Kristi Charish

FP 15,000(CDN) The debut of a new urban fantasy series. VOODOO KILLINGS introduces Kincaid Strange, not your average voodoo practitioner. . . For starters, she's only 27. Then there's the fact that she lives in rain-soaked Seattle. And she's broke. With raising zombies outlawed throughout the USA, Kincaid has to eke out a living running seances for university students with more money than brains who are desperate for guitar lessons with the ghost of a Seattle grunge rocker - who happens to be Kincaid's on-again, off-again roommate. But then a stray zombie turns up outside her neighbourhood bar.. Canadian author - Vancouver

A Kincaid Strange Novel

The Voodoo Killings

Jackie Cunningham

I can't wait for everyone to read this. Kincaid Strange is my new favourite kick-ass heroine. Move over Buffy.

Maggie Gordon

I was very fortunate to be gifted a copy of The Voodoo Killings from the Penguin-Random House booth at TCAF, and I am extremely happy that they did! I enjoyed the book immensely and want to recommend it to lovers of urban fantasy and books with awesome female characters!

I love urban fantasy, but I often have a hard time finding books in the genre that I like. A lot of them have strong romance subplots that equal or subsume the central plot, and, unfortunately, many of the "strong female characters" are oversexualised, caricatures of what nuanced, real women are like. The Voodoo Killings has neither of these problems. There is a minor subplot dealing with Kincaid's romantic life, but it's weaved intelligently into the central plot of the book and is not overbearing. Kincaid herself is a fascinating human being without the assorted fantasy outfits and lack of personality so common to the genre. 

The Voodoo Killings is about a world where the barriers to the Otherside have weakened, allowing the undead to find a place in this world. There are people born with the ability to work with powers related to the Otherside, but these powers are also a learnable skill. Kincaid Strange, our main character, is someone who decided to become a practitioner, and now she's one of the few left in Seattle, a place so close to the Otherside that undead encounters are common. However, Seattle recently passed several laws limiting magic users, forcing Kincaid to try and adopt some new strategies towards making a living. However, when she runs into a newly created, illegal zombie, her life gets a whole lot more complicated...

Kincaid is a wonderful protagonist. She wasn't born into magic and is not some gifted prodigy (those get boring to read about after a while). She's worked hard for her powers, and works harder still to pay rent month to month, particularly with the new limitations her city council has imposed on actions like raising the dead. She's ingenious though, and comes up with interesting solutions to her problems (why sacrifice a chicken when a sea urchin works just as well!). Most importantly, her powers and her attempts to address the problems in this book take their toll on her. Kincaid makes mistakes, has to figure out how not to die when she does, and is increasingly exhausted and harmed by the powers she is trying to tap into. At no point do you feel that Kincaid just has to snap her fingers to be safe, and even when she does meet someone who helps her out of quite a few nasty spots, there's this constant, unsettling knowledge that said help is going to cost her in the future. There are consequences to all of her choices, and that's what makes a book suspenseful. 

The magic in The Voodoo Killings is also unique. In so many urban fantasies, magic is something you either have or don't have. However, Kincaid ended up learning how to do her work in college. No one is blocked from becoming a practitioner by anything other than will and interest. Magic isn't secretive or hidden, it's something that you train for (though still a bit disrespected). 

Overall, The Voodoo Killings was a lot of fun, and I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series. There's still plenty to explore in this alternative Seattle, and I really want to know what happens to poor Kincaid in the aftermath of her illegal zombie misadventure.

Nickie Mohler

Kincaid Strange is a practitioner in Seattle. Her job used to include raising zombies to aid the police in paranormal investigations. Until raising zombies was outlawed. Now she does seances and other blah jobs just to pay the bills. Life is one boring day after another until a newly raised zombie turns up at one of her hangouts. She can't be caught with a zombie and risk going to jail, but, she can't just leave him either. He has no memory of how or why he was turned. In her quest to help him, she uncovers a string of murders targeting practitioners. With so few left, could she be next? I loved this book! I can't wait for more!

The Voodoo Killings A Kincaid Strange Novel

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