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Family Inheritance
By Deborah LeBlanc
Dorchester
Reviewed by: Natalie R. Collins
When mental illness strikes a family member, or someone close to us, it can be so terrifying that we look for answers everywhere, sometimes grasping at straws and altering our belief system to entertain things that on a normal day we would never even consider possible, and most likely scoff at.
Jessica LeJeune left Louisiana years before to hide from the nightmares that haunted her there, but she is forced to return to her Cajun roots after her younger brother, Todd, is found wandering naked and disoriented, and is hospitalized. The doctors tell her it looks like schizophrenia, a terrifying diagnosis for anyone to hear. Like every normal person, Jessica wants to believe that it's not true--her brother couldn't be ill like that. There is another answer; there has to be. In Jessica's case, she is right, and she senses the danger, leaving her husband and daughter at home when she flies back to be at her brother's side, and tries to save him from Maikana, an evil spirit that now inhabits Todd's mind. This spirit has evil plans for him, and also for Jessica--unless she can stop it. But she has no idea how to do so. With her longtime friend Lisa by her side, she sets out on a journey of unimaginable terror, and overwhelming helplessness. How can she possibly save her brother and destroy the evil spirit living within him, when no one believes it is real but her?
But unknown to Jessica, living in an isolated wooden shack in the dark, impenetrable bayous of Louisiana, is the one person who can help Jessica-a man named Eli He is the key to stopping the malevolent Maikana-if he can get there in time.
In this book, the author touches on the "it could happens" of the world. No matter how skeptical you are, after reading this book, you are tempted to say, "it could happen. It would explain a lot." And it would be much easier than trying to understand a terrifying illness like schizophrenia.
In Family Inheritance, author Deborah LeBlanc paints a picture so realistic--and terrifying--that we are literally holding our breath as the tension builds in each scene. Wherever the reader is, they will be instantly transported to the Louisiana setting, smelling the aromas, seeing the bayou and swamp, tasting the culture…. It's almost a shock to put the book down and find yourself in your own home--if you can put the book down. I couldn't.
Author LeBlanc is a new tour de force in the horror genre, colorfully painting an "edge of your seat" thriller, and this reviewer looks forward to reading more of her work.
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