Fast-forward 12 years and Jeannine is all grown up and about to take the bar exam. She has been living all this time in New York since she moved there with her therapist, Stanley Bernstein, who became quite the famous television talk show host based on his work with young Jeannine, after her escape. She gets a call from Curtis, from whom she has been estranged all of these years, and he needs her to represent him, since he is wanted for the murders of the two men who held and tortured her. Curtis has left law enforcement and actually spends his days running with his "krewe" (it's a Mardi Gras joke) planning robberies. He lives clearly on the wrong side of the law now and is currently busy eluding his former boss, The Major, AKA the Sheriff of St. Dismas Parish, a dirty cop with his finger in many criminal pies. Jonesy's krewe includes "Roo" Romain, who knows a little bit too much about Voodoo, Charley Mouton AKA the Golem, a short Puerto Rican named Dave Fernandez, and Carl Gallow, a fancy fellow who owns a successful French Quarter restaurant. The motley krewe were all former Army Rangers and knew each other from back in the day. Instead of continuing to plan the heist to end all heists, the armored car gig that was supposed to set them all up for life, the group finds themselves trying to figure out how to rescue Jones once he wrecks his car and finds himself in The Major's jail cell.
Meanwhile, Jeannine has returned to New Orleans to help Curtis, but weird things have been happening to her. First, she has a vision of a cabbie with no eyes who knows too much about her. Then she gets waylaid by The Major at the airport seeking information about Curtis and his whereabouts (because no jail can hold him). What's worse is that a Voodoo heavy hitter named Papa Nightmare seems to be after her, and he has a whole ship of the dead at his command. He serves a Voodoo Loa named Ti Malice and Jeannine is a sensitive, whether she realizes it or not. She wasn't drawn back to Louisiana just for Curtis's sake. No, it's much bigger than that and Jeannine is in for the fight of her life. Again.
While there is much more to the story, to reveal anything more would do it an injustice. Wood spins an interesting yarn, but it definitely had much more fantastical stuff happening than I thought it would, based on reading the premise. The book is steeped in Voodoo mystery and strange happenings, so if this isn't your cup of tea, you probably won't enjoy it. That said, it's an intriguing read and if you like books about New Orleans and especially Voodoo, you'll enjoy it.
