The Visitor by Amanda Stevens

March 17th, 2016 Kimberly Review 53 Comments

17th Mar
The Visitor by Amanda Stevens
The Visitor
by Amanda Stevens
Series: Graveyard Queen #4
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm the Graveyard Queen.Restoring lost and abandoned cemeteries is my profession, but I'm starting to believe that my true calling is deciphering the riddles of the dead. Legend has it that Kroll Cemetery is a puzzle no one has ever been able to solve. For over half a century, the answer has remained hidden within the strange headstone inscriptions and intricate engravings. Because uncovering the mystery of that tiny, remote graveyard may come at a terrible price. Years after their mass death, Ezra Kroll's disciples lie unquiet, their tormented souls trapped within the walls of Kroll Cemetery, waiting to be released by someone strong and clever enough to solve the puzzle. For whatever reason, I'm being summoned to that graveyard by both the living and the dead. Every lead I follow, every clue I unravel brings me closer to an unlikely killer and to a destiny that will threaten my sanity and a future with my love, John Devlin.

urban thriller freaky Auto-Buy

Creeptastic is the first thought that comes to mind when thinking about The Visitor, the latest novel in Amanda Stevens’ urban fantasy series the Graveyard Queen. The Visitor was impressive from the spine tingling mystery to developments in the overall ARC. Stevens sent chills down my spine as she drew me into the world of Amelia Gray.

I love ghost stories and find old cemeteries beautiful, creepy, and fascinating so it is easy to see what drew me to the Graveyard Queen series. If you have not yet tried them, I recommend you begin with book one The Restorer. While each book has a case to solve the overall arc, character growth and romance make them best read in order.

The Visitor begins with a female entity haunting Amelia. This spirit both fascinates and terrifies her. I was completely hooked and slipped right back into her world. Amelia soon finds herself entwined in a puzzle involving the Kroll Cemetery. The graveyard is over half a century old and her scariest graveyard to date! The tale was spine-chilling with odd, quirky characters, entities, and other forces that delivered a deliciously dark tale.

If you have read the series then you know Amelia has some unique gifts. She has carefully guarded her secret. She even has a set of rules given to her by her father. She has begun to break those rules and forge her own path. In doing so, she has begun to awaken her powers. We see real development in what Amelia is and receive information about her heritage. Stevens’ wove these tidbits into the case revealing information about her power, of darkness to come and information about her parents.

The Kroll Cemetery is home to Ezra Kroll and his disciples. There is a shroud of mystery surrounding their deaths and something is at unrest within the walls of this unusual cemetery. Turn on the lights when reading this folks. Steven’s created some of the most chilling entities. Her writing was so vivid that I could see them, hear their unearthly noises and feel the temperature plummeting. It all gave me chills. As Amelia researches, we see old friends and meet ancestors of Kroll. What a strange family. Some were overly sweet and others well let us just say you will feel the need to cross the street if you see them heading your way. Ever see those old creepy black and white historical photos ..yep that kind of creepy!

The cemetery itself and old artifacts aided Amelia in her research. Stevens’ gives us a quest filled with danger and eerie discovers. I love piecing together this tightly woven mystery. We discover things as Amelia does and I have learned to pay attention and file tidbit as Amelia uncovers them. It is such an exciting game.

The romance between Amelia and Devlin gets plenty of page time. Devlin is annoying me a little, not that I doubt his feelings towards Amelia, but his lack of faith in her grates at me. However, Amelia learns some things that raised questions about their future. It was accidental and left me screaming for more information. Devlin is indeed important to the overall plot but …well spoilers darling.

The Visitor was brilliant, suspenseful and creeptastic. It was worth the wait between books and I am already making grabby hands in anticipation of The Sinner, which releases in September 2016.

Interest fan fact: The Hollywood Report had this to say on March 4, 2016 “NBC, meanwhile, is adapting Amanda Stevens’ novel The Graveyard Queen. The drama is described as a high-concept genre soap opera centering on a girl cursed at youth with the ability to see the dead. She works as a cemetery restorer who, at great risk to her physical and mental well-being, joins forces with a haunted homicide detective to solve a string of brutal murders in Charleston, S.C.”

Photo of kimbacaffeinate
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

Related Posts

53 Responses to “The Visitor by Amanda Stevens”

  1. Karen Blue

    I have never heard of this series. I guess I better check it out! This book sounds really good. Is this a stand alone?

    • kimbacaffeinate

      Yes and no. The case is contained, but you would need to play catch up on some ARC lines. I think Stevens does a good job of bringing you up to speed.

  2. Lorna

    I just went to Amazon and bought The Restorer. You sold me on these. I have seen this book all over, read reviews, but still didn’t know The Visitor was book 2 until now,,my powers of observation need help! Thanks for the recommendation 🙂

  3. Nikki-ann

    This sounds like a fantastic read. I’ve not heard of the author before, but I’m definitely going to check out her books 🙂

  5. Stephanie

    I haven’t read any books by this author, but this definitely sounds creepy! I don’t read scary books all the time, but every now and then I do like to pick one up. This sounds like a good series. 🙂

  6. Kim

    I’m thrilled that you loved this one Kimba, and I can’t wait to read it myself after such a long (but worth it) wait for this newest installment in the Graveyard Queen!!

  8. Melanie Simmons

    You are once again adding to my TBR pile. I think I’ve had book one on my list before, but some how if fell off. I added your recommendation to help me remember where it came from. That’s so cool that NBC is making a TV show out of it. I’ll have to be sure to try to read it soon before the show starts. Great review.

  11. Bookworm Brandee

    Just your review was a little spine tingling! 😉 I’d not heard of this series but I like ghost stories too, and checking out old cemeteries…so I think Amelia is a character I’d like. 🙂

  12. kindlemom1

    It really was amazing how easy it was to slip right back into this world, especially since it’s been so long since the last book but it really was. So glad you felt that way as well!

  14. Sophia Rose

    Oh! I actually forgot about this series. A few years back I saw reviews on book one and thought it sounded fantastic so I bought it. And it is sitting on a shelf or in a tote. Shame on me. Your review has me all enthused to dig it out and get busy catching up on the series. 😉

  15. Lekeisha

    I know that my library will get this next week, but I think I’ll wait a few months to read it. It definitely comes off as creepy from the cover, so I can imagine what’s inside. Great review!

  16. Lexxie

    Creeptastic sounds like something I might need in my life right now, Kim! I haven’t read any very creepy books in a while, so I’ll add this one to my GR shelf 🙂 Great review.

  17. Kristin

    Book #4!! YAY!!! I’ll have to make sure it makes it onto my list for the library to order – I didn’t see it in the catalog for HQN but I could have missed it – grrrrrr! And YEP, the entire series is on my TBR! I’m drawn to this b/c anytime you say disciples, I think Jim Jones and that just creeps me right out!!!

    BTW – I didn’t know you read Kat Richardson! Very cool…. 🙂

  18. Tanya

    I am fascinated now. I was just thinking I need some good, creepy stories. My Reddit gifter sent me some pretty interesting ones. I will have to put this series on my pile too. It sounds so good!

  19. Heidi

    I was super excited to finally get back to this series. I really enjoyed this one, it was super creepy, but the romance is really frustrating me!

  20. Katherine

    The Restorer has been on my TBR for ages but I’m just now figuring out it’s a series! This sounds soooo good and now I’m even more excited to read the Restorer so I can get started with these characters!

  21. Nick

    4 books and he still lacks faith in her?? A friend was also bothered by that aspect of this book and she loves this series. The rest sounds pretty phenomenal though! 🙂
    I’m glad this book was so great, Kim! Hope the next will be just as amazing. And fun that it will be a TV show too.

  22. Jonetta (Ejaygirl)

    I LOVE this series and am so happy you loved this story. I’m waiting for the audiobook. Thanks for the heads up about the series! That’s exciting news.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I wasn’t an audiobook junkie when I started this, so sticking to books. I am going to take a leap of faith with another series and listen to the next book..we shall see!

  23. Jenny

    This sounds like such an amazing series Kim! And very different from what I’ve been reading lately which is a good thing – I think I need to shake things up a bit. I’m bummed Devlin keeps doubting Amelia, but hopefully he gets over that in the next book! Fantastic review:)

  24. melliane

    I really liked this one but maybe not as much as you did as I found that we had some lenghts in the first part of the book and it was a bit long for me but after that it was really good once again