The dark spirit made me do it
Ameerah: Paranormal Thriller by Rebekkah Ford Ford's Publishing Mystery & Thrillers, History Pub Date: January 27, 2016 Review Ameerah challenged the norms of her time, dancing, drinking and smoking in speakeasies along with flappers and gangsters. She made love to her best friend Betty, and looked forward to a vibrant and creative life. Instead, she dies soon after being placed in an insane asylum by her parents. The torment she suffered at the hands of the staff there leads her to accept an unusual offer. Rather than pass on, Ameerah becomes a dark spirit, able to live, eat, drink, and make love by possessing the bodies of soulless humans. Best of all, in her mind, is that she will finally be able to get revenge, to make those who betrayed her suffer. Dark spirits are in part tricksters, angry and embittered. Some however have a goal - the elimination of humanity. As the novel progresses, Ameerah's experiences are recounted against the backdrop of history. Pretty much all of the worst events in history are portrayed as the work of dark spirits - the Great Depression, Hitler, the Holocaust, Vietnam etc.. I was uneasy about this, in part because it seemed like the author was absolving the humans of responsibility - the dark spirit made me do it. There is mention of immortals who are against the dark spirits, but they play only a minimal role. I did like the unexpected twist at the end. On the whole, I liked Ameerah. Her life and experiences were fascinating, as well as the mechanics of possession. I could understand her disappointment, anger and hunger for revenge as easily as I understood her zest for life before entering the asylum. It is only later in the novel when weaknesses start to show. It is clear that Rebekkah Ford planned the ending from the very beginning. It is the path between Ameerah's revenge and the ending that is more nebulous. This is what brings my rating down from 4 to 3. The second half was simply not as interesting or well composed. 3/5 I received a copy of Ameerah from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. --Crittermom Description Some birds cannot be caged, and I’m one of them. In 1925, eighteen-year-old Ameerah Arrowood is murdered in an insane asylum. She finds herself transported to a dreary realm that turns out to be a recruiting station for the dark spirits. With animosity in her heart toward humanity, she decides to join them. For the next ninety years, Ameerah possesses soulless humans, living a hedonistic, mischievous and sometimes vengeful existence, but now she's seeking salvation so she can crossover and save her lost love who is stuck in the lower world. Ameerah enlists the help of her dark spirit friend Derek, who is straddling the line between Heaven and Hell. She tells him how it all began, weaving between historical timelines to now, hoping to gain understanding about why her parents betrayed her and wanting to get rid of the guilt weighing on her heart. In the end, the unexpected unfolds, throwing Ameerah a curve ball which changes her forever.
