Anna Dressed in Blood

Anna Dressed In Blood

Kendare Blake

Synopsis:

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

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder 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: move, 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, but now stained red and dripping 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.

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life.

My Thoughts:

Not going to lie I picked up this book solely based on the cover.  I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I thought the book would be from Anna’s point of view based on the title and some kind of horror story again because of the title.  What I actually got was a surprisingly good read and not even close to your typical ghost horror story.  Cas is actually the main character in this book; he was easy to relate to, but at the same time he was believably male. Since his father’s murder by a vicious ghost, Cas and his mom have been travelling around the US (and Canada too!) killing any ghosts that have been harming humans.  Someday he hopes to avenge his father’s death but before that he has one final test. A spook to rival all spooks, a powerful and wicked goddess of death. . . Anna Korlov. But as Cas founds out Anna is not at all what she seems. Instead she is both a murderess and a victim all at the same time. I liked the writing in this story I was able to clearly see how the relationships of the characters changed and developed and the best part was it was believable.   I was captivated from the very first page and thrilled to discovery that there were two different mysteries not just one and an amazing twist that I did not see coming at all!  I thought the book was more gory than actually frightening. I would say if you’re squeamish beware but don’t let that stop you from picking up this book.  It was amazing and so very different!