Anna Dressed In Blood

Anna Dressed In Blood

YA/adult thriller
"I can feel her there, mingled into the mud of a hundred other
ghosts, some shuffling and harmless, others full of rage. I can't
imagine what it is to be dead; it's a strange idea to me, having known
so many ghosts. It's still a mystery..."
As you may have guessed from the above quote from Kendare
Blake's Anna Dressed In Blood, protagonist Cas has a rather strange
vocation, one passed on through generations of his family. He slays
those ghosts who, filled with rage at their own demises, exact revenge
on the living. He took over the profession when his father was killed
(and partially eaten) by a truly malovelant entity. After each case
is closed he moves on to the next one with his white witch mother and
the family cat, Tybalt.
This time the family has crossed over into Canada to track down
a teenage murder victim locally dubbed Anna Dressed In Red. During
the decades following her death she's been tearing apart all who have
the misfortune of seeking shelter in her abandoned abode. Cas thinks
it will be a pretty routine operation.
"Move, hunt, kill. Like lather, rinse, and repeat. My life
stretched out in a simple routine..."
But Anna isn't like any other ghost Cas has ever encountered.
The ghoulish killer seems to be sharing a zombie-like body with a
sweet girl who was brutally slain on her way to her first high school
dance. Cas becomes fascinated with her, maybe a little in love for
the first time.
Cas, in fact, is changing. He's always been more afraid of the
living living than of the living dead. His high school classmates
have been pretty much objects to avoid. Now, for the first time, he
has to incorporate several of them into his plan. It turns out to be
a lot easier than he'd expected.
Anna Dressed In Blood is darker than most of the mysteries I
review. But if you want to sample a spectral horror/romance hybrid,
Anna Dressed In Blood is an excellent choice.
On a purrrsonal note, my New Years Eve didn't go exactly according to
plan. I was having fun reading and eating candy. But I felt sleepy
about 10:00. I thought I'd take a short nap. I woke up the next
morning, super charged and full of ambition and energy fitting to a
new year. I've started watching the videos of my fall semester
statistics classes. I'm getting back to work on my two non poetry
manuscripts. This year I am gonna get stuff done, especially in but
not limited to academics. Last night the meteorologists were
gleefully predicting a BIG STORM. Right now it feels like my house is
in a snow globe. Eugene is plowing. If enough of the white snow
sticks there should be decent sledding at the old school hill which,
luckily, is in easy walking distance. (Jules).
That white stuff is here again. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and all the others who are
blizzard battling.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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