Review of Ashes to Ashes (Experiment in Terror #8) by Karina Halle

[Barbara Ann RS]

I’m a huge fan of this series and highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys reading books about the paranormal.  Ashes to Ashes is the eighth book in this nine part series, and just when I thought the hauntings couldn’t get any creepier, any more chilling,  and the love scenes between Perry and Dex any hotter, Halle proves me wrong with this book, and it is one of the best in the series.  Each book just gets better and better!

As this series draws closer to its conclusion, and I look back at how the plot has progressed, I have to say I am very impressed with all of the thought and planning that Halle put into this series beforehand. I can now see how all of the minute details and foreshadowing have been cleverly interwoven throughout all of the books to provide continuity and unify the plot even when I wasn’t always aware of it.  If you follow the series but haven’t read this latest installment,  I hope you will do so as soon as you can because you won’t be disappointed!

Ashes to Ashes picks up shortly after the last book ends. Perry and Dex have been living together for two months now, working to strengthen their relationship which is still a bit fragile. Perry has made significant progress in letting go of past hurts and has opened her heart to Dex once again. And Dex, dare I say that handsome devil has turned into quite the sweetie? Don’t worry though, Dex is still the same pervert we all have come to know and love; he’s just moved beyond many of the emotional wounds that made him behave like a “douchecanoe” in the past.  Their future together seems much brighter until the upcoming episode for their web show pulls them into the dark, ominous world of the supernatural once again, which leads Perry to question how well she really knows Dex.

With Rebecca as part of their team now, the trio heads to a reputed haunted grade school in Oregon that used to serve as a sanitarium to quarantine children with Tuberculosis until a cure was found. This “house of death” is filled with the ghosts of those poor, forgotten children who suffered terribly and the spirits of those responsible for the evil that once took place there. I was shocked and appalled by some of the eerie stories the group hears, but I was downright terrified by some of the intense, pulse-raising fright-inducing scenes that make up the second half of the book.

In addition to the supernatural entities that are after Perry, she also has to deal with the reappearance of Pippa who visits her in her dreams and conveys cryptic warnings about Perry’s future and the evil looming ahead.  While Perry is trying to wrap her mind around Pippa’s insistence that she is in danger, Rebecca drops two bombshells that cause Perry’s insecurities to rise to the surface all over again.  To top everything off, Perry visits her family and, although their relationship is strained because of Dex, I have to say I’m proud of Perry for facing her family’s criticism and rejection head on in order to begin the healing process.

The ending of the book introduces us to the last leg of Perry and Dex’s journey and boy is it going to be intense!  Pippa’s warnings are now starting to make sense and the last book will finally bring the story to a full circle.  I cannot wait!

 I received an ARC of this book from the author for an honest review.

Link to Review & Giveaway:

http://sunmountainreviews.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/book-tour-for-as...