Title: The Prophet (Graveyard Queen #3)
Author: Amanda Stevens
Genre: Paranormal Mystery, Mystery and Suspense, Thriller
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon
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.
I liked The Prophet a little less than The Kingdom. True, it ties everything nicely together, but it leaves too much loose ends for me to rate it a five-stars. It’s like the author deliberately wanted to leave a gap open so another book could be written in the series if she wanted to. Or maybe she wanted to maintain a sense of mystery at the end. Either way, I like my trilogies more nicely tied up, so that brought down the rating for me. Apart from that, Amanda Stevens once again delivers a gripping, fascinating read with protagonist Amelia Gray starring in the main role as graveyard restorer who can see ghosts.
Amelia returns to Charleston, worn out after everything that happened in Asher Falls and the dreadful discovers she made about her own past. This time around she goes back to restore Oak Grove Cemetery, forcing herself to face her own fears after what happened there. But going back to Charleston also means going back to Devlin. The spirit of Devlin’s daughter comes to visit Amelia, luring her to a house where she finds Devlin and another woman. Trying to cope with her feelings of jealousy, Amelia grows fixated on Devlin’s daughter and why she keeps on haunting her, and more importantly, why she can’t let go. She also goes to see her Dad and talk about what happened in the past, and his aversion toward ghosts.
The Prophet from book one makes a re-appearance. He needs to know who killed him if he ever wants to rest, so Amelia, amidst all the other commotion, goes out to search for his killer. Meanwhile a man named Darius, who’s related to Devlin’s deceased wife, shows up and threatens not only Devlin but Amelia as well. The plot thickens, and Amelia will have to come to terms with who she is if she wants to survive. She realizes there’s more to the spirit world than she ever thought possible.
I liked Amelia here. Strong and capable, intelligent. Even when she sees Devlin with another woman, she doesn’t completely freak out, and she handles it as maturely as can be expected. I doubt anyone would be thrilled to see the object of their desire with someone else, but Amelia has other stuff to worry about. She’s really grown throughout this series. She’s much more confident in her abilities, less afraid of ghosts somehow. I also liked Devlin here. He was the mysterious ‘bad boy’ cop persona in book one, but he’s a real person now. I finally understand his attraction toward Amelia, and they truly had chemistry here.
The plot was a bit of a let-down. It was like it picked up from The Restorer, tying up the loose ends from that book but without the urgency The Restorer and The Kingdom had. I wouldn’t have minded another visit to Asher Falls. The plot was less intense somehow, even though a lot was going on, and it was like the other wrapped up too much and didn’t explain enough. The vibe was the same though: haunting and mysterious, and the writing was solid.
But because of the ending, which disappointed me because so much was left unresolved, I really want another book to wrap things up nicely. What happens to the Ashers and what the old Asher patriarch predicted or wished? Why is The Prophet so much more powerful and different than other ghosts? What will Amelia do about her heritage?
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