Review: Nails by Fiona Dodwell

I've been following Dodwell's work for a while now and I have to say that one of her hallmarks is that her work is challenging. By challenging I mean that her work can frequently tackle difficult subjects like domestic abuse, rape, or stalking - things that make the average person squirm a little more in their chairs. This is probably what makes her works so fascinating to me, since it pushes the horror envelope a little further. This could, however, make her work difficult for some readers, which makes this novella a good place to start for new readers. There are difficult topics in this work, but they're more subtle than they were in her 2011 book The Banishing so if you're easily made squeamish and want to wade a bit before swimming into the deep end (and you should swim into the deep end if you want a good scare), this is a good start.

What makes this so unsettling for me was that Dodwell takes her time in drawing out the scares. There's a lot of human interaction in this novella, which I really enjoyed.  We're given a chance to get to know the main character of Carla as she has to deal with strange noises and voices in her apartment. The buildup, paired with Carla's desperation not to have to return home, reminded me somewhat of Adam Nevill's No One Gets Out Alive. (Nevill's novel is also worth checking out, if you're curious!)

I can't and won't spoil the ending for you, but I was left with some major questions about everything that happened and I can easily say that this could be turned into a more full-length novel if Dodwell wanted to go that route or she could explore some of the side characters introduced such as Brian, the paranormal investigator.

This is absolutely worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Dodwell's work. (And I am a major Dodwell fangirl!) Also, if you haven't read it already, you should check out her free short story "The Redwood Lodge Investigation". Parts of it are supposed to be based on something that really happened, which makes it much more fun to read!

5/5

(Review copy provided by author)

Further reading:

• The Redwood Lodge Investigation
• Purchase Nails at Amazon

Book Review: The Prophet by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Prophet (Graveyard Queen #3)

Author: Amanda Stevens

Publisher: Mira

Release Date: 04/24/2012

ISBN: 0778313395

I was lucky enough to be able to read this shortly after finishing the previous book in the series, The Kingdom, and boy am I really jonesing for the next book! This was fantastic!

My name is Amelia Gray.

I am the Graveyard Queen, a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. My father passed down four rules to keep me safe and I’ve broken every last one. A door has opened and evil wants me back.

In order to protect myself, I’ve vowed to return to those rules. But the ghost of a murdered cop needs my help to find his killer. The clues lead me to the dark side of Charleston—where witchcraft, root doctors and black magic still flourish—and back to John Devlin, a haunted police detective I should only love from afar.

Now I’m faced with a terrible choice: follow the rules or follow my heart.

In the last book Amelia got a deeper taste of darkness as well as some answers to her questions about her past. She may have discovered who her birth mother was, but there's still far more questions about what she's capable of and what exactly that means to her. The previous book also left off with a text message from Devlin, which of course means that her relationship with him will figure heavily into this book.

Fans of Amelia and Devlin's relationship will be glad to see some progress made in this book as well as progress with Shani and Mariama. (Not saying how far it goes, but there is definite progress.) I have to admit that I wasn't as fond of him in this book as I was in the first one and I have to say that I hope that he manages to move on more from his past so Amelia can finally have a love interest that isn't overly invested in a past love. Then again, I think that this might be due to some of his actions in the book, which involves him cuddling with another woman earlier in the book and then kissing Amelia later on. This does get explained in some format later on in the book, but it definitely makes me raise an eyebrow as to how Devlin could so easily do this. I know that there's a magnetism between Devlin and Amelia, but so far she's the only one doing any compromising. A soul mate-esque connection can only go so far and Devlin needs to show that he's worthy of Amelia. I can't wait for Thane to make a reappearance later on in the series. (Of course I think he's coming back- he's too good to only appear once!) He took Amelia's abilities in stride and I felt that he gave her an acceptance that Devlin only grudgingly gives her.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the read- especially the look into the supernatural angle of the book. Part of the supernatural focus in this book was vodun and Stevens seems to have really done her homework here and tries to avoid an overly Hollywood depiction of the religion. It's good that she does this, as this is a religion/practice that really doesn't need to be gussied up to the nth level. It can do that on its own. This is really part of the charm of this series. Rather than give us a completely fantastical version of magic and the supernatural, Stevens tries to be as realistic as she can without being over the top.

We get a pretty intriguing new character here by the name of Darius Goodwine, a dark practitioner of vodun with big (read evil) plans for Amelia. Darius is shown as a sinister and evil force here, but there seems to be other aspects to his character that haven't been shown and I can't wait to discover them.

This is a good addition to the series and while it wasn't as "OMG! MUST FINISH THIS OR I'LL DIE RIGHT NOW" as the previous book, it was still a fun and entertaining read that will make it a required read this spring and summer.

4 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum by Stephen Prosapio

Title: Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum (Xavier Paranormal Investigations #1)
Author: Stephen Prosapio
Release Date: 05/10/2011
Available Through: Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Nobles

Zach Kalusky, host of Sci-D TV's Xavier Paranormal Investigators, is ecstatic when he's given the opportunity to explore the most haunted site in Chicago for a Halloween Special: Rosewood Asylum, a place long made off-limits by the local government, plagued by decades of mysterious fires and unexplained events. It's Zach's dream investigation- but there's a catch: the network forces Xavier Paranormal Investigators to partner with the more dramatic-but less ethical-Demon Hunters. Now, Zach must fight for both his show's integrity and his team's loyalty while trying to protect his own secret: that he, himself, is possessed.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it'd be unusual. Prosapio has given us a rather interesting read in Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum in that it's rather hard to pin down to a specific genre. At its heart it's a ghost story but it also has the feel of a nice cozy mystery (minus the murder that always happens at the start of a cozy mystery) as well as a touch of urban fantasy.

The idea of a group of ghost hunting college students (their ghost show takes on the name of the university) is an intriguing one. There's a lot that can be done with this idea as well as with the celebrity angle, which is a good thing since this is going to be a series. I liked that the characters were so varied, although not all of them stood out as much as I'd have liked them to. This is forgivable since there's a rather huge cast in this book and a lot of "first novel" ground to cover. My only true gripe with the book is that it took a while for some of the plot's more basic elements to be explained (such as the reason why the show is named Xavier and that almost everyone in the group is a student at St Xavier).

This novel is a little rough around the edges but it's overall an entertaining read. The book included a sneak preview of the next book, which seemed to be pretty promising. This is a series worth checking out.

4 out of 5 stars



(Reader's copy provided by the author)

Book Review: Beyond the Grave by Mara Purnhagen

Title: Beyond the Grave (Past Midnight #3)

Author: Mara Purnhagen

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Release Date: 08/23/2011

ISBN: 0373210310

I'm going to have to tone down my geekthusiam while writing this review because quite frankly, I thought this book was awesome. It's one of the best in the Past Midnight series so far, in my humble opinion.

A haunting new tale in the Past Midnight series...

I can’t move forward with my life until I know my demons are confined to the past...

Being Charlotte Silver, the daughter of famous paranormal investigators, means my life isn’t like that of other teenage girls. Especially after what happened to my parents. Things changed. I missed prom and deferred my big college plans. But I still have my boyfriend, Noah. He’s everything I could want—if I can figure out what’s up with him. Suddenly Noah is secretive.

I fear it has something to do with what happened to us three months ago. The bruise Noah suffered during a paranormal attack has never completely faded. Now I’ve learned Noah is researching demons. And when he disappears, it’s up to me to find him—before something else does.

If you couldn't guess from my earlier statement, I loved this book. I loved that it was such a quick & easy read. Also great was that we get a deeper look into the character of Bliss, someone that many will recognize as the former Queen of Mean that she used to be in some of the previous books. We get a better look into her character, showing us things that really help explain how & why she's acted like she has in the past. It really was a good look into a character that could stand to have a series of her own eventually. (After you read this book you'll understand why this could work.)

What really impressed me was that there weren't a lot of punches pulled in this book. People who are a little squeamish will probably wince at the ending since it can get a little on the gory side. You also have to have read the previous books in the series in order to really appreciate everything that's going on here. Enough is explained that new readers will be able to keep up but it probably won't be as fun for them as it would for someone who has read the entire run so far.

I'm not sure if this is the last book in the series or not, to be honest. There's a definite "ending" feel to this book & if Purnhagen did decide to end the series, this would be a terrific ending. I hope she continues the series in some form or fashion (whether with Charlotte or with another character) because there's still a whole world here to explore, especially the world of the Protectors, a group of people whose entire purpose is to protect people like Charlotte.

This is definitely one of my top 10 books of the year. If you haven't read any of Purnhagen's previous books, you need to get them & read them just so you can read Beyond the Grave. It's that good. I have to say, this book is making me want to start over at the beginning of the series & re-read them all, including 1.5.

This is a must read for anyone who loves supernatural fiction! Not a teen? Don't worry because you don't have to be under 18 in order to love this book.

5 out of 5 stars!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

P.S. I read on the author's blog that this has been optioned for a TV series! I'm definitely crossing my fingers that the bigwigs at CBS realize that they've got a good thing here!

Book Review: Sacred Evil by Heather Graham

Title: Sacred Evil (Krewe of Hunters #3)
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 07/26/2011
ISBN: 0778312429







If you were like me & was disappointed in the previous book in the series, take an easy breath: this book is better. It's not as fun as the first book was, but it's still much more intriguing than Heart of Evil.

A terror born of Jack the Ripper

The details of the crime scene are no coincidence. The body—a promising starlet—has been battered, bloodied and then discarded between two of Manhattan's oldest graveyards.

One look and Detective Jude Crosby recognizes the tableau:

A re–creation of Jack the Ripper's gruesome work. But he also sees something beyond the actions of a mere copycat. Something more dangerous…and unexplainable.

As the city seethes with suspicion, Jude calls on Whitney Tremont, a member of the country's preeminent paranormal investigating team, to put the speculation to rest. Yet when Whitney and Jude delve deeper, what they discover is more shocking than either could have predicted, and twice as sinister…

It's really hard to write a book with Ripper themes to it & not have the book be incredibly interesting. What really intrigued me about the book is how much Graham took from past events. I was surprised to know that there were a series of murders in New York that closely mirrored Jack the Ripper's style & that even today, the murderer was never caught. That played in well with the modern day killings in this book, making the suspense that much more thrilling & fun to read.

The romance in the book is mostly cut & dry, sadly. The chemistry between our two main characters doesn't really come through as well as I'd wanted it to, although I will admit that their later love scenes are pretty sizzling. The mystery does make up for this for most of the book, so I was well willing to overlook this. The only downfall of the mystery is that the conclusion is a little abrupt. The killer's identity was about what I was expecting but it came about so quickly that I couldn't help but feel like I'd missed out on something. I couldn't help but feel that a quick 5 pages or so would have helped ease the transition from chase to resolution a bit better.

This was still very fun to read & it'll make for an excellent beach read when it's released. Despite a few mild disappointments in the last few books, this is a series that I'd still recommend & am still waiting to see how it all pans out in the end.

3 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

Title: The Restorer (The Graveyard Queen #1)
Author: Amanda Stevens
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 05/01/2011
ISBN: 077832981X







I've read some of Stevens' other works, so when I saw this book on NetGalley I have to admit that I was intrigued. If I were to describe the plot of some of her works to someone they'd say that her books are incredibly similar to other works out in the literary world. (Not a bad thing- all books are similar at one point or another.) Yet what makes Stevens' books so different is that she doesn't try to make them fit into the mold that so many other suspense or thriller books fill. They're wonderfully & beautifully different, which is what makes her books so much fun to read.

My name is Amelia Gray. I’m a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I’ve always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman’s brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I’ve been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims— lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I’ve vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

I have to admit that although this book started off a little on the slow side, once the excitement started I was pretty hooked. I loved Amelia's attention to detail & her curiosity over everything despite her father's rules. The intense draw between her & Devlin is pretty tangible, yet understated at the same time. Stevens takes her time with this pairing, which works well considering all of the elements & story details divulged throughout the story. (No spoilers!)

The only drawback is that at times the story seemed to be a little overly slow, so some readers might get a little frustrated at the slow buildup. Stick with it because the payoff at the end of this novel is pretty fulfilling, although I'll give you a warning. This is the first in a series so not all of the questions will be answered in this book.

Then again, after the creepy imagery at the end of the book, most readers won't really care. They'll be too busy shivering & demanding more.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Phantom Evil by Heather Graham

Title: Phantom Evil
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 03/29/2011
ISBN:0778329534







I'll admit that Graham's work has kind of suffered over the last few years, with some of her books not even holding a candle to how wonderful the earlier books were. (I don't know of many people who liked Dust to Dust, a title that has sat around on my bookstore shelves gathering well, dust.) She's released some stuff that's been pretty decent, but again- not stuff that's along the quality lines of her earlier releases. I almost passed this book up until I realized that it was an Adam Harrison book. Even though he's almost always a non-major character in the books, the ones that feature him are almost always great reads. This one generally followed that rule.

A secret government unit is formed under the oversight of Adam Harrison, famed paranormal investigator. The six members he’s gathered know a little of the otherworldly—each has honed a psychic talent of their own.

Jackson Crow, part English, part Cheyenne, heads the group. Haunted by his experience with an ancestral ghost who saved his life as a child, and the recent murders of two previous teammates, Jackson can’t tell if Adam’s demoted him or given him an extraordinary opportunity. Despite his link to the realm of spirits, he’s well aware that the living commit the most heinous crimes, with spiritualist charlatans existing merely to fool and seduce the unwary.

To counterbalance Jackson’s careful skepticism, Adam Harrison has paired him with Angela Hawkins, a young woman who learned the painful lesson of loss at an early age. A police officer utilizing her paranormal intuition in Virginia, she already has her hands full. But Adam’s call to New Orleans is strong.

The case: In a historic mansion in New Orleans’s French Quarter, a senator’s wife falls to her death from a balcony. Most think she jumped, distraught over the loss of her young son. Some say she was pushed. And yet others believe she was beckoned by the ghostly spirits that inhabit the house—once the site of a serial killer’s grisly work.

Whether supernatural or all too human, crimes of passion, greed and desire will cast the pair into danger of losing their lives...and their immortal souls.

I was sucked into this book incredibly quickly & I feel that most readers will be as well. I was also quite taken with both the official pairing in this book as well as the potential pairings for future books as well. (I doubt this book will be the last we've seen of this team.) The plot moves along very quickly & I was glad to see that the couple in this book doesn't play a huge amount of love games.

The only downfall to this book is that while the premise is wonderful & the interaction between our two leads has tons of chemistry, the "whodunnit" of the book just seemed a little well, farfetched & overly complicated. There's several different things going on at once & the ending just seemed a little rushed, as if Graham had intended for something more & just ran out of room. I couldn't help but feel like it was just a teensy bit anti-climactic.

Overall though, this was an incredibly fun read & it's very much a turn in the right direction for Graham. It's not a complete return to her earlier greatness but it's in the same vein- enough so that longtime fans will enjoy this book & new readers will find themselves wanting to read more of her work.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane

Title: In the Arms of Stone Angels
Author: Jordan Dane
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 03/22/2010
ISBN: 0373210299







I finished this a few days ago but waited to post the review because I had to stop & kind of chew over what I was going to say about this book. The reason behind that is mostly due to the fact that I had quite a few criticisms with the book but still enjoyed it as a whole. If you don't want to listen to my criticisms (which I will warn you, are a little spoilerish) & just want to know if this is a good read, then I'll just say it right here: it's a good read & I do recommend it for the most part. Now on to the more full review.

Two years ago, Brenna did the unthinkable. She witnessed the aftermath of a murder and accused her only true friend--the first boy she ever loved--of being a killer.

Now sixteen, Brenna returns to Oklahoma only to discover that Isaac "White Bird" Henry isn't in juvie. The half-breed outcast is in a mental hospital, frozen in time, locked in his mind at the worst moment of his life. And when Brenna touches him, she's pulled into his hellish vision quest, seeing terrifying demons and illusions she doesn't understand.

Feeling isolated and alone, she's up against the whole town, targeted by bullying former classmates, a bigoted small town sheriff, and a tribe who refuses to help one of their own. But when Brenna realizes she's as trapped by the past as White Bird is, this time she won't turn her back on him. She's the only one who can free them both.

Even if she has to expose her secret--a "gift" she's kept hidden her whole life.

As far as the plot goes, this had a pretty intriguing hook. This does deal with spirits & ghosts, but rather than just be another "girl sees ghosts & does some sleuthing" type of book, Dane tried to bring in elements of Native American mysticism & work slightly out of the box while still stick to the tried & true trope. (Not that there's anything wrong with the trope- being common does not equal being bad.) This part works out fairly well & Brenna's a nice spunky enough heroine in that she refuses to give up despite a lot of obstacles in her path.

That's where some of my spoiler criticisms come in. A few of the obstacles were far too underdeveloped. After turning in her friend & moving to another state, Brenna supposedly takes up cutting. This is a very huge thing, yet in the book it's very suddenly brought up & very suddenly dropped. We're pretty much given no hint that Brenna does this earlier in the book & after burying her cutting blade, that's really where the mention of the cutting stops. It's not brought up again later, something that I really found hard to believe- especially since Brenna's been given such a hard time by so many people in the town. I would have been happy with a few sentences sprinkled here & there about how Brenna had the temptation to cut or maybe more harassment by the local mean teens about it, but that's not here. For that matter, the way the local bullies discover that Brenna cuts is a pretty traumatic event. I'm not going to list what happened during or immediately after the event, but needless to say it's something that would cause many to curl up into a tiny ball & Brenna bounces back from it a little too quickly & cleanly. I also couldn't help but wish that we'd gotten a little more description about how Brenna learned about her abilities & how she'd dealt with them during her time away- it'd have made her cutting have more of an impact & given us more of an insight into her character.

Elements like these were woefully underdeveloped while other parts such as the Native American elements & her interactions with White Bird are far more fleshed out. It just made for a somewhat uneven reading experience.

I don't want you to think that this was a bad read, though. Despite my criticisms I managed to speed through the book pretty quickly & found it an addictive & easy read. It's something that I'd definitely recommend for you to read, but I'd probably suggest checking it out from the library or borrowing a friend's copy to glance through first. It's no Soul Screamers but it's still well worth reading.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: One Hundred Candles by Mara Purnhagen

Title: One Hundred Candles (Past Midnight #2)

Author: Mara Purnhagen

Publisher: Harlequin

Release Date: 03/01/2011

ISBN: 037321023X

Ever wonder what it might be like to talk to ghosts? How about being part of a family business where the goal is to scientifically disprove the existence of said ghosts? If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like then this book is for you.

I’ve opened a door that cannot be closed.

It’s taken a long time for me to feel like a normal teenager. But now that I’m settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charlotte Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. And what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it’s not as if Noah is anything more than a friend...

But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleashed by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I’ve opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.

While I liked the first volume in this series, I have to admit that Purnhagen definitely kicked it up a notch in this book. Charlotte has a lot to deal with- her crush on Noah seems to be going nowhere & the supernatural event in the previous book is causing lots of problems between her parents. (Her mom is more sympathetic to the supernatural, her father still isn't.) Many books in this vein have the heroine hiding events like this from her family, so when you do get books like this it's interesting to read how it affects a family- especially one that bases their whole career around debunking stuff like this.

The pacing in this book is much better than in the previous book & now that the groundwork has been laid, we get to see much more character development & supernatural spookies. The only downfall is that some readers might be able to guess at what's going to happen about halfway through the book, but odds are that they'll be having so much fun that they really won't care about that.

Readers won't have to have read the previous book in the series to know what is going on in this book, but it'll help. The previous events are summarized briefly in this book, so they won't feel too left out in the dark. This really is forming into a promising series & while it isn't going to knock Soul Screamers out of its spot as my #1 favorite UF teen series, it's up there in my top 5.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Haint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree

Title: Haint Misbehavin'
Author: Maureen Hardegree
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Release Date: 06/01/2010
ISBN: 1935661930






Tis the season for spooky books!

If you asked Heather, she'd probably tell you that her life sucks. Not only is she super allergic to everything & anything, but she also has a sister that treats her like dirt & parents who completely ignore said sister's actions (unless they can't ignore them). Now on top of all of that she's discovered that she can see ghosts. Well, one ghost in particular, the ghost of a small child who died years ago & is intent on spending the rest of her afterlife haunting Heather.

Hardegree has done a good job mystery & world building for her first full length book, creating a character that many readers will be able to relate to. Not only that, but the book makes for a very easy read & should be a lot of fun for young readers in this spooky Halloween season. Also something to praise is Hardegree's setting up of ghostly rules & future plot points, most specifically those surrounding the character of Xavier, a geek with a crush on our young medium.

However there are a few things about the book that might wear a little thin with some readers. Heather's older sister Audrey is almost completely one-dimensional for a large chunk of the book & many might long for some sort of character depth other than “you embarrass me & I’m going to humiliate you in public”. It’s fine at first but it’s almost completely nonstop, which gets pretty old after a while. Also wearing a little thin is how Heather’s parents are completely oblivious to how she’s treated- while I can understand parents wanting to think the better of their kids, Audrey’s actions are so incredibly noticeable that I really wanted to see more reaction from the parents, even if it was signs that they were actively trying to live in ignorance. (Hey, I’ve had siblings who were just as evil, if not more so than Audrey & when it was as noticeable as this they did actually show that they noticed.) I can see where Hardegree was trying to go with this, but I just wanted to see more depth to the characters. I don’t mind Hardegree making Audrey into a villain & the parents into the type who like keeping their heads in the sand, I just want to see a little more of their reasons for behaving as such. (She does show it towards the end, but it’s a bit too little too late in the book for that.)

Overall though, this is a fun read & I can really see a lot of teens & young adults getting into this book. I just hope that Hardegree manages to balance out everything in the second book.

(ARC provided by NetGalley)

Book Review: Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Title: Past Midnight
Author: Mara Purnhagen
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: 09/01/2010
ISBN: 0373210205







Unless you've been studiously avoiding noticing such titles, there's no mistaking that paranormal teen fiction has enjoyed an enormous raise in popularity in the past few years. As such, more & more authors are putting out their own stories to thrill & entertain readers both young & old. (Let's be honest- teen fiction rocks regardless of how old you are.) With large amounts of similarly themed books entering the market it's difficult to find something that puts a different spin on things. Purnhagen seems to have found a good way to put a spin on the typical "girl & ghosts" story.

Since the moment she was born, Charlotte has grown up in a family of ghost chasers. Not just any ghost chasers but famous ghost chasers with their own television show & bestselling books. While Charlotte will admit that some of the perks are awesome such as traveling all over the world, the rest of it isn't so glamorous. She'd give anything to be able to stay in one spot for a while so she can finally have a normal life with friends she didn't have to say goodbye to a few months after meeting them. When her older sister strongarms her parents into settling into one area for Charlotte using a recent ghost scare as incentive, Charlotte's sure that she'll finally be able to achieve normality. Unfortunately whatever seemed to have freaked her sister out has followed Charlotte. And it isn't leaving until it gets what it wants...

While there's been a lot- and I mean A LOT- of "girl & ghost" stories out there, there hasn't been too many that have a reality ghost hunt show theme or plot element to them. Readers will enjoy this unique idea because it not only helps to set the book apart from a lot of similarly themed books, but it also helps to explain how Charlotte is exposed to ghosts & will continue to be exposed to ghosts. (This is the first book in a series.) Many will be able to commiserate with Charlotte's non-ghostly woes, especially the frustration about having to move & leave friends behind. Others will enjoy that Purnhagen didn't go for the "cheerleader mean girl" stereotype that many other teen books often employ. Charlotte does have the beginnings of a nemesis, but it's not a cheerleader & this girl actually seems to have somewhat of a reason to dislike her.

However where the tale seems to lack is in speed. Things take a very long time to get started & for such a short book, that seemed to detract from the overall enjoyment. This wasn't a huge detractor, but enough of one that many readers will wish for things to happen a little more quickly.

Overall though, the characters are great, the plot is interesting, & Purnhagen really does seem to be on the right track here with this series. This book deserves at least one good read (or three) & I can really see this becoming a favorite with many readers.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham

Title: Ghost Shadow
Author: Heather Graham
Publisher: Mira
Release Date: 06/29/2010
ISBN: 0778327914







If you've taken a vacation away from Heather Graham, now is the perfect time to dive back into one of her books! I'll admit that while some of her recent books haven't been up to her usual standards, this one is firmly in the "good" category.

Key West is full of ghost & murder stories. David Beckett's ex-fiancee became one of them the moment her body was discovered in one of the exhibits at his father's wax museum. Ten years later wax museum has been closed for a while & the enticing Katie O'Hara wants to purchase it & return it to it's former glory. Her plans are stalled when David returns back home. Despite their rocky start, Katie finds herself falling for him- despite him possibly being the one behind the murder! But Katie has an edge. She can see & talk to ghosts & she's determined to use that talent to discover who the murderer is. Too bad the murderer has other plans in mind...

Intriguing characters & a twisted murder mystery spark off Graham's newest trilogy. While Katie & David might not have the flash-bang chemistry of some of Graham's other character matchups, the pair does have a sweet sense of familiarity to them. They take to each other as if they've been together all along. Also fun is the character of Bartholomew, a deceased privateer (he takes issue if you call him a pirate). The scenes with him in it are some of the best of the book.

Graham does a good job of utilizing the mysteries of Florida- having Robert the Doll & the ultra-morbid story of Carl Tanzler really does help to enhance the creepiness of her book. (And if you haven't heard of either of them before- no worries. Graham gives a bit of back story to each of them.)

The only things some readers might take issue with is the lack of said flash-bang chemistry between the two leads as well as how underused Katie's talent is in this book. Hopefully we'll get to see more of both things in the next two books in the series.

In the end, this is classic Graham. It might not be my absolute favorite book she's written, but it is still very much worth reading. With the final book in the series coming out in just a few weeks, this is the perfect time to start reading so you can be ready when the last book releases!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)