A House Divided

by Deborah Leblanc

Equal parts Edgar Allan Poe, Anne Rice, and Stephen King -- with a generous helping of jambalaya and crawfish pie -- Louisiana-born-and-bred horror maven Deborah LeBlanc's A House Divided is a supernatural thriller about a greedy building contractor who, after dividing and moving an old house, stirs up spirits better left undisturbed.

When Keith Lafleur discovers that he can obtain a majestic old farmhouse for free -- all he has to do is move it -- he jumps at the opportunity. But the spot where he wants to place it is too small, so he splits the house in half and creates two separate buildings. After renovations, one house is rented by friends Laura Toups and Tawana Batiste, who open a salon on the first floor and live above the shop with Tawana's mentally challenged cousin, Moweez. Matt Daigle rents the second structure, turning the ground floor into a café and living upstairs with his eight-year old son, Seth. But when unexplainable calamities start occurring -- Lafleur becomes afflicted with necrotic lesions, Seth is tormented by children's voices, Moweez begins drawing horrific premonitions, etc. -- the inhabitants of the house divided must get to the bottom of the ghostly mystery before it's too late

With just three novels under her belt (Family Inheritance, Grave Intent, and A House Divided), LeBlanc has already amassed a huge cult following. This can be attributed not only to her ultra-smooth and richly descriptive writing style but also to her unique blend of sardonic wit and Lovecraftian nightmare. Her stories are not only frightening, they're great fun in a macabre sort of way. In A House Divided, for example, she portrays Lafleur not only as a repulsive villain but also as a kind of comedic cautionary example. Gruesome, creepy and chock-full of jaw-dropping plot twists, this novel is, above all else, wildly entertaining. Paul Goat Allen

Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Fiction, Ghosts, Thriller, Adult, Mystery

326 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 30, 2006

About the author

Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning, best-selling author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She is also a licensed death scene investigator, a licensed private investigator and has been a paranormal investigator for over twenty years. Deborah is currently the house ‘clairsendium’ for the upcoming paranormal investigation television show, Through the Veil.

She served four years as president of the Horror Writers Association, eight years as president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, and two years as president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter. In 2007, Deborah founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens.
For more information, visit www.deborahleblanc.com and www.literacyinc.com
To support Deborah please visit https://www.patreon.com/deborahleblanc

Reviews

[Kasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading Deborah LeBlanc but it certainly won't be my last. It's so refreshing to find a writer who makes all the hard work that goes into writing seem so effortless. Everything in this novel flows of the pages and can really be read in one day if one has time. When I read that as a kid Deborah wanted to read every book in her local library I knew I would like her and I was right. She's a writer who loves to read and that shows in her work.

The story itself is very original and convincing, with the hazy, warm bayou atmosphere and authentic accents written in. Deborah created a world that lured me in, made me care about each character and then made me fear for them when I remembered that this in deed is a horror book. Things start of enigmatic enough in late sixties when a whole family perishes under someone's hands in a grand house, located in Windham, Louisiana. Fast forward to the future and the house is suddenly no longer empty, but divided in half for the move into new location by Keith Lafleur, a greedy building contractor. What he doesn't know is the ways this one job will change him and the town forever. New people move into each half, single father with a young son, Matt and Seth open a café while across the yard Laura, Tawana and Angelica run a beauty shop in the other renovated half. Things go smoothly until one day something happens and their lives are turned upside down. Dead birds appear on their front yards, huge spider web with a sneaky spider biting and infecting people appears and then someone changes into a monster. I read mesmerized at what would happen next and enjoyed the creepy house tale about different people that were somehow connected through the old split up house. The past was directing the future and it was up to those who were brave and who had big hearts to save everyone from madness that swept the whole town.

Very enjoyable and quick read, great for Indian summer nights with a snack in one hand and book in the other and I agree with some reviewers that there were jokes and scares written in so well that it made for a great combo. Little comic relief here and there is not a bad thing.

- Kasia S.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a genre I'd normally read.
My favorite character was Tawana. There are lots of twists and it is gross in parts.

Matt Daigle buys a house and turns it into a cafe where the locals flock to eat home-cooked meals. He and his young son, Seth, live on the second floor of the cafe.

Laura and Tawana purchase a house, two houses down from the cafe, and turn it into a beauty shop. They both live on the second floor, along with Tawana's special-needs cousin, Angelica.

Strange events start to occur. And Matt, Laura and Tawana discover that the two houses have a history together, a horrible, frightenly violent history. They will have to fight for their very lives and depend on Angelica to draw their future.

There were parts of this book that had me laughing out loud and other parts that shocked me. It's not "scary" but there are some graphic parts.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

A House Divided was written by Deborah LeBlanc. The Good: LeBlanc writes reasonably well and the action has real Cajun spice-it takes place in Louisiana, sometimes in locales not very far from my own home in Texas. The author makes things ring true without pounding it in to the ground, so the reader does not have to decipher a lot of creole thrown in for "flavor" and we still get lots of local color, including names people in our area would surely recognize, such as LaFleur, Batiste, Toups, Schexneider, etc. The concept of the book is original. The Bad: Why does there always have to be a mentally challenged person with psychic abilities? The Ugly: One character has entirely too many "feets don't fail me now" moments, and it is painful to read about. This is what pulls the book down into two star territory.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot and characters were shallow and easily deciphered before the end of the first chapter. A B movie scriptwriter would've passed on this one.

[Linda Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is a bit elementary. I am a huge King fan and just read "Under the Dome" which was amazing. So, to go right to this book was not the best move. The story had a lot of potential but I had a hard time staying interested.

[Lisa Greer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the second LeBlanc I've tried to like. I just don't like the writer's style, and beyond the first ten pages, it is just not that scary.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's supposed to be horror, but other than the initial non-violent murder, and the haunted guy killing off characters I didn't care much about anyway, it was pretty funny.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura and Tawana are realizing their dream, opening their beauty shop. They hadn't been able to find a place to fit their budget but an old house that had to be cut in half to move, fits perfectly. The other half of the house is down one house on the same side of the street and is a diner. Both houses have living quarters upstairs with the business' down stairs. Very soon, strange things begin happening in both of these places. It seems, the house has a history.

This is my second book by Leblanc and when I see her name, I pick up whatever book it is. She keeps the pages turning and you sit on the edge of your seat. It did get graphic at times but it didn't deter me, I enjoyed it.

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoa is this one a stinker! The only horror cliche Leblanc does not use is having a cat jump out of closet while a teenage girl is searching for the source of a scary noise. At its core, I think this is supposed to be a haunted house story, but I wouldn't swear to it. It does have a mute child who can predict the future in her drawings, a house that somehow makes things in a town go crazy, and a character borrowed straight out of a Stephen King book that provides lots of gore and profanity.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an extremely interesting concept (haunted house split up or times two), but I don't think it was quite effective as it could've been, occasionally relying on tired (and at times harmful tropes) that were already heavily played out by the publication date.

That said, it does have some neat tricks and scares within, so it's not as if it isn't worth a glance, it's just that it never quite reaches the quality it feels capable of.

[John Bruni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an OK book. Not great. It's a bit too bland for my taste. None of the characters really stood out. There were a few cool moments, like the scene with the birds at the beginning. The scene with the stampeding horses. The conversation with Uncle J near the end. I like how things worked out with Keith. That's about it, though.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. The premise was promising. But I could not get into the flow, and the many errors (wrong words, missing words, awkward/bad punctuation) kept taking me out of the moment. I try to turn off the editor in me, but when there are this many mistakes I simply can't.

[Kathy Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always preferred to live in a new house. Nothing previously owned. This book goes to prove wy.

[Ash Abadlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

😮😲

[Erinsaidthat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary and hilarious

[Kirstie Greatwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that had me hooked on all the paranormal twists, i could not have predicted the ending!

[Horror_Reader1973 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rated this book three stars, it's good but not too much depth to it. The characters are quite good and likeable, the story is engaging. The way Deborah Leblanc writes about Lafleur's descent into madness and his condition is a brilliant gross fest, she does an excellent job turning ones stomach, I loved it.

I would recommend this book and would definitely read more of this authors work.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Leisure books ever since they introduced me to Brian Keene. Now, sure, not every one of their novels have been amazing and few have left me disappointed, but generally speaking, there are few companies that did such a good job of consistently pumping out a steady stream of horror novels as Dorchester did with this imprint. Maybe that's why, regardless of the author or subject matter, I try my best to snag up these now defunct publications, as many of them are no longer published or hard to find. Who knows, maybe they'll become collectors items some day.?

Anyways, that's why I picked up "A House Divided". I had no previous experience with LeBlanc or had ever heard of her. The only thing that lead me to grab this book from my used bookstore was the LB logo on the spine.

Now, "A House Divided" also strayed far from my usual subject matter. Of course, it's horror, but that's about it. One, it's a ghost story, which I tend to avoid. Ghosts, to me, are one of the weaker ghouls in the horror genre. They don't do much other than go bump in the night and occasionally cause some ruckus and shenanigans. Then, there's the author herself. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against female authors (after all, JK Rowling didn't get to be where she is by being a mediocre writer) but you have to admit, they don't really stray very far into the really good horror stuff, and keep it safe with romance and things I don't find all that entertaining.

Well, all that background was for this: A House Divided was shockingly good. Like, surprisingly so. Leblanc has a way with words that I haven't seen many times in horror. There's a talented prose and quick plot pacing that moves this story along at a breakneck speed and it's basically impossible to find a good place to stop (it took me only 2 days to read cover-to-cover). Then there's the originality itself. Ghosts aren't original, no doubt, but somehow Leblanc finds a way to make them exciting and yes, even a bit scary.

If you can find this one, grab it. Immediatly. You won't be disappointed.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason that the old wives' tale of "It seems too good to be true, it is." still holds through these days. Too bad Keith Lafleur either didn't hear those words or paid them no heed. Keith stumbles into a killer deal. A huge old farmhouse for free. The only thing that he had to do was move it off the property as the new landowners were building on the property and had no need for the house. Keith decides that he will divide the house and put a business and apartment in each half. Two friends, Laura and Tawana rent one half for their beauty salon and Matt rents the other for his café. Keith experienced a life changing event at the house before his men were able to disassemble the house, he doesn't really recall the events but it leaves him with necrotic lesions. Once the Beauty Box is up and running, the town of Windham starts experiencing the unexplainable and then it leads to death. Everything is settled around the businesses at First Street. Tawana's cousin Moweez is a little slow, but after the death of their grandmother, Tawana is her sole caregiver and Laura is more than welcome to help out. Moweez begins to draw very descriptive drawings that slowly are coming to pass. Laura and Matt feel that everything is quickly rushing to an awful end and unless they get answers they'll never get out in front of it. Laura and Matt convince Tawana to go with them back to Crowley for answers. They thought they were prepared for getting answers, but the ones they get are nothing to what they were expecting.

[Beth Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like horror stories but find so few people who know how to write them. This one is more of a ghost story. Though the characterization is done well, I also felt the characterization was too stereotyped. At times I felt like I was "watching" the Ice Cube movie "Barbershop." The strange things that are happening are compelling enough to keep reading to see what is causing it all. It is fairly fast paced and you have the regular hero and heroine to cheer for. Where I felt the book fell flat was that it did not adequately explain why the events were happening.

There was also a side-plot of a serial killer, knocking off people he felt had wronged him in some way. The man also has some weird infection causing boils all over his body. The reader is expecting some explanation as to why his body has this infection--punishment by a ghost? But no, this is never explained. Also, the only connection he has to the main story, is that he is the contractor that moved the house and split it into two halves and rented out each half. It would be logical to explain that the ghost is upset with him for splitting the house and infected him, but this never said. This story never crosses with the ghost story.

So it is like two stories in one book, they bounce back and forth, and the writing does not connect them together at all. I feel like this could have been dropped altogether and the main ghost story fleshed out much more to be truly scary and suspenseful.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't even remember the last time I read a real ghost story, especially one that was so fast paced.

I was immediately sucked into the story and I kept reading and I really wanted to read until about page 150, where I just got sorta bored because it seemed like the same thing kept happening in every chapter.

I thought the writing was good and I liked all the characters. But the story kinda dragged towards the middle. But towards the end it did pick back up and became a super easy book to finish.

I did however guess one of the suprises at the end (I actually guessed it right away) so that kinda sucked, but there were enough other surprises at the end that it was okay.

Also I don't really understand what happened to Tawana at the end? I mean I know what happened, but I don't get why?

I don't think that this book was super unique or anything (I feel I've seem similar stories in movies or in other books) but it was still a good story.

Overall it was a good read and I really want to check out some of her other books.

[Biz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out interestingly with a flashback prologue and then forward to the present. That's where it lost me a little bit in that some of the characters were a little too stereotypical. However...

What started as stereotypical ended up giving the characters full voices and making them real to me. I didn't expect that I would like them as much as I did.

The story was interesting..what if a house that was haunted by a family was cut in half and sold as two seperate houses. The family split apart needed to find their way back together. its an interesting premise that fell a little short by a revenge plot, that frankly needlessly took over in the end. I would like to have seen more about the hauntings and the need to be back together again.

In the end, I cared about the characters and got a lump in my throat at the end of the story. Over all, its a good light horror read.

[Stormy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this book. Fast paced and the plot left enough unanswered questions to keep you turning the pages.

The plot is fresh and a different spin on the supernatural and paranormal and makes you ask the question what does happen when things are not a rest.

A few of the main characters to me where a bit weak and seemed more like minor players and one of the minor players I felt belonged in the role as lead male. However, I liked the authors voice and enjoyed the story.

I would recommend this for a quick amusing read.

[Glenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice change-of-pace horror book set in and around New Orleans... When a house (..with a history) is broken in two and moved to a new location to serve as two new businesses- 'things' don't always stay behind. The "prose" is written with a real Nawlins drawl, which brings an aspect of reality - yet seems to take away from the experience. However, the story does grow with suspense and really keeps you intrigued.

[Colleen Alfano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I only have time to read at night while in bed after I put the kids down so I usually don't get to far into the book before falling asleep. This book, however, kept moving right along. I found it hard to put down resulting in some very late nights for me. That's okay though because a good book is worth it! I look forward to reading something else from this author.

[Tracy Walters · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a copy that has been autographed by the author. I was excited to read this book because it had an intriguing story line. The characters are pretty good and the story is also pretty good until the end. The ending was a HUGE letdown...like she just gave up and didn't even try to finish the book.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually my second Deborah LeBlanc book, and I found it enjoyable, overall. While predictable at times and certainly not intellectually "deep" or utterly intriguing, I found it an enjoyable read. It was a perfect leisurely read, one that didn't take too much thought to enjoy and was a fun escape into a haunted house story.

[Lyle Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well laid out story. It pulled me in from page 1 and kept me enthralled throughout. I felt like I was in the story and could see and feel what was happening. The idea of the story was a very good one and it is the first book that I have read that did this. It is a quick read and only took me two days to complete.

[Karyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy read all the way to the end! Fast paced & easy to follow with likable characters. Deborah has done it one more time...sucks you right in from Chapter 1 & won't let you go til the last page. And even then I find myself sitting in silence stunned for a few more moments. Here's MY dilemma, THIS WAS THE LAST BOOK! No More, all done. Southern Horror Withdraw setting in~~~~~~~

[Rebecca MacCeile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the books in my library are books that I found perusing shelves at gas stations, truck stops, and drug stores. This is one of those books. It caught my eye as I was waiting in line one evening, and I am so glad that it did! The story is unique, and creative with many unexpected twists. The characters are vivid, relatable and easy to fall in love with. Excellent read!