This is a story about two people, Rebekkah and Byron, who discover that the little town they both call home has secrets they never could have guessed. There are ancient contracts, strange death rituals, and heavy prices paid for all of it. I found the plot engaging and I kept turning pages in my quest to find out the truth behind all the secrecy. In that sense it made for a very quick read and short chapters only strengthened the feeling of a nicely paced book. I liked both Rebekkah and Byron as individual characters. What I could have done without, and I'm shocked to even be saying this, was the push-pull romance between the two. Normally I enjoy this sort of thing but here the relationship exists under circumstances that don't appeal to me and Byron was too much of a doormat. I'm too much of a fan of individual choice and, for all of a certain character's protests to the contrary, I never believed there was much choice involved. But despite what was, for me, a flat romance the story of the town and its history made this an enjoyable read. I finished the book still having some questions left unanswered but that's the nature of supernatural, gothic tales such as this and, if I'm totally honest, I don't want all the answers anyway. That would spoil the mood. That said, there was still the feeling that the author was just skimming the surface. There were some good ideas here but it still felt like it could have been so much more. Still, a solid three stars for me. I was pleasantly surprised that this book turned out to be so different from any other book I'd ever read. While one of the best descriptions for this book's style could be "urban fantasy" it defies this category in that it takes place in a very small town. And, while technically this book fits right in with today's current infatuation with vampires and zombies, the walking dead in this book seem very different.The beginning of the book was a bit frustrating, due to the way in which author chose to structure the book. The characters learned about the specifics of the town's dealings with the dead slowly, with reluctance, from their parents. While I enjoyed the frustration a little, and the slow distribution of information was tantalizing, it pissed me off that the parents kept the truth from their children. Byron and Rebekkah needed to know about Mister D and the dead well ahead of time, but had to learn it almost too late. Note to parents: keeping an unpleasant truth from your children only makes it harder on the children in the long run.The end of the book managed to surprised me, as I had expected a different villain. But it worked pretty well. I have hopes that this can turn into a series, as there are many questions left unanswered at the end.
Do You like book Graveminder (2011)?
I just happened to stumble on this book because the next book in a series I need was not available to me. I need a book to kill time with. I eventually found this one. I enjoyed it. I like how some books will give u that prologue and epilogue and this book did that. I liked the creativity of the world of the dead. One thing I was surprised on was Alicia's character. By her one interaction with Charles I figured there was gonna be more to her or the shooting Rebecca dealt with in the land of the dead. I figured there was some secret or other motive the author was gonna explore. That never happened so I guess I was just wrong. It didn't ruin anything though. I enjoyed the book and found it entertaining. I might revisit this author again.
—Dania997
Not too bad for a fantasy slash light horror. The ideas behind the story were interesting, but I don't think it moved along very well. It was too long finding out what was going on and then the story wraps up too soon. I thought that there was too much of the same dialog between the central characters. It was very repetitive and unnecessary. I liked the way it was written but it seemed a little underdone. There was a lot of potential for a greater story.
—Holaa12
