Since Elise Morgan left her father’s fake reality television show, Dark and Deadly Things, she put the ghost-hunting life behind her, able to comfortably watch from her couch– next to the ghost of her mother.When the Halloween episode airs live on television, something goes horribly wrong. Four people end up dead, and Elise’s father is the lead suspect in their murders. But Elise knows the … knows the truth. She watched the thing that crawled from the darkness. It most certainly wasn’t her father.
Abel Hale was in the house when his family died. He felt the icy chill, heard the scraping of nails along the wall, felt the fear and gleeful anticipation as the entity stalked them. The thing that killed the people he loved was not human. There is only one person who believes him, one person who can help him– Elise, the daughter of the man he blames for his family’s death.
Reality mixes with fantasy as Elise and Abel’s world turns upside down.
A ghost hunting, haunted house, paranormal romance… with a villain you’ll love to hate.
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Hard to get into. I keep picking it up and putting it down after realizing it didn’t miraculously become more interesting.
Entertaining
Dark and Deadly Things by Kelly Martin takes the reader on a creepy ride with a gal that can see ghosts and a guy that can sense of feel them near. An unlikely pair that date brings together. The story is full of suspense, selected of all kinds, and lots of thrills! Can’t wait to read the next book!
Original and addictive. You’ll want to read the whole series.
Quick, fun read perfect for Halloween
Easy and simple read somewhat entertaining. A series, would not pay to read but library or free offer would read another one.
Easy to read with a good story line and a great first person narrative. Hoping the rest of the series is as good.
I really enjoyed this book, and I’m reading the next one in the series. I will be reading all of them. It was hard to put it down – wondering what was going to happen next. Some of the dialogue was a bit wordy, but I just skimmed over it and kept going.
The book was good but I feel I may be too old for it. It seems to be written for young adults. I decided to not read the rest of the series, but I would recommend it for the younger crowd.
The is a book about the aftermath of a ghost hunting TV episode that went terribly wrong. The story is told through the eyes of a chatty narrator, Elise, the daughter of one of the ghost hunters. She’s young (21) and snarky at times and fun. And she can see ghosts.
PROS:
Elise is witty, and it’s fun to listen to her narrate the story. She’s grumpy, yes, but she’s also funny.
I did NOT see that twist coming near the end! I love being surprised like that!
There are plenty of mysteries to keep the reader interested: how did Mom die, what was the black mass, will Naked Girl ever find peace, what of Dad, and what’s up with that terrible person from the ghost hunting show?
CONS:
The positive aspect of Elise being the narrator, that she’s witty and snarky, is also a negative because she’s SO chatty. It’s a lot of her character’s internal dialogue to take in as a reader, so I took off a star for this, but I think younger readers might not be bothered by Elise’s chattiness. (I’m middle-aged.)
I realize the cliffhanger ending annoyed some readers, and that would be a negative for them, but I thought the ending was fine. Martin nicely wraps up the ghost investigation for THIS book. The book’s “cliffhanger” is more like a setup for the next adventure.
OVERALL:
Elise is a fun, witty character, and this ghost-filled novel is a good setup for the next book in the series.
I really enjoyed this story.I like paranormal theme .
I wish this weren’t first person. Also, there are 5 mini books to this series..it should have been one book
Very disappointed in character building. There really wasn’t much.Could have been a page turner if at least part of the plot had been resolved.Usually if the book is part of a series one is able to read it as a stand alone story even if not intending to read more in the series.
If you want to waste your time read this. Not only is the main character annoying and the writing juvenile but the ending is non-existent.
If you enjoy ghost stories and shows like Paranormal Lockdown and Ghost Adventures, you are sure to love this series from Kelly Martin. Book 1, Dark & Deadly Things is a spine-tingling page-turner. A definite “read it with the lights on” book.
Hopefully that is not the complete end to the series.
I’m usually disappointed by books of ghosts/hauntings claiming to be scary, intelligent and with a good plot. This book is all three…i could not stop reading it.
The main characters, Elsie and Abel are so real, their emotions and thoughts are depicted in detail with just a few words.
The author does an amazing job with a very interesting premise of a ghost hunter that really sees ghosts, yet not even her family that she is working with, believe her. So she leaves after the mysterious disappearance of her mother while her dad keeps the show running.
Next thing, her dad is committed to a psych ward after a family he was helping are murdered. Or rather, the father and daughter are killed and the mother is gone…just like Elsie’s mom. Only Abel, the son, is left alive. And now Abel is dragging Elsie along to find out what happened to his family. Ghosts are felt or seen by both Abel and Elsie. The couple manage to solve one case only to be blackmailed to working for the tv company of her dad….so book two will take off from there…and I am okay with that. This was highly entertaining, scary, smart and had humor in the right places. And leaves you wondering what the connection is between the two young adults and their presumed dead mothers. 4.5 stars
Great series! I just started the last book.
Great book. Couldn’t put down. Definitely recommend
Because somethings that go bump in the night can kill you
Omg just when you thought Kelly Martin’s imagination couldn’t create anything better than the heartless series she proves you wrong.
Elise was born the ability to see ghosts which when you work on a ghost hunting show can be an advantaged. When her mother is murdered she leaves the show but sadly not the ghost behind. Her father though no longer believes and has taken to faking evidence but when a live episode of the show goes horribly wrong result in the murder of almost the entire family apart from the oldest child Abel.
Abel is determined to learn the truth to his families murder and his mother’s disappearance so he seeks out Elise’s. Reluctantly she agrees setting them together on a path neither could foresee. There is physical attraction between the too but does Abel trust her and will they be able to stop the evil force killing innocent people.
What a rollercoaster ride and I can’t wait for the next one. You better not make me wait too long Kelly Martin