Water Witch

“It was a dark and stormy night.” Now, don’t get me wrong; a dark and stormy night can be pretty frightening. With the crashing of thunder, and lightning strikes flashing through a house darkened by power outages, and candles flickering from the wind penetrating through window seals, well, things can get pretty spooky. And, if there’s a killer on the loose, escaped from an institution for the criminally insane, I might feel downright panicky. But all of these clichés don’t necessarily make for a well written novel or horror story.

The signs are usually there in the first few pages of a book; one you feel like you need to put down in favor of the Hemingway or Steinbeck that’s been waiting for you on your night-table, show more gathering dust. But, like that third piece of pecan pie you force down at Thanksgiving, the one you know will end in heartburn and that odd belt-loosening ritual, you go right ahead. You push past the nameless and vaguely described villain, clear only in the barely believable details identifying him as the killer, knowing that his veiled identity is necessary for the twist surely lurking in the final pages. You skim over the loosely constructed, if fatal, plight of the overly pure victim, knowing that some unseen, beneficent power will save the innocent from certain death, delivering her to a new life, even better than her old one. You ignore the self doubts and early missteps of the hero, waiting for his superhuman strength or otherworldly power to kick in. In the end, just like that extra piece of pecan pie leads inevitably to antacid, the book leads undeniably to all of these trite conclusions; and then you wonder why you bothered, why you wasted your time.

Deborah LeBlanc’s [Water Witch] hits each of these high notes, introducing her psycho-killer, Olm, in the first pages of the book as he begins a descent into madness and ritual sacrifice and murder. His thinking and actions are clearly those of a madman, one who is quickly decompensating into ever more disorganized and violent behavior. What’s truly amazing about Olm is that he is able to shut this crazy spigot off, turning back to such normal and pedestrian behavior that he is unidentifiable in a small town with only a few hundred inhabitants. True to the formula, LeBlanc reveals Olm’s identity only in the last few pages. There are few clues about the true identity of the villain and absolutely no attempts to foreshadow his identity until he slices through the last pages, accompanied by blood and tears and dead bodies.

As the book begins, Olm has captured two young children for a patched together, ancient Indian ritual sacrifice, one which will bestow upon him untold dark power. The two children face their certain death with wisdom and courage far beyond their years. Enter our hero, Dunny, a six fingered freak, eking out a desolate life in West Texas, a result of her extra digit’s paranormal power. Her sixth finger, you see, can locate lost or valuable things, literally pointing the way like a divining rod. Dunny travels to backwater Louisiana, a place where both her circus appendage and its power seem to fit right in, hoping to locate the two children before they meet their doom in Olm’s twisted vision quest. In the end, though typically reluctant and doubtful about herself, Dunny saves the day, just like I knew she would. And, from the survivors and other sideshow characters, she forms a new, eccentric nuclear family, and lives happily ever after.

Should you beware of this ‘dark and stormy night’ book? Well, it all depends on what you’re after. I know it sounds like I didn’t care much for [Water Witch], and I suppose I didn’t really care all that much for it. The thing is, I have read worse books; I have seen weaker stories made into movies and aired on the Lifetime or SciFi Channel. So, for some folks, this will be a comfortable and safe read; it will fit like an old pair of jeans. The familiar formula, the expected twists and turns, the cutout characters, introduced with enough detail to be interesting but not too interesting, all combine for an undemanding read. Sure, there are better horror novels, better thrillers, and I can recommend a few authors who go beyond the formula to create complex, challenging characters and stories. But, if you’re looking for ‘a dark and stormy night,’ [Water Witch] fits the bill. show less

Dunny has a sixth finger and a sixth sense. Using the extra appendage, Dunny finds missing objects and missing people. When her sister Angelle summons Dunny to Louisiana, Dunny has misgivings; however, her sister is desperate to find two local children who have gone missing. Of course, the two sisters stumble headlong into a horror story.

The horror part of this book was standard fare, but there was a delightful character, Poochie, Angelle's mother-in-law. Poochie is a teeaunt, which I understand to be a Cajun prayer warrior. Poochie has a prayer tree filled with shoes belonging to the folks she keeps in her prayers. Meeting Poochie made this book worth the read.

Water Witch (ISBN-13: 978-0843960396) is a 290 page, fiction paperback book by Deborah LeBlanc released by Leisure Books in September 2008. The horror book shares the story of Dunny Pollock, a protagonist with special psychic abilities which have caused others to dub her as a Water Witch. Dunny struggles most of her life to hide her ability from unscrupulous individuals that would otherwise seek to take advantage of her gift: she possesses the ability to find lost objects with an additional digit on her left hand which she possesses from birth via dowsing methods. Yet, after being contacted by her sister, Dunny is drawn into a situation involving two abducted children, a young girl and boy, in the Bayou of Louisiana which will force show more Dunny to use her gifts in an effort to find them before it is too late. Dunny has no idea that the children have been taken for supernatural purposes and that she will eventually come face to face with Olm, a Pawnee Indian seeking to gain power and knowledge from Tirawa, a spirit world god via unethical, ritualistic means. Olm’s psychological instabilities and Dunny’s supernatural powers make for an exciting tale that slowly unravels to reveal an unforgettable, climactic ending.

LeBlanc captures the reader’s attention from the very first sentence in the first chapter and draws the reader into the book quickly with exciting depictions. She writes fluently and the reader has no problem whatsoever when it comes to suspending one’s disbelief and entering into the fictive dream-state. LeBlanc artfully stirs the reader’s desire to either empathize with a character or at least try to understand the motivations of a character in the text. LeBlanc has a writing style that ebbs and flows like turbulent waters until the final moment when the tale comes to a crescendo of excitement: this style literally compels the reader to continue on until they have reached the memorable denouement of the tale.

This book is ideal for readers that love a good mystery or for readers that enjoy stories with supernatural elements. Horror fans will also not be disappointed. Teens and adults can appreciate the work, and the book will leave the reader wanting to read more of LeBlanc’s books. Fans of works offered by Stephen King, John Saul, and Dean Koontz will definitely find great interest in LeBlanc’s offerings. A perfect book for those seeking a hair-raising, spine-tingling tale: one filled with twists and turns and surprising outcomes. Warning: if you do not want to be up all night reading this book, start the book early in the morning; you are not going to want to put it down!

Deborah LeBlanc has written several fiction books including Grave Intent, A House Divided, Family Inheritance, Morbid Curiosity, and Five Strokes to Midnight. This author does a remarkable amount of research in order to skillfully weave truth into her fiction thereby making her tales far more believable. This author is also a strong promoter of literacy, which definitely makes her a preferred offer on this writer’s reading list. Water Witch is definitely highly recommended for horror fans, mystery fans, and fans of paranormal tales or for anyone looking for a great book. show less

Deborah Leblanc uses her unique talents and gothic Bayou style in creating a tale filled with terror and suspense. In Water Witch, the protagonist Dunny Pollock has a special talent, she has an extra digit, which allows her to find things. In the old days this was used for finding water, but Dunny can find other things such as people. Her sister Angelle enlists her help in finding two missing children who have been abducted by a man who is trying to invoke ancient Indian spirits in order to attain greater power for himself.

Deborah Leblanc has a creepy, smooth style which she uses expertly in this novel. The concept of the novel was cool, and her use of the Bayou and legends associated with it make this almost another character in the show more novel. The tension in the novel builds to a nice crescendo. Leblanc uses the time tested race against the clock to build that tension. Dunny has to act quickly and use all of her resources to save the children before they are sacrificed. Leblanc does a nice job with the characters. Her expert mastery of prose makes this an enjoyable read. A must read novel.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

This was a good paranormal mystery. Dunny is a water witch a human diviner she has an extra finger that works as a divining rod which can find anything from water to oil to people. I’ve seen some people call this horror but I didn’t feel that way about it. It was more a mystery with ghosts & paranormal activity.

When 2 kids go missing in the Louisiana bayou Dunny’s sister Angelle calls her and asks her to come help find the kids. But where these kids are and what they are going through is more than anyone could imagine. This book kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. My favorite character would have to be Poochie, Angelle’s husband’s grandmother; she was a hoot which was a neat addition to this dark story.

All the show more way through this book I wondered if there would be a sequel but with the shocking ending I see that there won’t be, but would sure love another book with Poochie in it!

I listened to this on audio narrated by Xe Sands who did a great job at the narration.

3 ½ Stars show less

You think you had it rough as a kid trying to fit in but try walking in Dunny's shoes. It seems the more she tries to extinguish her powers and live a normal life, something happens and she is the only one who can make things right. When a couple of kids vanish from thin air, Dunny has to decide what is more important, staying under the radar or saving two lives.

Talk about suspense! I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book. Another must-have author.

I had a hard time working up any empathy for these characters. Dunny, the water witch, spent several days bemoaning her "freakish" condidtion before being incited to any action towards finding a couple of lost and kidnapped kids, which was why she had traveled to Louisiana in the first place. I wanted to knock her in the head and tell her to get over it!

The character of Poochie, her sister's grandmother-in-law, was definitely a character, and not knowing any real creoles or maybe she was cajun, I just had to think that she was more of a caricature.

Anyway, the book had a few creepy moments out in the swamp, but mostly reading it was a chore.