The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

NEVER ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEAD.

NEVER STRAY FROM HALLOWED GROUND.

NEVER GET CLOSE TO THE HAUNTED.

NEVER, EVER TEMPT FATE.

My father’s rules.

I’ve never broken them…until now.

 Amelia Gray is an archeologist who established herself as a restorer of graveyards. Taphophiles flock her blog site earning her a pedestal among the best of her field.  Aside from fascination, her passion for graveyards rooted from a very young age influenced by her father, a graveyard caretaker - her first teacher, mentor and confidant.

But seeing ghosts was not part of her passion or her profession.  It’s a secret both shared by father and daughter.  A secret that had moved her to loneliness and isolation; always seeking a hallowed ground, both physically and emotionally.  Amelia grew up constantly on guard.  Yet, despite her best efforts to follow her father’s rules, she can’t avoid being fatally attracted to John Devlin, a haunted police detective; and his disturbing murder case.

How to describe this book?  Let me see…  Imagine twilight in Charleston , seated on a lounge chair in a garden under an Angel Oak, with a riot of Crepe Myrtle in every color everywhere.  In your hand is a fluted glass foaming with ghosts, strongly laced with mystery and topped with a tempting amount of romance.  Perfect, right?

After reading The Abandoned, I can’t wait long enough to get into The Restorer.  Amanda Stevens surely knows how to exquisitely deliver poetic lines, all the while luring you to follow her protagonist into an eerie path.  Her knowledge of Taphophilia and symbolism is astounding.   This is one of those rare books I could hardly tear myself from.  I know it would be an agony waiting for the next installment.  So for now, I will have to hold on this promise from Amelia…

“But this was not to be a final goodbye. Our story was not yet finished.”

If you are in need of an exceptionally written ghost story this is the book for you.

Book details:

ISBN: 9780778329817

Publication: Published April 19th 2011 by Mira; Paperback, 376pages

Series: Series: The Graveyard Queen 

                    Prequel: The Abandoned (April 2011)
                    Book I: The Restorer (May 2011)
                    Book II: The Kingdom (November 2011)
                    Book III: The Prophet (May 2012)

Rating: ★★★★★

*Disclaimer:  Thanks to Mira Books and NetGalley for the e-galley copy.