Edward Reid Sings Nursery Rhymes

Edward Reid Sings Nursery Rhymes

And The Winner Is:

THE WINNER OF MY FIRST BOOK GIVEAWAY IS:

Karen Joan


Thank you to all that participated in my first giveaway

Pray For Silence

First off, if you are at all squeamish, stay away from this book. Linda Castillo is a very talented author that has a knack for being able to draw the reader into very horrific scenes describing every nuance to the point that not only can the reader see it, they can almost feel it.

"If I’ve learned anything in my years in law enforcement, it’s that the living come first. We can always deal with the dead in our nightmares.”

Once again the Amish community of Painters Mill is rocked by the apparently senseless brutal killing of the entire Plank family. Called to the scene, Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force are thrown into one of the most horrific scenes that any of them have ever been witness to. Knowing once again that this is over her head, her first call is to State Agent John Tomessetti. They have a history, both professionally and personally, but Kate knows that if anyone can help her figure out this mess then it is John.

But John comes with his own demons, two and a half years ago his wife and daughter were brutally murdered and John threw himself into a downward spiral of prescription drugs and alcohol in which he “sucks them down with the self- destructive glee of an addict”. Now on administrative leave and seeing an overly preppy therapist, John is on a road to recovery but he is not exactly the ideal patient. He wants back to work, he wants to be a contributing member of the BCI force and most importantly he wants to be with Kate and help her through this investigation.

Kate and John are drawn into Mary Planks life and into a world that she was ill equipped to handle. What had Mary gotten herself into? Who was this English boy that she writes about in her journal? They needed to find him. They needed answers as to why the whole family is now dead and Mary’s cryptic writings may hold the answers.

“Where there is a secret, there will be a revelation”

The climatic ending was a bit predictable with a few “oh my gosh” moments. A couple characters stood out to me as reasonable suspects though Ms Castillo blended them into the background of the story she was telling. No one is above suspicion and the Kate Burkholder series teaches you to pay close attention all characters, not just the obvious ones.

This second book in the Kate Burkholder series after (Sworn to Silence) most certainly lives up to its predecessor. I highly recommend that you start there since there are many references to the Slaughterhouse Murders, which was the case that originally brought Tomasetti and Burkholder together.

The Restorer

Called the Graveyard Queen, Amelia Grey has been working alongside her father, the local cemetery grounds keeper since she was a child. All grown up, she is now a renowned historian and restorer of cemeteries but being able to care for the hollowed land is not the only thing she can do, both Amelia and her father can see the dead.

"I was twenty-seven years old and I'd never had a best friend, never had a real confidant and had never once fallen in love. From the time I was nine years old, the dead that walk among us had isolated me from the living. With that first sighting, my life had been changed forever. Like my father, I'd learned to live with my secret, had even come to embrace the solitude, but there were times, like tonight, when I wondered if madness might not also wait for me behind the veil"

There are very strict rules when it comes to having this gift; one is never to make contact. Second, do not let them know that you can see them or they will attach to you and you will never get away. The third is to never get close to a person who has a ghost attached to them." That one is a bit harder for Amelia since she has feelings for John Devlin, a police detective, assigned to investigate the recent body that has turned up in the cemetery after a storm. Of course, it cannot be as simple as a washed up casket; this is definitely a newly deceased person who did not have a proper burial. But of course, that isn't the only body in this story. Just when you think you have all the creepiness tied up Tom Gerrity, an ex-police officer who wants to torment Devlin shows up with some information of his own. Who is the Prophet and why does it set John Devlin off?

What does bother me about this story is that both Amelia and her father have the same ability, but yet Amelia is adopted. It hit me as strange that two people who are unrelated coincidently have the same gift, but now I am wondering if there is more to this story that will be revealed in future installments. Just one more twist in a very interesting tale.

"We can learn so much from the dead"

The end is quite twisty so be prepared to pay close attention. Things that you think are, aren't, things that didn't make sense are left dangling for the next in this planned trilogy, so be prepared to be left questioning and having to draw your own conclusions until next time.

Amanda Stevens definitely has a series to keep any eye out for.