Book #12 – Grave Intent by Deborah LeBlanc
My memory maybe faulty, but I think I read the first part of this novel in early draft form long ago when I was a member of an online horror writers group. I seem to remember a first chapter involving gypsies, gold coins, and an impending curse. It was solidly written and a compelling beginning. Personally, I’ve always been intrigued by gypsy culture especially in the contemporary US.
About the first third of Grave Intent does a good job of setting up Roma culture…and then we leave that group of people behind and only deal with the victims of the curse. The details of the curse are left pretty vague aside from the general rules. Many different things happen to the characters with no indication to the significance these things might have in gypsy culture. They’re just a bunch of scary events. Except, not so scary. The obiquitous advice “show, don’t tell” is only partially correct. It’s more like “manipulate then tell.” LeBlanc shows, but I didn’t feel anything. She told, but still, nothing. The writing is technically solid, the story was okay, but there was just a spark missing.