When it comes to reading, I'm always looking to try something or someone new. I usually jump from author to author, trying to expose myself to as many different styles as possible. For example, I'll start the month off with a new author I've never read before, then go to another one, then another, then another, and so on. Rarely do I go back and re-read a particular book or author--save for a select few of exceptionally good ones.
Vodou happens to be among those "exceptionally good ones," that I return to whenever I hit a slog in the search for a newbie that I like. Having just finished Vodou for the third time, I decided I'd put off reviewing it for long enough.
So, let me begin by saying that, in writing Vodou, Brandon Scott has basically broken the horror mold into tiny, irreplaceable pieces. This book oozes originality, which is why I love it so much. Horror is a genre rife with doppelgangers and copycats (if you don't believe me, just go search up haunted house spiels on Amazon, man oh man). Not only is the STORY of Vodou unique and fresh, but its CHARACTERS are as well. Trust me, you'll never meet someone quite like Jack Holiday in your reading adventures. And his midnight-blue Regal will make you envious. I realize it ain't no Viper, but still.
With the story, you've got unexpected twists, demons with hard-to-pronounce-but-super-awesome names, graveyards, love stories, gobs of gore, lots of action, dark humor at its finest, as well as some of the snappiest dialogue you've ever read, and a demented kind of sentimentality that is surprisingly heartwarming. The story's pace is fairly consistent, with only one or two spots that needed to be developed better.
As for the characters, you've got a trio of antiheroes on a mission to stop a madman, the madman, the madman's noble sidekick, the madman's troupe of dudes in purple robes, and a whole bunch of other cool folks.
If all that doesn't entice you to check this book out, then let me ask you this: Do you want ANOTHER yawnable yarn about a haunted house (yech), or do you want something with real pep that will forever cleave to your soul like some kind of imaginary tapeworm? The choice is yours.