Review by Amy D.- Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1) by Karina Halle

Darkhouse (An Experiment in Terror #1)
by Karina Halle
Published on: 3/8/12
Genre: Paranormal Horror, Contemporary Romance

With all the vampire, werewolf and faerie books out there, it's easy to become numb to all things supernatural. The antidote? Darkhouse introduces two real and unforgettable characters, Perry Palomino & Dex Foray, amateur ghost hunters who are "attractive, relatable and oddly heroic," "flawed but loveable," "slightly crazy" and just the most endearing pair to ever tackle the paranormal...just don't call them normal.

Darkhouse is a thrilling and sexy new take on concepts like Supernatural and The X-Files, bringing a breath of fresh air to a genre that has been inundated with the dead.


Reviewed by Amy D.

  

Rating: 4 Coffee Cups!!

The first time I tried to read Experiment in Terror I didn’t even make it through the first chapter before I had to put it down. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the story; it was more the fact that I was home alone at night and reading about a nightmare. The next day I picked up EIT again (in the daylight) and met the dreamer, Perry Palomino. All the time I was reading her story I had this urge to shake her and tell her she’s perfect just the way she is. She has low self- esteem and negative body issues, a boring job, a perfect younger sister, parents who just don’t understand and she has trouble settling on what to be when she grows up. She also sees ghosts. Something she doesn’t realize right away.

Karina Halle brings together the real and the supernatural in Experiment in Terror. There are ghosts and other paranormal creatures, foretelling nightmares and a love story. What makes it so engrossing is the realistic edge the author gives to the story. She gives us characters who see ghosts and their adventures battling evil while trying to make sense of an ability they do not completely understand. Woven into the fantasy are real life problems the main characters must also face. There is the need to have a job and a steady income. There is the fact that they have to deal with family, alive and dead, and their resistance to their work.  Underlying the ghost story is the most frustrating aspect of this book and what keeps me coming back for more- the relationship between the two main characters. It is awkward and confusing and my heart broke for Perry on more than one occasion. And she barely knows the guy.

Plagued by vivid nightmares, Perry finds herself drawn to an eerie lighthouse on her Uncle’s property. Enter “ghost hunter” Declan “Dex” Foray, the man I love to hate, even when I was rooting for him and Perry to break down each other’s walls. The man is hot and cold, switching between immature jerk to professional jerk. However, Perry found herself falling for him, and I found myself trying to give him the benefit of the doubt for her sake.    

The most exciting part of EIT is the ghost hunting. Personally, I think that even the greatest book could be even better if it had some paranormal thrown in the mix. My only issue with the ghost story at the lighthouse was I felt that some questions were left unanswered. Then again, I guess that is the nature of the beast that is ghost hunting. Not everything, in life or death, can be wrapped up in a pretty little bow. I enjoy the ghosts that Halle creates and the unpredictable reactions of Perry and Dex. I found myself wanting to help Perry against the ghosts while she and Dex videotaped their adventures at the haunted lighthouse. I also wanted to slap Dex. I put a lot on pressure on the guy she just met but I couldn’t help but feel protective of her. Halle did a fantastic job of making me really take a second look at Dex through Perry’s eyes. By the end of the book I wanted nothing more than for them to go into the ghost hunting business together. I signed onto Amazon to download the next book in the series almost immediately after reading the last page.