The Restorer

The Graveyard Queen, Book 1

By: Amanda Stevens

Narrated by: Khristine Hvam

Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audie Award Nominee, Fantasy, 2013

Never acknowledge the dead.
Never stray far from hallowed ground.
Never get close to the haunted.
Never, ever tempt fate.

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to these rules passed down from my father…until now.

Detective John Devlin needs my help to find a killer, but he is haunted by ghosts who shadow his every move. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the headstone symbols lead me closer to truth and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

©2012 Amanda Stevens (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Khristine Hvam draws the listener in with a Charleston twang and a variety of Southern dialects, including Gullah, each slightly and delightfully different. She speaks with a vulnerability that creates an affection for the characters, especially Amelia." ( AudioFile)

Good Ghost Story

Would you listen to The Restorer again? Why?

No, I never listen to books twice.

Any additional comments?

I usually don't listen to Ghost Stories so as it goes this was a nice break. The performance and plot were good enough to hold my interest.

loved it

I loved it, I need a John Develen in my life, even if he is haunted!

Enjoyable Listen

The narrator did a good job. I really enjoyed the story and the twists it took but I did get a bit bored right before the author wrapped up the story. This series appears to have a continuation arc as well as the main story of each book.

Ghost and Crime

If you could sum up The Restorer in three words, what would they be?

Exciting, Scary, Romantic

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Restorer?

That would be giving away the plot.

What does Khristine Hvam bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her voice is fantastic for the piece.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

How lonely the main character was.

Any additional comments?

Great book and series.

Tried it as I love the narrator but lacks depth

Needs depth and character. The narrator was excellent so i stayed with it to the end. Feel like I wasted my time.

Every time I thought it was going to launch and get better. It stayed low key with no big moments. Flatlined throughput the entire book.

Too many ghosts for me.

This book is part of a series and part of my romance package. The story is a good story and mystery if you are into the supernatural. I didn't enjoy the narrator. Her southern accent was too drippy ... exaggerated southern female entrenched in some mysterious romance.

The Restorer

Terrific story! So different from other romances I’ve read. It was more a mystery/police procedural/ghost story than a romance, but knowing this is an ongoing series, I have no doubt the H/h will get together in future books. The twists & turns were well plotted, the couple were both sympathetic & the narrator was excellent. She had all the accents down perfect & you always knew who was speaking. Male & female voices were distinct & she read with the proper pacing & feeling for the story. 👍👍

Worth the read, but...

I enjoyed this book for the most part. The plot is interesting and the writing is good. But our heroine, Amelia, is stupifyingly lacking in common sense. She blithely walks into situations that would put most people's fight or flight instinct on full alert. And for a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts, she is illogically squeamish at the sight of human skeletons. It wasn't hard to figure out who the bad guy was, but I didn’t guess the creative motive. Still, I will consider reading the next in the series. Maybe Amelia will evolve into a more mature herione and gain some intuition.

great book! gonna listen to book 2 now!

it was very very hard to stop listening to this book! Listened to this book every chance I had!
thank you, on to the next! B.H

Found a new author to follow!

This is exactly what I was looking for. It's a rare thing for me but I can honestly say I had a hard time getting to sleep after listening to certain parts of this novel.
When Amelia fell under the mausoleum, that gave me shivers! I can't wait to hear more from this author.