VOICES

by Deborah Leblanc

After five years of grieving over the death of her four-year-old son and having lost her husband, home, and job, Tess Bienville happens upon a television program on paranormal investigation. The frightening questions it prompts suddenly overshadow her grief. Do ghosts really exist? Is there really an afterlife? Could her son's spirit be 'out there,' wandering aimlessly about, afraid and uncertain about where to go or what to do because of his untimely and violent death? Obsessed with finding answers to those questions, Tess begins a journey that hurls her toward dark, painful truths she isn't prepared for -- that no one would ever be prepared for.

Genres: Paranormal

287 pages, Paperback

First published December 8, 2015

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

[Judy Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost chasing!

We get to go ghost chasing with this group. They help settle down a group of ghost in a most unusual way. This book will hold your interest and scare you a little at the same time. You get the enjoyment of ghost hunting without leaving home.

[Ryo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway.

The novel follows a team of paranormal investigators. They start with one case in Louisiana, where a woman is terrorized by ghosts in her home. Without a real resolution on this case, though, they get a big job in Indiana, where a wealthy woman is trying to renovate an old orphanage into a hotel, but construction workers keep running into ghosts. I didn't find the story to be particularly interesting. It seems like a bunch of random, spooky things happen, but the way they're written, I wasn't very disturbed, as the reader. A bunch of random jargon and gadgets are introduced as a way of magically communicating with ghosts, but this is never really explained in detail. There are some chapters from the point of view of some of the ghosts, but they seem to explain little about them; the research that the investigators do seem to reveal a lot more about the history of the orphanage and the horrors that happened there than any of the ghost chapters. The main villain ghost was dull and undeveloped; he was there as a villain for the sake of there being a villain in the story, and he was just a stereotypical large man with apparent anger issues, but there was no explanation as to why he was the way he was. There's also a lot that's spelled out explicitly. Tess, one of the main investigators, is haunted by the death of her son years earlier, but every time there's a connection between her son's death and the current case, this is spelled out in black and white, with no subtlety. There's lots of telling, not showing. And the romance just seemed completely forced, and it seemed to just exist to check something off of a checklist.

I usually don't comment on the typesetting, but in this book, it was noticeably bad. The font is tiny, and yet the lines are spaced really far apart. It would have helped to increase the font size and decrease the line spacing. The odd-numbered pages are on the left and the even-numbered ones on the right, which is strange. The last page of every chapter is also vertically centered, which is jarring.

[NoNo JoJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
Actual rating: 3.25 stars

To put it simply, this novel is every one of those cheesy ghost-hunting shows, but in book form (and of course the ghosts are real, in-universe). They've got all the usual gadgets and gizmos, all the usual catchphrases, etc. There are some fun little spooks, especially in the beginning. Unfortunately, I didn't find the actual main thrust of the story to be particularly compelling, as our villainous ghost was pretty flat and generic, and the characters made some missteps that seemed obvious (especially in the case of basically ignoring Mama Noog).

I was also really bothered by how stereotypical a bunch of the characters were. There's a Jamaican character who of course speaks in thick patois and has psychic/spiritual abilities. There's a gay character who makes sure to mention he has a male partner several times and is generally the most cowardly of the bunch. There's the punky tech girl. There's the elderly, also somewhat mystical black lady. I think a sensitivity reader or two would have gone a long way here.

Overall, though, if you like those cheesy shows, this will hit the sweet spot for you. If the cheese doesn't appeal to you, then this won't do anything for ya.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

First I want to say a big thank you to Deborah Leblanc for giving me the opportunity to win this book. As a lover of paranormal/true crime podcast and tv shows this was really up my river.

There were a few errors with mixed words and name swaps but let's be honest having 4 slip ups in the whole book front to bad isn't that big of a deal (better than many others).

I loved the way things were laid out in so many POV giving you different sides to one story. It made me not know who to root for and gave me even more chills and goose bumps because hearing things from different perspectives just drives my mind wild making me want to scream to one character to find the other. I know things the characters don't and it's driving me nuts!! I also loved how the author didn't make the paranormal investigation stuff up. It read like a real paranormal investigation you see on tv or hear about on a podcast. It wasn't fluffed you to sound more scary or not realistic (aka making ghosts do things that ghosts really can't do).


I loved this book and if it was a massive series of different investigations in different areas you get I would grab that like it was Nancy Drew. GOTTA COLLECT THEM ALL

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of paranormal investigators team together to take on the challenge of checking out an orphanage. What could go wrong right? They're an interesting group, with a few joining due to their own personal loss.

This is a powerful journey for each person and looks into the deep history of orphanages during a monumental moment in history. With the ups and downs, twists and turns, this story kept me engrossed! The reality of what these children went through is so heartbreaking and really hit hard for me. When you combine it with Tess's own story, it was quite striking. There's no question why she chose to take this path.

In all honesty, I was seriously creeped out more than once! My daughter loves paranormal investigative shows and I watch them sometimes with her. This was right up there for me. I loved the dynamic of the characters and the rich history. Well written, entertaining, and suspenseful!

[Tam Sesto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paranormal investigations and the haunting of an orphanage.

I really enjoyed Voices by Deborah LeBlanc. This is the second book I’ve read by this author, and enjoyed it just as much as Toe to Toe.

Ms. LeBlanc knows how to write. Her stories are engaging; her characters are fun and believable, and you can feel the chemistry the group of characters have with each other. My favorite character was Mama Noog. You could feel her frustration, fear, and sadness as she did what was required of her to help the orphans.

The book captured your attention right off, and the ending was very satisfying. The storyline in this book was interesting and based somewhat on The Orphan Train from the 1800s to the 1900s. Even though the book was fiction, it was interesting and sad to realize that at one time in history, there was an orphanage filled with kids from the Orphan Train.

Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and Deborah LeBlanc for the opportunity to read and review this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book.