Review: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens
Harlequin/MIRA (March 27, 2012)
Mass Market: $7.99; ebook: $7.99
ISBN: 9780778312772
Excerpt

Favorite Lines: “Did I cross his mind now and then? Not that it mattered. He was a man haunted by his dead wife and daughter, and I was a woman who saw ghosts. For as long as he clung to his past–and his past clung to him–I could not be a part of his life.” (p. 8, egalley)

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town…My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I’ve been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I’m coming to think I have another purpose here.Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I’ve discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town—this withering kingdom—and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

The Kingdom is Amanda Stevens follow-up book to the creepy book entitled The Restorer. Both are part of the Graveyard Queen trilogy. According to Stevens’ blog she has just sold another trilogy in the Graveyard Queen series to MIRA. It will follow the same heroine, Amelia.

The story picks up months after Amelia was almost murdered. She has resumed her life as a graveyard restorer and accepted a job in a small town called Asher Falls. Once there, she learns she is not alone in her ability to see ghosts and discovers her hidden past.

The book is not as creepy as The Restorer, but it is full of slow burning tension. Unlike the first book, it doesn’t take long to realize where the danger is coming from. I was okay with that because I knew there was something going on that would hit Amelia on a personal level–much deeper than a possible new romance with a man named Thane Asher.

While book one felt like cold breezes in a silent night, The Kingdom felt like the intro to a new horror movie. The horror is in the descriptions used to instill a sense of dread. There were no OMG bloody sections, but it was the mind games sort of horror. I’m not a fan of horror, but Stevens managed to suck me in and hold my attention. That said, I had a huge issue with the heroine.

I don’t remember Amelia being quite so angsty. And I most definitely don’t remember Devlin the way she did:

“I wasn’t over Devlin, might never be over him, and an attractive stranger could do nothing more than momentarily ease my intense longing.”–p.15

Yes, she was interested in Devlin, but she didn’t have much time with him and she knew going in that he was haunted and harmful to her continued existence. I don’t get why all of a sudden Amelia is so obsessed with him. Devlin is blatantly unhealthy for her and the new love interest isn’t any better. It feels out of character for a successful woman who has had to be on guard all her life to fall for dangerous men within moments of meeting them during a few months time. There was never any information about that being a habit of hers. You’d think she’d be more careful after the events of book one.

Overall, I liked the slow burning tension in The Kingdom. I was happy Amelia was away from Devlin and hoped she’d learned sometimes what you want isn’t good for you and you have no choice but to stay away. I’m not so sure she came to that realization. As Amelia’s family history unraveled it became clear that much more was going on than the reader was exposed to.  I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion of the trilogy, The Prophet.