Anna Dressed in Blood [Kindle Edition]

Kendare Blake (Author)

Book Description

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

Anna Dressed in Blood is a 2011 Kirkus Best Teen Books of the Year title.

One of NPR's Top 5 Young Adult Novels of 2011.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Anna Dressed in Blood

“It's the old boy meets girl story, if the boy is a wry, self-destructive ghost-hunter bent on avenging his father and the girl is a homicidal ghost trapped in a house full of everyone she's ever murdered. Needless to say, Cas and Anna are my new favorite twosome. When I got to the last page, I flipped back to the first.”—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Red Glove

“Anna Dressed in Blood is a dark and intricate tale, with a hero who kills the dead but is half in love with death himself. By the end of the book, you will be too. Spellbinding and romantic.”—Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mortal Instruments series

“Abundantly original, marvelously inventive and enormous fun, this can stand alongside the best horror fiction out there. We demand sequels.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Cinematic and compelling. Blake’s smooth combination of gore and romance should have little problem attracting the Twilight crowd.”—Booklist

Review

Praise for Anna Dressed in Blood

“It's the old boy meets girl story, if the boy is a wry, self-destructive ghost-hunter bent on avenging his father and the girl is a homicidal ghost trapped in a house full of everyone she's ever murdered. Needless to say, Cas and Anna are my new favorite twosome. When I got to the last page, I flipped back to the first.”—Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of Red Glove

“Anna Dressed in Blood is a dark and intricate tale, with a hero who kills the dead but is half in love with death himself. By the end of the book, you will be too. Spellbinding and romantic.”—Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mortal Instruments series

“Abundantly original, marvelously inventive and enormous fun, this can stand alongside the best horror fiction out there. We demand sequels.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Cinematic and compelling. Blake’s smooth combination of gore and romance should have little problem attracting the Twilight crowd.”—Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 401 KB
• Print Length: 387 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: B008258MTQ
• Publisher: Tor Teen (August 30, 2011)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004V9O52U
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,498 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #71 in Books > Teens > Horror
  • #82 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teens > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best YA books of the year with terrific and unique characters July 21, 2012

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book has received rave reviews from some of my favorite bloggers, so I knew I had to try it. And boy, were they right. It's so hard to be truly original these days, and Anna Dressed in Blood has it in spades with with a freshly, unique protagonist and voice.

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is one of my favorite reads of the year. The protagonist Cas is a ghost killer. He is one of very few people who can do this, and he is determined to track down the ghost that killed his father. He moves from place to place to put these spirits to rest, and meets new friends when he tracks down Anna Korlov, the girl dressed in blood who has terrorized the town. What happens is so unexpected and right, and everyone who loves YA (and even those who don't read horror) should read it.

I had the pleasure of reading this bit by bit, and I couldn't wait to race home to get to read more. The characters are terrific, three dimensional, and very deftly drawn. I loved the voice of the protagonist, Cas, and Anna herself, is probably one of my favorite characters ever written. The mean girl, Carmel, is another star in her own right, and breaks out of the typical popular girl mold, which I really appreciated. Women are probably the most powerful characters in the novel, despite the protagonist being a skilled ghost killer, and I appreciated that.

Overall, a smashing success by Blake, and terrifically well written. A must read for any YA fan. I am thrilled to see what else Blake has up her sleeve.

94 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, but NOT for "young" adults June 22, 2011

By K. Sozaeva TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Cas (Theseus Cassio) Lowood kills ghosts. Not just any ghosts; only the ghosts that harm other people. He inherited the ability (and the athame necessary to do the work) from his father, who was killed mysteriously when Cas was seven. Now, 10 years later, Cas has come to Thunder Bay, Ontario, in search of a ghost named Anna Dressed in Blood. Anna, as a young lady, was murdered in 1958 and now she haunts the house in which she lived during her life, and kills anyone foolish enough to come inside. Until Cas came inside - for some reason, she spared his life. Cas develops a fascination for Anna - can he, along with his new friends Thomas and Carmel, do what he came to do and stop Anna from killing?

I really enjoyed this book - it was well-written, spooky and engaging. However, I was stupefied to discover that it was rated for "young adults." There is a good deal of very intense gore and a lot of swearing - the f-bomb was dropped twice just in chapter two, and that was a short chapter. I have no problem with such, and I imagine a lot of "young people" today don't either, but I would also imagine that their parents would have a problem with it. So, I'm warning anyone that might be bothered by this - lots of gore and some swearing to boot.

That said, I would recommend this book - I liked it a great deal and I think many people would. Give it a look if the above caveat doesn't apply to you!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the sequel July 11, 2011

By Derrick Dodson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I really enjoyed this book. Others have pointed out there was lots of gore, and there was, so it may not be appropriate for the youngest of young adults. I think most young adults have probably seen more gore in a standard slasher film. I'm thinking that's not a big issue. One thing I really liked about this book was its treatment of adults. In so many YA books adults are portrayed as idiots, villains, duplicitous, or completely inept. Cas Lowood, along with the ghost Anna and his high school friends Carmel and Thomas, are very much the main characters, but Cas' mom and Thomas' grandfather are both active in this and helpful. That's a great message. Beside that, there's lots of action in this book. You really get into the story. Anna's back story is graphic and powerful. Cas took over the 'family business' of hunting and killing dangerous ghosts after a particularly nasty one killed his father years ago. Now he's come across the most unusual ghost he's ever met, Anna Dressed in Blood. Things are never what they seem, but never in boring or predictable ways, and Kendare Blake really 'wows' with this one. If she's reading this...please, write "The Girl From Hell" faster!

More About the Author

Kendare Blake grew up in the small city of Cambridge, Minnesota. She is a graduate of Ithaca College, in Ithaca, New York and received a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Middlesex University in London, England. She loves to travel, is an advocate for animals, and cheats a lot when she plays Final Fantasy. Adopted from South Korea at the age of seven months, she arrived with the following instruction: "Feed her chocolate." Though not medically advisable, she and her parents are eternally grateful for this advice.

Kendare Blake's short fiction has appeared in numerous markets, including The Momaya Press Annual Review and Mirror Dance Magazine, among others. Her debut novel, Sleepwalk Society, deals with four friends coming of age post 9/11. ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD (2011), and GIRL OF NIGHTMARES (2012), are YA horror chronicling the strange life of Cassio Lowood, a teenage ghost hunter who falls in love with the dead girl he was supposed to kill.

The ANTIGODDESS series launches in 2013.