Horror aficionado Lanie Adams should be thrilled when two eighties-era ghosts materialize in her bedroom. Yet after a fainting incident unbecoming of a horror nerd, she would rather her haunting just go away—the ghosts’ waterlogged voices and ice-cold auras are more terrifying than any movie. Enlisting the help of Ryan, an entirely-too-cute stoner, she makes it her mission to put the spirits stalking her to rest.
Some sleuthing reveals that their sleepy Connecticut town is host to a shadowy, decades-old conspiracy. If Lanie wants to say a final goodbye to her ghosts, she’ll need to keep digging. But it’s important to tread carefully. The culprit is still in town—and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried. (taken from Amazon)
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Equal parts mystery and ghost story, Specter kept me engaged from start to finish. It follows teen horror-lover Lanie as she tries to unravel the secret behind her new…guests. Lanie was a lot of fun. I can even forgive her for thinking of 80s clothing as “old” (my poor, ancient, arthritic heart was a little broken at that part). She’s smart, but obviously in way over her head. I love it when a character realizes just how far out of their depth they actually are. She never gives up, though.
Her sort-of boyfriend, Ryan, annoyed me. That’s a good thing, though. It meant he was well-developed enough to elicit a gut reaction from me, even though my gut reaction was dislike. He added a lot to the storyline and served to keep the book on track toward what was a very surprising climax.
There is a little detail that I have to point out because it was just so great: our teen sleuths didn’t get lucky and stumble upon the answer right away. They had to work for it. Some of what they discovered ending up being useful in and unexpected way, or even not all that important. They had to sift through what they learned to find what was pertinent. I loved that. It made the answer a big payoff.
There were all kinds of surprises! The ending made perfect sense, but it was definitely not where I thought the book was going, which was pretty darn cool. The climax ratcheted things up to a breakneck pace. This was a fun read, one that I recommend to readers of YA ghost stories who like great characters along with their spooks.
