Review: Superb Continuation
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 8, 2012
I am so enthralled with this series.  In book one we met Becca, who just moved with her father to a new town to start over after the death of her mother.  Right away Becca makes a couple friends, and they have a séance.  This brings Alastor into the scene, and he is able to communicate with Becca.  And even more so, Becca is the reincarnation of his wife.  Book one, Spiritus, was very emotional and definitely a story not to miss out on.  I'm not going to spend my time re-reviewing that, you can check out that review at the link below.This is definitely one of the hardest reviews I will probably ever write!  It's not because I didn't like the book - I absolutely loved it.  But the blurb is kind of vague, and I don't want to give away spoilers!  Ahhh!  What to do??Haunted starts several years after Spiritus.  Becca is in some deep therapy sessions after a series of events leads her to a psychiatric hospital.  This story is told in flashbacks in her point of view, and current observations in her doctor's point of view.  I think this was a fantastic way to handle this story.  It totally gave Becca the ability to fill in the blanks of what happened over the next few years, and also gave a really good view from an outsider.  Dana did a superb job of not retelling the story of book one, if you know what I mean?  I really think the beauty of this story really shows Dana's talent and skill as an author, because one of her main characters, Alastor, is a ghost.  He is unable to interact with anything or anyone but Becca.  That is really limiting!  So I think that this set up of flash backs and observations kept the story flow very fresh and interesting.Ok, let's go character by character.  In with the new, we have Dr. Langdon.  In the beginning I get the impression that he is a very good doctor, but a bit.... Sigh, I don't know, a bit bland with his work.  He's not necessarily bored, but he hasn't really had anything to challenge him in a bit.  He's got the fire in him, the fire that got him into this field in the first place - he wants to help people.  But he is limited to short sessions with patients, and he sees a lot of the same things over and over.  But I like him.  I can see he has a heart, it just needs to be resparked.And then Dr. Langdon meets Becca.  Becca is such a wonderful character, I can only imagine how much fun she has been to write.  She is now in her early twenties, and from the outside it appears as if she has had a bit of a mental snap.  But we know better, and we know she is not crazy at all.  She is just dealing with some very unusual circumstances and her true soul mate.  Becca definitely does not disappoint in Haunted.  She is fiery and intelligent, yet she is very dependent on Alastor.  She tries to do what is thought to be the best decision.  But her love for Alastor can not be changed, and it can not be hidden.  Well, at least not for long, right? Becca is just one of those characters I love to read about.  The girl has some major secrets going on.And then that brings us to Alastor.  I love him, I really really do.  If he was the ghost of my previous husband, I'd like to think I'd be making all of the same decisions as Becca.  But just like in Spiritus, Alastor is much the same as he was.  He has these grand overtures of love for Becca.  He says things that will buckle your knees and melt your heart, and he means them.  But there are these little glimpses of him where he is a bit temperamental.  I mean, sure, who wouldn't be, stuck being invisible and intangible.  But sometimes he throws a bit of a fit!  And the man has a temper!  In both books I have found myself actually mad at Alastor, only to be back in love with him pages later.  Like I said in my previous review, Alastor definitely has the power to bring me to "Team Ghost"." ... I knew it was Alastor that I would always love.  There was no denying it.  He was a part of me and always would be."Haunted is every bit as emotional as Spiritus.  It revolves around love.  Real love, forced love, soul mate love, puppy love... every bit of love you could hope to find, its in there.  This story has once again brought out the tears.  There is one scene, something  that has happened at Alastor's insistence...but it brought me to tears that he had to be on the sidelines and see this happen.  And oh, I wish I could tell you all about it.  I wish I could tell you how horrible I felt for everyone, whether they were aware of the situation or not, but that my heart shattered for Alastor.  And that is completely true, I just can't tell you the "why" of it all.This book is absolutely wonderful.  In my opinion it is without a doubt a five star read.  You can read it on its own if you have to, but I highly recommend reading Spiritus first.  The first book really gives the background and builds the foundation.  And the third book, Incarnate, is scheduled to be released this fall. I have really high hopes for this one!! I have my fingers crossed!