"terrific entry in a strong series"

Cassandra lived in Southern California happily married to her soulmate and raising their five year old daughter Sarah who loved ballet. That was then and this is now as she has become Priestess Cassandra, a voodoo practitioner in the French Quarter of New Orleans though she has not reconciled the religion's theory that all deaths have a purpose with her daughter's murder. She blames her drug dealing ex-spouse for that and testified against him before vanishing into the Witness Protection Program.

However, her objective for turning to Voodoo may be at hand as she is in Haiti hoping to find Master Jacques Mezareau, who it is rumored, resurrects the dead. Cassandra will pay him any price if he can resurrects her daughter unaware that he is an outlawed Egbo, a punisher and controller of slaves. She hires Devon Murphy to guide her to Mezareau's remote village. However, , Cassandra soon learns first hand how and why Mezareau raises the dead, but is unable to control this new power she has obtained, which if unchecked will destroy her loved ones, Devon and Sarah, once the MIDNIGHT MOON reaches its acme.

The latest Lori Handeland's lunar romantic fantasy (see CRESCENT MOON, DARK MOON, HUNTER'S MOON, and BLUE MOON) is a terrific entry in a strong series. The story line is action-packed but it is the fixated Cassandra, who needs to bring back her beloved Sarah just to begin living again, who makes the thriller work. Readers will feel her loss that's he still grieves and her quest that has taken her to the realm of voodoo in New Orleans and Haiti. With fabulous twists that impact the mental balance of the heroine, Ms. Handeland provides another enchanting novel that will send her elated readers howling at the MIDNIGHT MOON.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 25, 2006

Summary

Under the midnight moon, dark secrets are revealed
Cassandra thought she had the perfect life until she suffered a devastating tragedy. Now she has a new identity as Priestess Cassandra, owner of a New Orleans voodoo shop, and a new purpose. A research trip for a paranormal secret society leads Cassandra to Haiti, where rumors fly of a sinister voodoo master, Jacques Mezareau, who can resurrect the dead. Fortune hunter Devon Murphy agrees to guide Cassandra there safely, but his sensual appeal promises danger of a different kind...

and desperate hungers must be satisfied...
As Cassandra and Devon make their way to the eerie jungle village, their attraction explodes into an intoxicating desire, and Cassandra begins to question her resolve to never let another man into her life. Her attempts to resist Devon become more and more impossible. But when she succeeds in learning Jacques's macabre ritual, her new powers may have come with a terrifying price. Now, haunted by violent dreams that grow more vivid as the midnight moon approaches, Cassandra must uncover the shocking truth about an ancient curse before it leads her to destroy herself—and everyone she loves...