Sepulchre (Languedoc Trilogy #2) - Kate Mosse

Details:
TITLE: Sepulchre
AUTHOR: Kate Mosse
GENRE: Supernatural- Fantasy-Adventure
PUBLISHER: Orion Books (2007)
ISBN: 978-0399154676
PAGES: 732


Synopsis:
Welcome to Sepulchre, the sequel in the Langeudoc Trilogy. Basically the place is still the same, most of the story happens in Carcassonne, to be exact, an estate called Domaine de la Cade located in Rennes-Les-Bains.

The style of the writing is still very much like the first book, Labyrinth. The book involves two main protagonists, Leonie Vernier from 19th century, and Meridith Martin from present. The biggest difference is, instead of the present protagonist being the reincarnation form of the past, Meredith is actually a direct descendant of the Vernier family.

In fact, one of the main reasons Miss Martin decided to travel from America to France is to find her family history (Meredith is adopted since birth). In Paris, she was intrigued when she was handed a flyer of a Tarot card reading. On it, there was a Tarot card, La Justice, and the illustration looks exactly like Meredith herself.

The reading of the Tarot is somewhat puzzling, which the reader only understood in the end of the novel. After the reading, Meredith went to the present Domaine de la Cade, now a hotel run by a family, to find some clues.

In the 19th century, Leonie and her brother went to Rennes Les Bains on behalf of the invitation of their aunt, Isolde Lascombe. It was at there they heard of these folklores on a demon, who dwells in a sepulchre near the estate and could be summoned using a deck of Tarot cards. Leonie accidentally found the sepulchre, and experienced some strange incident there.

It was not until the middle the readers found out that Isolde is actually Anatole Vernier's lover and she is forced to stay there because of a villain, Victor Constant, who won't rest until he found them and kill them.

The story flips back and forth and overall it's about how a deck of Tarot cards could use to summon a demon in a sepulchre, and the relationship between the cards and the characters (8 major cards referring to 8 characters in the novel), and the life of Leonie.

The climax of the story is on 31st October, 1897 and 2007. The Eve of All Saints. Everthing is related, as it turned out. And although some supernatural elements are involved in it, I have to say this book is slightly better than Labyrinth, in terms of the ending. Though Labyrinth's progression of storyline is much better and not so boring.

★★☆☆☆
-KarWai-