Customer Reviews

Raising the Dead (Past Midnight)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Noted to be Book #1.5 in anticipation of the upcoming release of One Hundred Candles in 2 weeks, Raising the Dead is the newest installment of the Past Midnight series. The first novel introduced Charlotte Silver, a teen girl who just wants to be normal, not an easy feat when she is the daughter of semi-famous paranormal investigators. Raising the Dead begins soon after Past Midnight ends, in the midst of a torrential downpour. The story drew me in from the moment it started, the meat of the story beginning almost immediately. Purnhagen draws the reader in and doesn't let go of them, keeping them fully involved with the story to the end. Although this was a fairly short novella, the story was told in completion without any feeling that any part of the story was rushed. The author captures the voices of the different characters in her descriptions and dialogues and really allows you to feel as if you were a part of the story. Although short, there was absolutely nothing lacking in the writing or the plot and it was a perfect tie-in to the series. On another note, the cover art was truly stunning!

NOTE: I would definately recommend reading the first book before this one, as there are a lot of references that would be otherwise glossed over.

The story was really good until nothing really happend! Like a balloon, ready to pop...then the air is just let out.

Floating coffins, ghouls, & ghosts...
Meet Charlotte, daughter of parents known for their paranormal investigations. When a flood hits their town, coffins are seen floating and end up everywhere. Her parents will help with the cemetery cleanup and Charlotte & her friends can't resist helping out too. Fun story full of unexpected events with great characters. The ending fell a bit flat, but it seems to be a series worth following.

Keep in mind that this is a teen paranormal read. 3.5* of 5*

This book could have been better. The writing was not bad and the basic story line I thought was good. The main character is the daughter of paranormal experts, her dad tries to debunk the ghost and goblins and her mom is more of a believer. So she's been around it all and has had personal experience with paranormal activity (seeing a ghost). So a flood causes some old graves to open and the family gets a chance to do research on ancient graves. The main character involves herself in their studies and has some random spooky experiences including a mystery man that keeps appearing. In the end (without giving too much away) it was all pretty much a let down with very little actual paranormal involvement in the story. If this had included a better ending I would have been willing to go higher on the stars but as it is its really only good for a bored teenager with no better books to read.

I read this whole thing and very much liked the book...but the ending was awful...ruined the whole thing for me.

I got this book for free off of Amazon. I haven't read any of the other books in this series, so this was my first exposure. On the whole I liked this novella. The plot was interesting, and I like that it's a fantasy book with only little touches of fantasy...BUT I have this thing with books, I like them to stay constant with plot and character throughout. I don't like to have to flip back and confirm things, which sadly this book did in a big way.

We meet a man named William who owns the graveyard that has most of the action in this book. He apparently either lies about his personal past or somebody did a shoddy editing job.

Exhibit A

He [William] explained that his grandmother had started the book and passed the duty down to his mother. "And now it's mine, but I haven't had much to add. Military records, a few pictures of my grandchildren."

Then when the main characters are talking about him after he got hurt they made off-hand comments about how they don't think he has any family. Which is honestly excusable because he only told one person (our main character Charlotte) and why would she tell anyone? Until Charlotte goes to take care of William at home and he says this to her

Exhibit B
"You've been so kind to me," he began. "My wife and I were never lucky enough to have children. But if I could choose a granddaughter..."

So William has grandkids, but never had kids of his own? How am I the only person to find this! It pissed me off so much I finished the rest of the book with a very critical eye, and while the rest of the story was good I was just too mad at the inconsistency to enjoy it. This is type of stuff that drives me mad!

Raising the Dead is a novella of thirteen chapters that is set between the first book, Past Midnight, and the second book in the series, One Hundred Candles. It is great bonus adventure involving Charlotte Silver and her friends and family that takes place shortly after the first book ends, just before Halloween.

Due to severe rain storms in South Carolina a small cemetery is flooded and a number of coffins are disinterred. While her parents aid in helping with the identification of these remains from the Civil War era, Charlotte helps William, the owner of the land, set the cemetery to rights.

But when she notices on more than one occasion an elusive man in a black trench coat lurking around, Charlotte must figure out if he means no harm or if his intentions are more sinister.

Raising the Dead is a highly entertaining story and a perfect transitional novella between the two full-length books. The story gives further background on events that took place in Past Midnight and provides much more insight into and detail about Charlotte's relationship with Noah.

This new mini-mystery is wrapped up by the end of the novella, but as with Past Midnight it comes to an end rather suddenly. Although not a cliffhanger, readers will be left wanting more.


***

PLEASE NOTE: This novella contains major spoilers for those who haven't read the first book in the series.

If you do not plan on reading Past Midnight, this novella will give you enough background to read the next book One Hundred Candles without getting lost.

If you do plan on reading the first book, wait to read this novella until after you've finished.

I loved this book right up until the non-existant ending. There are so many unresolved points. I initially thought something was wrong with my Kindle and it didn't download all of the book. But then I read some of the other reviews and realized it wasn't just me.

I was intrested in reading this book, but ended up being disappointed. Even though it was only a few dollars it was deffinately a waste of money. While the book starts off with a catching twist, it is summed up in only a few pages at the end. I was suprised that it ended so suddenly and kept looking for extra pages that I surely must have missed, but no that was all. The plot was lacking detail and left many unanswered questions at the end. If I were you I wouldn't waste my time or money on this book.

it makes me want to read more of the series. charlotte helps her family busness which is parnormal they have tv show , books & lectures. thier towm was flooded and a bunch of caskets floated down the town.charlotte has a crush on noah. noah mom and shane charlotte uncle. its a cute different series. I recommend it.