Amelia Gray has a very unusual career in that she restores
cemeteries. It may also be an unwise choice because she's
been seeing ghosts since she was nine years old. Fortunately
for her, Amelia's father can also see them and has given her
the list of Rules that she's followed since that time.
She found a home in Charleston, South Carolina that seems to
be on hallowed ground so that it can truly be her sanctuary
when she's not working. It will protect her from the ghosts
but not from dangers lurking in the real world. It is just
this type of danger that appears out of the darkness on her
way home from dinner one night. At least it's danger if you
consider tall, dark, brooding and gorgeous men dangerous.
John Devlin is a policeman in Charleston and he's been
pointed in her direction to gain some assistance with a
murder case he's working on. He knows of her profession and
when a brutally murdered young girl turns up in the cemetery
that Amelia is currently restoring, he needs to see the
photographs that she took of the cemetery prior to starting
her work.
Not only is John the most attractive man she's ever seen,
but he's possibly the very one she needs to stay clear of.
It seems that John has two ghosts attached to him even
though he has no idea that he's haunted. Sadly, one of the
top rules that Amelia's father gave her about seeing ghosts
is to never get involved with someone who is haunted. In
this case, it seems that this is easier said than done,
especially when it becomes clear that Amelia is also being
stalked by what could be a deadly psychopath.
Amelia wants to help John and she also wants to find out if
they could have anything more between them but things just
keep getting stranger. As the layers of secrets long buried
start to peel back a little at a time, she wants answers to
them, especially the ones that hover around her own father
that seem to lead back to her. She keeps being told that
some secrets are better left that way, but Amelia doesn't
care. She knows that only answers will allow her to live her
life.
In the meantime, the killer strikes again, which leads to
even more ominous discoveries as well as more heat building
between Amelia and John. Can he save her and can they
possibly save each other?
I could rhapsodize for hours about how much I enjoyed THE
RESTORER. Amanda Stevens has woven a web of intricate plot
lines that elicit many emotions from her readers. This is a
scary, provocative, chilling and totally mesmerizing book. I
never wanted it to end and I'm going to be on pins and
needles until the next book in The Graveyard Queen Series
comes out. The main storyline in this book is satisfyingly
wrapped up but there are many other subplots that tease all
the way through, not the least of which is the white hot
passion between Amelia and Devlin. Whatever else you do, do
not miss this book!
Every cemetery has a story. Every grave has its secrets. Amelia Gray was nine when she first became aware of ghosts - those beautiful, nebulous, dangerous beings that drift among us, seeking what they can never have again - life. That's why they attach themselves like supernatural leeches to their hosts, draining them of warmth and energy. As a child, Amelia's playground was an old cemetery, a hallowed place where her father worked as caretaker. Alone and often lonely, she wandered through the lush fern beds an curtains of gray-green moss, pretending the stone angels and cherubs were fairies and gnomes and she their ruler, queen of her very own graveyard kingdom. Nowadays Amelia is a cemetery restorer, traveling all over the South, cleaning up forgotten and abandoned graveyards and repairing worn and broken headstones. In order to protect herself, Amelia has long adhered to the rules laid down by her father: (1) Never acknowledge the dead; (2) Never stray far from hallowed ground; (3) Never associate with those who are haunted and (4) Never, ever, tempt fate. But one day John Devlin, an enigmatic police detective haunted by the ghosts of his dead wife and daughter, enters Amelia's world and everything begins to change, including the rules that have always kept her safe. Devlin's there to investigate the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard that Amelia has been hired to restore. The clues to the killer - and to his other victims - lie in headstone symbolism that only Amelia can decipher. Soon it becomes clear that Devlin needs Amelia's help to trap to brutal killer seemingly intent on "repopulating" an old cemetery. But Devlin's nearness and their growing attraction constitute the very gravest of threats for Amelia. Devlin's ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into Amelia's life but something she's vowed never to do. However, the pull of Devlin's magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead Amelia closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.
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