Voodoo Dues by Stephany Simmons review

Voodoo Dues by Stephany Simmons (Lian & Figg #1)

review request from the author


Synopsis from Goodreads
From the beginning of Figg’s employment, there is something not quite right about the bar. There are few customers, a parade of neighborhood psychics and pentacle adorned visitors, all coming to hold court with her enigmatic boss. Figg is not sure what is going on, but she is determined to find out!

When the local voodoo queen shows up, and the next morning her grandson ends up dead outside the bar things get interesting.

Figg pesters Lian into telling her the truth about his former life, and is thrust into a world where the things that go bump in the night are real. There’s a murder to solve, zombies to lay to rest and a villain that neither of them saw coming. 

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I'll tell you straight away that I liked this book. It was an easy and light read, perfect for a summer afternoon. But because I liked it I wanted this book to live up to its potential.


The characters, the plot, the dialogues very very interesting. But Figg, oh, Figg was hilarious! Snarky, slightly bizarre flighty daughter of a mechanic habitually driving monstrously big car and carrying guns... She intrigued me to no end with her sudden insights into potentially dangerous situations and a great passion for shoes.

On cue, the rattiest car I'd ever seen actually moving pulled up in front, it shuddered, backfired and then died. The tree-hugging pagan stickers all over the back of the vehicle sent Lian scurrying for his office. The guy with greasy, shoulder-length hair that got out of the hoopty and headed for the front door almost had me following him. I groaned and moved behind the bar so that I didn't have to smell the guy.
“Woah!” the guy said, taking off his mirrored aviators, unapologetically checking me out. “What's happening, sweetness?” He slid onto one of the barstools, his eyes glued to the Captain America shield, printed on my T-shirt.
“Not gonna happen.” I said. I wanted to add ‘you patchouli-soaked hippy’ to the thought, but there was a slim chance he might actually be there to buy something, so I bit my tongue.
He leaned close enough for me to get a good whiff. “Is the man available?”
“Not today.” I glared at him, hoping for a way to call him a hippy, now that I was sure he wasn't a paying customer.
“That's cool,” he said, taking off his hoodie, revealing a T-shirt with ‘Born Again Pagan’ emblazoned across the front. “What time do you go to lunch?” He slid his grubby hand across the bar, almost touching me before I pulled away.
Unbelievable! What part of not going to happen didn't he understand? Maybe it was earwax buildup. “Are you going to order a drink, or do I have to get the air freshener out and chase you around the bar with it?”

Lian on the other hand was an attractive nerdy scatterbrained scientist, who didn't quite knew what he was doing through the whole book. Strangely, symbiosis between him and Figg worked very well.


Now the drawback. There was not enough depth and background information to the characters to transform this book from good to great. Sometimes it made me very frustrated. I really really hope the situation will be remedied in the following books, because I was left with too many questions.


Otherwise, this was read as some sort of bizarre Alan Ball series - light, nerdy, absurdly gory with death count increasing by the hour, but undeniably funny.

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Интересная книга, хотя и полная недостатков, которая читается как будто просматриваешь серии, снятые Аланом Боллом, лёгкие, полные клише и роялей в кустах, но очень смешные.


Лайан - бывший археолог, изучавший мифологию и обнаруживший, что паранормальные существа существуют на самом деле. После аттаки вервольфа, он решил отойти от дел и теперь владеет баром неподалёку от университета.


Фигг - его барменша и помощница, смешная балагурка, дочка механика, которая держит в багажнике два ружья и фанатеет от красивых туфель.


Когда на пороге бара Лайана отравляют сына местной королевы вуду, ему приходится вмешаться в расследование. Фигг поневоле узнаёт о мире паранормального и навязывается Лайану в помощь.


Всё остальное - это сплошные погони от зомби, всякие ритуалы, медиумы, некромансеры, охотники и прочие сумасшедшие личности, с которыми Фигг управляется с удивительной компетентностью.


Вот в этом-то и была моя проблема. Книге очень не хватало информации о прошлом героев, бОльшая глубина характеров, чтобы из задорного чтива превратить её в что-то гораздо сильнее, иначе даже увеличивающееся количество трупов в конце не помогает полностью погрузится в повествование и воспринять книгу всерьёз.


Надеюсь, автор исправится в продолжении. Цитату от Фигг см.выше.

6/10