series of gruesome threats. As Gentry’s involvement deepens and more victims turn up, can he untangle the secrets behind Eva’s murder and protect Celestine from the same fate? Or will an old family curse finally have its way?
From award-winning author Susannah Sandlin comes the first book in the Wilds of the Bayou series.
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I have quickly grown to love the writing of Suzanne Johnson. When I heard she was starting a new series under her pen name, Susannah Sandlin, I knew I had to give it a try. Wild Man’s Curse is a heart stopping thriller with a touch of the paranormal, in the form of voodoo, to make it all the more interesting.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into when I started reading. I think I was expecting more paranormal since her Sentinals of New Orleans is so very paranormal based. And while this is set in the same part of the world (Louisiana), it couldn’t be any different. The only paranormal we get is with a little practicing of voodoo, and even that is just enough to enhance the story, but it’s definitely not the focus.
What we have is a romantic suspense. The romance comes from Gentry, a wildlife agent, and Ceelie. These two are quite different and other than being from the same area of Louisiana, don’t have a lot in common. But there are sparks from their first meeting and Ms Sandlin did a wonderful job of developing their relationship while all the suspense stuff was going on. They meet shortly after Gentry discover’s the body of Ceelie’s grandmother, Eva, and things take off.
But, the suspense, the story of Eva’s death and catching the murder and discovering the motive is really the star here. I was turning the pages as Ms Sandlin threw so many twists and turns on the path to solving the mystery. The bad guy was pure evil and I was just cheering on the good guys as they races to find him. A few of the scenes were a little on the graphic side (violence) and turned my stomach a little, but they were in a way necessary to show how nasty the villain is.
I enjoyed the characters and the setting was amazing. I’m looking forward to returning to the Wilds of the Bayou when the next installment of this new series is released. If you’re a fan of romantic suspense, I recommend picking up this book!
My review originally posted at Romancing the Book.
The location in this book is Houma is the only parish of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana which is steeped in Cajun tradition and culture, a mixture of Native American, Acadian and African traditions. I have always been fascinated by the history and the current culture of Louisiana but on the flip side those cultures scare the bejeezus out of me but they do make for fascinating reading.
Wild Man’s Curse kicks off a new series set in and around Houma and is rich with the voodoo culture but not enough to classify it as a paranormal (in my opinion). The death of a voodoo priestess kicks of the suspense when her great niece Celestine – her only heir – returns to Houma to claim the cabin and land her Tante Eva owned not knowing that the person that killed her Aunt is still around looking for what he did not get from the old woman.
Gentry Broussard works for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Game. He is a man with a haunted past of killing his brother 3 years ago on a drug bust. Problem is he is pretty sure it was his dead brother he saw leaving Eva’s cabin the night she was killed.
Ancient family curses, a man returning from the dead on a mission provide a great suspense along with the romance that blooms between Gentry and Celestine. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more in the series.