Since the death of her little brother more than a year ago Emma has been a shadow of her former self, believing herself responsible for the accident that killed him. When a mysterious stranger arrives in Milton Lake and the dead come back to life, Emma soon finds herself in the middle of a fight to save not only her loved ones, but all the inhabitants of the town, with an unexpected ally at her side.

I was expecting this to be a ‘straightforward’ haunted house/ghost story, in the vein of Jonathan Stroud’s fantastic Lockwood series, but instead the book delves heavily into the realm of necromancy, with a small helping of white magic for good measure. I really liked the idea of the ghost machine being based on an actual invention by Thomas Edison, able to call forth the dead, and while the combination of the two genres works quite well I suppose, I personally like to keep the two separate. The unmade, as they’re called, are suitably terrifying, it’s just a shame that we don’t get to see them that much as Nick, the mysterious teenager arrived in town, deals with them so efficiently, until we reach the big showdown in the forest towards the end of the book. I thought the mystery surrounding Nick rather distracting at times but it turns out that it is integral to the resolution; this was handled very well and sensitively by the author, and provides much food for thought, occupying my thoughts for hours after the back cover has been closed. I felt the romantic subplot was forced at times, with Emma and Nick falling in love in a matter of a few days, though I can see how these two tortured souls would be drawn to each other.

In my opinion the author has been let down by rather mediocre editing, with small details in the descriptions not making much sense, providing a source of annoyance for me, and I thought the writing resembled more than a little that of a self-published author when it could have been edited to much greater effect; this being an uncorrected proof copy, some of this may have been rectified when it is eventually published but I doubt it, not this late in the publishing process. Having read and adored the Lockwood series mentioned above, I felt there was little evidence of the promised ‘nail-biting chiller’ and mostly the tension was rather short-lived, except for the big finale.

The ending leaves the possibility of a sequel wide open, though I doubt I will be on board for the ride if this happens. No doubt this book will find an avid readership among the teenagers and young adults, but for those looking for superior chills with engaging characters I’d heartily recommend the Lockwood series by Jonathan Stroud.

(This review was written for Amazon's Vine programme.) ( )