When Cooper Blake suddenly finds himself victim of a horrendous car crash and his football career destroyed, he is also met another life changing surprise: Samantha. Samantha is beautiful, slightly obnoxious, only visible to Cooper and definitely not alive. This not only all Cooper knows about her, but all she knows about herself. Together, they are trying to unearth Samantha's hidden past and discover how she died. Enter Delilah, the head cheerleader with powers beyond Cooper's comprehension, and Brent, Delilah's ex-boyfriend who can hear everyone's most intimate thoughts. Brent and Delilah both dabble in the supernatural and are pushed together in order to discover who or what Samantha is, before she puts Cooper and those around him in grave danger.
Token of Darkness, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, is a fun, quick read. It is not overly challenging to digest but still has an imaginative and intriguing plot. It takes an unusual (but welcome) turn away from the typical ghost story and still maintains some of the familiar elements of the genre that will keep the reader in their comfort zone. Atwater-Rhodes presents interesting characters that are vividly rendered and always have a certain aura of mystery about them. The characters who I found most enjoyable to read about were Cooper and Samantha. The dynamic and fun banter between them were excellent elements of the novel and their developing relationship was a great part of the novel. The one thing I really disliked about the novel was the relationship between Delilah and Brent as all their interactions seemed contrived and out of place. I also think that there were too many loose ends at the end of the story that I would have liked to see tied up. Other than that, this novel was very entertaining and kept my attention the whole way through. The settings felt true-to-life and were very well described. The dialogue between characters was, for the most part, natural and flowed very well. I would recommend this to any reader who enjoys reading about the supernatural and is looking for a quick, roller-coaster of a book. I definitely look forward to reading some of the author's other books in the future.
Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: San Diego, CA USA
