Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1) by Karina Halle[/caption]GOODREADS SYNOPSIS: 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.
To be honest, I wasn't in LOVE with Darkhouse at first sight. Written as the first book in the "Experiment in Terror" series, it introduces the main character, Perry Palomino. With a name like that, you can assume she's written a little larger than life. She's taken stuntwoman classes and rides a motor bike named "Put Put." But that's where her "dangerous" life stops. At 22, she lives at home with her parents and 15-year-old fashionista blogger sister. After an "accident" that happened in high school (which is never explained -- at least not in this book), she's closely watch by her family for signs of mental instability. Aside from her vivid dreams, she seems fairly stable albeit feeling unfulfilled and bored with her job as a receptionist.
All of this changes when she and her family visit her Uncle Al in Cannon Beach in Oregon (Perry lives in Portland -- which was a pleasant surprise to me since I live in driving distance of the area and have spent many family vacations on the Oregon Coast). Perry decides to explore the spooky abandoned lighthouse on her Uncle Al's property where she runs into Dex, a trespassing Seattleite cameraman who is hunting "ghosts" for a new internet show he hopes to pitch.
Thus begins the "career" of Perry Palomino: Ghost Hunter.
The book is written in first person, which I'm not used to at all, but it really came out perfect. As a 27-year-old, the book seemed to be written a little...teenager-ish? I've never read Twilight, but I got the whole "girl lusts after bad boy" relationship vibe. Also, the plot was a little...predictable? I mean, there were some twists and turns, but I felt like everything was just given away too soon -- but then, again, the focus really seemed like introducing the character and establishing the basis for the next book. Overall, the book made me want to keep reading, and I eagerly bought the second book because I couldn't wait to see what happened next.
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