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)

Outstanding

Crazy twists and turns that have you wondering what in tarnations!!! I love the characters and I may have a new love for graveyards.

Haunting!

For the 2nd time reading this wonderful book I decided to try the audiobook. It was very well done, although not as creepy as I imagined. Doesn't matter. I still loved it. The setting, the atmosphere, the mysterious characters with all of the secrets to unravel- good stuff! Again I'm hooked on the mystery of these people and all of the creepy stuff that goes with them.

A good listen

This was the first book written by Amanda Stevens that I've listened to. I really enjoyed the story, and I'm getting ready to try another.

My favorite

You cannot go wrong with this series.The author is talented and the narrator or is wonderful!

Good story, narration dragged a bit

I enjoyed this story, and look forward to listening to the rest of the series. My family is from the South, the Carolinas originally, and Kentucky and Tennessee, so I could relate to a lot of the relationships and behaviors. Many of my mother's family are buried in a cemetery in St. Louis called Oak Grove, so I got a kick out of much of the story taking place in a cemetery with the same name. And I love ghost stories! The narration was okay, but dragged a bit. I have a problem with narrators who do not have accents which are accurate for the region - the South has many different accents, and the narrator seemed to just take on a generic "Southern" accent, but I overlooked that. Overall, I highly recommend this book for Southern ghost story lovers.

Frustratingly hard to follow

This book started off pretty slow but I finally got into it about half way through. The premise is cool and I really enjoy the taste of the south that's brought to light very well throughout the story. The narration is pretty good.

The part that I found frustrating was that by the time I got to the end of the book and she was putting all the pieces together to figure out 'who-dun-it', I couldn't remember who the people she was talking about were. Some of the most important people in the end of the story were only mentioned a few times here and there and remained mostly on the periphery of the rest of the book.

I also wasn't terribly impressed with the romance part of this book. The male main character seems like he could be a good fit for the female, but I didn't 'feel' much chemistry between them.

Slow, but I stuck with it

I thought this was a worthwhile listen, but slow and leaving a lot unanswered. I’ll continue the series and hope that the gradual build is leading to worthy conclusions. I like the characters and the storylines. I’m interested to see where it goes.

Khristine Hvam is my new favorite narrator

I had the opportunity to meet Khristine Hvam, who narrates this audio, recently and was surprised to learn about her career as a reader for my favorite form of entertainment- audiobooks!!!. She recommended a few books I might like and I chose this one. While this is not my favorite genre, I enjoyed every minute of Khristine's amazing narration. She is one of those readers like Scott Brick or Eduardo Ballerini, that can make any book come to life and shine. While the story itself was not that original or exciting, her interpretation of it made it entertaining for me and I enjoyed listening.If you enjoy this genre than I highly recommend this audio....even if its not your genre you will still enjoy Khristine!

So very glad I stuck with it.

Despite it's interesting intro with this new take on another character that sees ghost, the first few chapters were pretty slow moving. So much so that I almost returned the book but by the middle the pace and plot picked up. By the end of the book I couldn't wait to get the next one. Glad I didn't give up.

Temptation

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

Chilling, delicious and sexy

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

Stranded on the lonely highway at night, someone sitting in a darken car, without the headlights, Amelia without cell phone signal, and twin headlights appearing in the distance the moment she felt the end was unknown. Amelia ran into the streets like her life depended on it, and Detective John Devlin stepped out of his vehicle. That was my shortness of breathe moment.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was when John Devlin stood in the hall way of the restroom. Someone bumped into Amelia, and she landed on his crest. For a moment, she imagined John caressing her lips with feather like touch, and the barest touch to her lips.

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

My moving moment was when Detective John Devlin jumped down into a completely dark crevasse to protect Amelia when she screamed from unknown forces.

Any additional comments?

Three rules given to me by my father:
1. Never acknowledge the dead. If you do, they'll feed off your energy like parasites, slowly draining your life away.
2. Never stray too far from hallowed ground, you're safe there.
3. Keep your distance from people who are haunted. They are a terrible threat and can't be trusted.
4. Never, Aver tempt fate.
Simple rules, really. But for Amelia those rules have prevented her from having any kind of a normal life. Still, she finds happiness in her job as a respected cemetery restorer and has made a happy, if isolated, life for herself.
The performer, Khristine Hvam was spur with the southern accent. Made the book more enjoyable.