So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.
When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. And she, for whatever reason, spares his life. (From Goodreads)
I love this book for quite a few reasons. The primary reasons, though were the male protag, that was refreshing, and of course, the fact that it freaked me out. Which is pretty much what you want out of a ghost story.
So reading this book from Cas's point of view was definitely awesome. I liked Cas a lot and I was never aware that the author is a woman writing from a male point of view. His voice felt authentic. With Cas at the center, the rest of your typical cast of characters felt fresh. Actually, there were numerous times where thought - this is the male/ghost version of Buffy. Cas = Buffy of course. But then there's Caramel, the popular girl who gets swept up in the hunting - Cordelia. And Thomas is both that nerdy, but charismatic boy - Xander and the witch who casts the spells - Willow. Cas even had the Buffy - I'm the only one who can do this - complex, even though the people who are there to help out are just as important.
But they weren't dealing with vamps - just some of the scariest ghosts I've ever read. Seriously, holy smokes. These ghosts, like, actually can kill you. The first time Anna killed, it was so graphic, so gross, so freaking scary that my first reaction was - holy snit. The second was - ewwww. But it was really interesting to watch Anna transform into a tangible character and then to find out that there are scarier things out there than a ghost that can literally tear you apart.I was thoroughly impressed with this book. It was scary, but not only for the purpose of being scary. There's a great story here that is far more complex than it lets on. I'm so looking forward to The Girl of Nightmares, which is due out in August, because I'm so intrigued by these characters and where this story will go next.
