The Stubborn Dead - Natasha Hoar

Released January 2012

Natasha Hoar
Carina Press

The Stubborn Dead is very short, yet I was actually surprised at how well author Natasha Hoar managed to create what felt like a full-length story in just under 80 pages/20,000 words. Paranormal fans will find a lot to like in what I hope is the first part of a series.

Rachel Miller is one of the Order of Rescue Mediums and after finishing up one job, she receives an urgent call from a woman who has a wraith invading her home. Wraiths are a little trickier, but Rachel is up for the challenge. Little does she know that this is not your ordinary wraith, she's about to go head to head with an entity long expected to be extinct. If Rachel fails to do her job, orders are to have her powers removed permanently. No matter what happens, Rachel knows she cannot fail.

The story starts off with a bang as Rachel is in the middle of a challenging removal and the suspense and tension keeps building from there. I found it very hard to put the story down, so I'm actually thankful that the story was so short. It made it easy to read it in one sitting.

While there do seem to be some unanswered questions remaining, I'm assuming that's because this is the first book in what will be an exciting series. Hopefully, there will be more stories involving Rachel coming out in the near future.