The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen) [Mass Market Paperback]

Amanda Stevens (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 27, 2012 | Series: Graveyard Queen

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town…

My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I've been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I'm coming to think I have another purpose here.

Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I've discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town—this withering kingdom—and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I love this book! Amanda Stevens' The Restorer gives the reader a fascinating character-who interacts with more fascinating characters! Ms. Stevens has managed the difficult feat of combining charm and chills." -New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling Author Heather Graham

"Stevens makes her MIRA debut with this taut, disturbing story. The characterizations are vivid, and it's got a lovely twist in the tail. Not for the squeamish!"

-RT Book Reviews on The Dollmaker

"Faced paced and plotted with spectacular precison and guile, this is undiluted suspense at its very finest. Nervous readers should read it in full daylight."

-RT Book Reviews on The Devil's Footprints

"Stevens' swiftly-moving, intricately plotted story has oodles of twists and chills-plus a jaw-dropping shocker of an ending. This is good stuff indeed."

-RT Book Reviews on The Whispering Room

About the Author

Amanda Stevens lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and a black cat named Lola. She is an avid reader, a fledgling taphophile, and a collector of Alfred Hitchcock memorabilia. When she\u2019s not writing, she likes taking road trips through the South. You can find her online at www.amandastevens.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (March 27, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778312771
• ISBN-13: 978-0778312772
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amanda resides in Houston, Texas, where she is currently working on The Graveyard Queen series for MIRA Books and the Soul Jumper series for Harlequin Teen. The author of over fifty novels, Amanda is a member of the International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She is a three-time Rita finalist and the recipient of career achievement awards in Series Romantic Suspense and Series Romantic Mystery from RT Reviews. Her Graveyard Queen series has been bought by NBC TV.

http://www.amandastevens.com/

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Questions Are Finally Answered April 13, 2012

By Nancy VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I think that it is quite possible that I enjoyed this book, The Kingdom, more than the first in the series The Restorer. There was something about The Kingdom, how it twisted back on itself and answered those hanging questions from book one that had confounded me.

Amelia Grey has been called to Asher Falls to complete a graveyard restoration. Thornhill Cemetery is actually the second cemetery in Asher Falls, after the first Thornhill had been flooded out leaving the markers, statuary and coffins at the bottom of what is now a lake.

The moment Amelia steps off the ferry, she knows something is different; she can feel it deep down in her soul. Asher Falls is talking to her and she does not know why the town's ghosts are reaching out to her.

Amelia has been able to see spirits since she was a young child, but living by her father's rules, she has learned not to interact with them. Not to let them in. This time, this town, things are different - the veil between their world and hers is thinner. They are reaching out to her in a way that she has not been prepared for.

What is it about Asher Falls that is so different? Maybe if she can go back home, to Rosehill, the place she calls home she can talk to her father and have him, once and for all, explain to her the circumstances of her adoption. What really happened to her as an infant? Most importantly, what does he know about Asher Falls and Thornhill Cemetery?

Caught in the grasp of a place and its people, Amelia finds herself fighting for the truth and at the same time fighting for her life. There is something about this place and the strange women that inhabit this town.

In Asher Falls, Evil is a real entity. It is capitalized, as if it is a person - a looming being.... A person that walks down the street like any other inhabitant of a small town. This is not a place where she can stay, she has to get home and back to Devlin, the police detective from the first book, even with his own very physical ghosts, she needs to be with him, no matter what the cost. Read more ›

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!!! March 27, 2012

By Amber I @ AwesomeSauce

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is one of those reviews I am going to have to try and control my fan girl like moments in!! I loved the first book The Restorer and amazingly this book was just as awesome!! Its creepy and beautiful and just has this whole package of mystery!!

First lets start with the creep factor. This book is filled with creepy moments as our main girl Amelia can see ghosts. And no these are not the sexy ghosts, they are terrifying! I seriously turned on Dora the Explorer to help me through this book so I wouldn't get too scared.

Second Amanda Stevens just has this beautiful way of writing. She sucks you into this small town and gives you all the details without boring you and creates this mystical world. I read this book in 2 sittings because I just could not put it down. As soon as we are on the ferry going to her new job I was glued to the pages. Every moment of this book there was something to grab a hold too and I just could not let go.

You must start with her first book The Restorer because that is where it all starts. And if you have read it then you will find some of the mysteries in Amelias life are uncovered in this book. We also meet some new characters and find out more about Amelias past. I have to say I totally missed Devlin through the whole book, but I really did enjoy meeting Thane. Oh and the very last 3 words of this book had me going crazy and abandoning my blogging duties so I could jump into The Prophet!

This book is a MUST MUST read!! I mean it. Its one of those books I think almost anyone would enjoy. There is something not quite right in Asher Falls and poor Amelia has no idea who she can trust. Not to mention the evil that lurks there and seems to have eyes for her.... Like I said its creepy, beautiful, mysterious and one of my most favorite books of the year!!

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent as a standalone, excellent as a series novel July 17, 2012

By Tracey

Format:Kindle Edition

This was, very much, not what I expected. I actually started the book and put it aside, mostly because of the idea of the ghosts. I guess I just wasn't in the mood; the eerie and creepy was not what I was looking for. Fortunately, I went back to it, and the eerie did click with what I wanted; I'd have regretted missing out on this book. This isn't a horror novel, not by today's standards, of spattering blood and running zombies (they were so much easier when they just shambled), but it is indeed eerie and creepy to a very satisfying degree. There may have been one night I ... accidentally left a light on when I went to bed. Sheer coincidence, really.

As the book description says, Amelia Gray is called "The Graveyard Queen" for her work in restoring cemeteries. She grew up as the adopted daughter of a cemetery caretaker, and never knew anything but love for the place ... up till the day she saw her first ghost. Her father, dismayed at her ability because he shared it, taught her the basics of dealing with it: first and foremost, never let on that you see a ghost, because it craves the warmth a living person has, which it once had. If it sees acknowledgement it will latch on and drain the life from you - which it can't do unless it is recognized. Amelia has lived her life schooling her expression and reactions - she must be a rotten person to play a practical joke on.

After an anonymous contribution, an isolated South Carolina town called Asher Falls has hired her to work on the local cemetery - the currently used one, that is, since there once was another which - due to a greedy move by the local bigwig - now lies at the bottom of a lake.

The house in which Amelia is staying sits on the shore of that lake....

Yeah, the sunken graveyard is definitely haunted.

'Nuff said.

Amelia faces not only the odd dynamics of what has become the next thing to a ghost town along with the differing reactions to her work - the sorts of things almost anyone might face - but also the ghosts, the family of the patriarch who flooded the old graveyard (still around, and creepier than most of the ghosts), and the scarred survivor of a local dog-fighting operation. (If for no other reason than that dog, I am Amelia's biggest fan.)

I loved the characterizations. There is just no way to know who can be trusted - Amelia finds reason to doubt even her own history. Her family is all kinds of quirky, and are wonderful character sketches. The townsfolk are also quirky, only in a frequently more sinister way - their behavior is never predictable, unfortunately for Amelia. And then there was the guy with the wagon. (All right, there might have been two nights I accidentally left my light on. Three, tops.)

This was the second book in the series, but the first I've read, and it stood on its own very well. It was also very good at the job a preview galley is supposed, to wit, making me want the first book in the series and all others hereafter. There were some spoilers for the first book, but by and large they were of the sort that just increased my interest in the rest of the story rather than rendering it unnecessary to read: well done. In fact, in terms of providing necessary background in such a way as to keep my head in the current book, avoid info-dump, and plant the seed of you really need to go read that book too, this is one of the best executed second books I've ever seen. Can't wait for more. Read more ›