This teen novel is another venture into the paranormal. Cas (Theseus Cassio) Lowood is high school student who has taken on his late father's unusual vocation, that of killing the dead. When Cas was just seven, his father was killed in such an endeavour and Cas has secretly harboured a plan to eventually return to that scene and take on his father's killer. As the book begins, Cas and his mother, who is also a white witch, are in North Carolina and Cas is releasing the ghost of a dead hitchhiker who has been haunting a certain stretch of road since his violent death in 1970. Cas is always on the lookout for a new challenge, both to move the ghosts on to what he hopes is rest, and to increase his own skills in order to be prepared for his longterm goal. A friend has alerted him to a particular intriguing ghost in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This girl, Anna, was apparently violently killed on her way to the prom, never reaching her destination, and kills all those who dare to enter the house she called home. She wears her white prom dress, which is dripping with her blood. As Cas and his mother adjust to a new city, and Cas makes some high school friends, he is maneuvered into an encounter with Anna. What ensues is a more violent encounter than he expected, and yet he somehow feels a connection to this ghost. As he realizes that she is the most powerful ghost he has encountered yet, he calls on his mentor and new friends to assist him in putting her to rest. He finds, however, that his father's killer has been trailing him and the danger he now faces is more extreme than he had thought. A tale of romance, vengeance, and the unpredictable nature of magic, this is an interesting start to a new series.

Oh wow did I love this book! First off, cover and title lust like whoa. They definitely drew me to this book before I even knew what it was about. Cas Lowood hunts and kills ghosts, moving from town to town with his mom who's a herbalist/witch. When he hears about a ghost named Anna Dressed in Blood they head to Thunder Bay, Ontario (Canada, seriously we should have more books set in Canada). Something draws Cas to Anna, even after he witnesses her violent behavior. Running in the background is Cas' determination to one day face the ghost who killed his father, but he may get that chance sooner than he thinks. Many twists and turns keep this book a page-turner and you'll be racing to the end to find out how the characters fare. Luckily there is a sequel.

Pretty good overall, but only picked up towards the end.

You know that saying never judge a book by its cover? Well...that does NOT apply to this book. Judge to your heart's content people, cuz the content of this book is just as delicious as the cover! In a break from recent popular teen lit. this novel is told from a guy's point of view, which was a nice refreshing change. I'd kinda gotten tired of being inside the brain of so many whiny, vapid heroines; which Anna, by the way, is NOT. At. All. In fact, she's a super strong, super bad-ass homicidal (but caring) ghost. And yes, both adjectives do apply to her. The only thing I realllly had an issue with was the dark red colouring of the text. I kind of, sort of despise coloured text with passion. It's unnecessary and distracting and adds nothing to the content of the writing itself.

Cas Lowood has inherited the family business when his father suddenly passed away. Some may think it’s a weird profession but to Cas killing the dead comes naturally. With his father’s athame, a deadly knife, he does a good job of slaying angry ghosts. Cas gets a tip which asks him to go to Thunderbay Ontario to take on a new case, so with his mom and their cat in tow they make the move to Canada. The ghost in this town is known as Anna Dressed in Blood. Local lore tells that she wears the white dress she was murdered in which has become stained red from her dripping blood. She haunts a local house and has been known to kill anyone who enters her dwelling. Cas expects that this will be a quick case: research, track, hunt then kill her. But when Cas befriends some of the local teenagers and finds himself on the doorstep of Anna’s house all he can do is stand by watching as Anna tears apart one of the teenage boys who pushed him into the house. Anna has a rage like Cas has never seen, but for some reason she doesn’t hurt Cas. He soon realizes that this is not an ordinary ghost like he has dealt with before. So begins the hunt to rid the world of one more angry ghost. I read this book in October because it was very fitting to our Halloween theme, and I’m definitely enjoying the trend of horror books in YA right now. I don’t think this was one of the scariest books that I’ve ever read, but there were definitely times when I was holding my breath and wondering what was going to happen next. I guess that’s a good thing because I don’t want to be too scared so this was just the right amount of scary to borrow a term from Goldilocks. I really liked the story because it was like nothing else that I’ve read, and I found myself eager for the ending to find out what was going to happen. I found that the story was so well written that I was never bored and never wanted to put the book down. I also really grew fond of the characters: It’s crazy that you can really become attached to this ghost who kills everyone that comes into the house where she lives. That’s when I know that an author has done a good job when I care for someone who I should be afraid of and/or hate. Her back story was heartbreaking and it made me want her to succeed even more. I also like reading from a guys point of view and I think Kendare Blake did an amazing job writing for Cas. I found myself liking him and cheering him on. I loved his personality and the fact that he was just so confident and cool. A lot of people are complaining about the “love” in the book because they felt it came out of nowhere and that it was insta-love. I don’t necessarily agree with this, but I didn’t really understand that part of the story at the same time. There is another book in the series called “Girl of Nightmares” Which I definitely want to read. I don’t know where the book is going to go in the future so I will be reading that soon. I think this story will appeal to lots of different people so if you want a little bit of goose bumps one night then pick this story up for some fun. PS: How much do you love this cover?? Check out my blog for more reviews http://bibliophilesisters.wordpress.com/

This book was amazing! I loved it from beginning to end. It scared me a bit in the beginning but when i got used to it, it didn't really scared me anymore. The scariest part for me would have to be the part when Cas is describing one of his old houses and how a woman and her unborn baby were killed. Carmel and Anna would have to be my favorite characters. I thought Carmel would be the know it all type but i was wrong. In the beginning I could already tell that something was going to happen in the attic, and when Ca's mom said something about Tybalt jumping at the roof just confirmed it. I was hoping there would be more to the cross Cas finds. And we only got a glimpse of Voodoo. It was almost like the author was trying to finish the book in the fastest way possible. It was obvious in the beginning that Cas would find someone he loves, and he does. The ending made me cry. I felt so bad for Cas. I cant wait until the sequel! :) THE SEQUEL IS CALLED GIRL OF NIGHTMARES!! :)

Very good book! Although I admit I wasn't scared by it, it was suspenseful and kept me on my toes throughout the story. Looking forward to reading the next adventure of Anna and Cas!

I loved the idea of this book, that the ghost killer would fall in love with the ghost. However, by p. 70 the reader is expected to believe that Cas has a special connection with Anna but I didn't believe it yet. The author did not give the reader enough evidence or story to fully believe how far Cas has let Anna into his mind. That being said, I believe it later. Characters are interesting, as some readers have pointed out, and some break the cliche that we might see in others.

Good solid ghost story. Awesome cover.

This story had an unusual storyline, and I definitely liked reading it, but it wasn't the most engaging book ever. Some things were also a little too obvious... Still, I liked the characters and circumstance and would recommend this unique ghost story.