Review: Graveyard Queen Series #3, The Prophet, by Amanda Stevens

The Prophet
(Graveyard Queen Series #3)
Amanda Stevens
April 24, 2012
Mira
352 pages

Synopsis: 

      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.

Review:
       Amanda Stevens is really good at keeping you guessing while reading her books.
       I loved book one in The Graveyard Queen series, The Restorer, in fact it was one of my favorites I read in 2011 (see review). I enjoyed book 2, The Kingdom, as well (see review), but felt it wasn't really connected to the series. I missed Devlin. A lot. Well, in this book, #3 in the series, Amelia Gray has returned home. And in doing so, has returned to Devlin - whether she wants to or not. But, it isn't what you would expect of a romance novel reunion. There is a lot of tension between them, a lot of secrets, a lot of unanswered questions. As they struggle with both his ghosts and their pasts, a lot of new complications get thrown in as well. This is where Ms. Stevens lost me, if just for a short while. It got a little too out there, with ghosts and weird African voodoo magic, and I struggled to relate to anyone or anything for a bit. I think we were left out of the loop for too long and I became increasingly frustrated with all that I didn't understand. Luckily, that feeling didn't last too long, and she drew me right back in quickly. I was more than captivated with the last few chapters and could not put the book down once I got there. I still felt a bit lost after I finished, I wanted a bit more closure and resolution, and because of that I'm very happy to hear that there will be at least one more book in the series (possibly three?!). I just have a feeling that in addition to some more answers, there are going to be a whole lot more questions too!
       In a world where it is difficult to find a unique story to tell, Amanda Stevens does a very good job at doing just that. For that, as well as the bond you're sure to develop with both Amelia and Devlin (and maybe even a ghost or two!), I highly recommend The Graveyard Queen series. A word of caution: you may not want to read them alone in the dark though :)

     The Prophet: 4/5
     Cover: 5/5 (these are some of my favorite series covers)

Note: An ecopy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review purposes. This in no way affected the review content.