A mysterious dagger unlocks a world of ghosts and secret societies for a grieving young woman in this gripping paranormal fantasy.
Grief weighs heavy on Gabbie Kress, but that doesn’t stop the world from carrying on.
It’s been almost a year since Gabbie’s mother was hit by a car. A year of Gabbie just getting by—avoiding things she needs to do and burying herself in archival work, a passion she shared with her mother.
With her mother gone, the apartment she was raised in—provided by the museum her mother worked at—has sent its final notice to vacate. Sure, Gabbie works there too, but these apartments are for senior staff, something Gabbie is not. She has just quit her degree program in the wake of her mother’s death.
While packing up her apartment, something in the air vent catches her eye. Upon retrieval, she discovers an ancient stone dagger covered in Sumerian symbols and a collection of her mother’s journals. This discovery is strange, but it’s even stranger that mere days before, Gabbie noticed graffiti written in Sumerian in the subway. What is this ancient language doing in the subways and on something her mother clearly was trying to hide?
As Gabbie considers the dagger, she attempts to translate the symbols as best she can, but as soon as she recites the translation, something shifts. There’s an odd flash of light and a rush of energy.
“‘What did you get yourself into, Mom?’ she muttered. “The words hung there. The dagger didn’t answer, but its weight seemed to shift slightly, as if reacting to the sound of her voice.”
Elias and James are ghost hunters, members of the Keepers of the Veil, a secret group that has taken an oath to protect life from the veil between living and dead. While following the purple flame of their ghost-tracking lantern, they come across a specter, an entity summoned by a ghost to do its evil biddings, in the subway. And the specter is pursuing a young woman: Gabbie. After fighting the specter, the men have questions: how does this woman have a Keeper’s dagger? And how can she see ghosts, a skill that hunters must train to obtain?
In just a few days, the world as Gabbie knew it crumbles around her. She’s thrown into the middle of a supernatural war, waged between the Keepers and the Order of the Rift, a society in the ghost realm. Both groups are dedicated to the veil, but in different and opposing capacities.
The Keepers believe that the veil could tear the universe apart if ghosts keep coming through. They are driven to eradicate all ghosts who are caught in between the veil and true death. The Order believes that with the right tool, they can wield the necessary power to free all the trapped ghosts.
Hunter Elias takes Gabbie under his wing, answering her questions, explaining this new world to her, and protecting her from the Order of the Rift, who are desperate to take her mother’s blade from her.
But Elias and the other Keepers aren’t the only ones looking after Gabbie, because after a close encounter, Gabbie has accidentally tethered the ghost of an ancient knight to herself with her blade. And with Kaelthorn in her head and the Keepers in her orbit, Gabbie doesn’t know who to believe about the veil.
The Ghost Hunter’s Oath is an adventurous, emotionally charged story of supernatural secrets and found family. It’s a testament to the gray area of life—the way the world is not simply black or white, good or evil. It’s a story packed with action, balanced with a large cast of characters who are real and raw in their growth.
The worldbuilding of The Ghost Hunter’s Oath is unlike anything you’ve read before. Not only are there ghosts, specters, Keepers, and the veil, but there are also clear explanations of their history and their science that toes that line of supernatural. The world is captivating and fed to the reader effortlessly despite the complexity of multiple dimensions and entities, like specters built on the left-behind hatred of those who have passed on completely.
The Ghost Hunter’s Oath will lure you in with occult mystery and keep you close with the emotionality of its characters. This book is heavily populated, and yet each character stands on their own—fighting their inner battles alongside their outer battles and navigating relationships. Gabbie in particular has an empowering story, as she copes with a preexisting anxiety on top of the anxiety induced by her new life. It’s touching to see Gabbie find family in the world of the Keepers with the loss of her mother still so near to her.
I’d recommend The Ghost Hunter’s Oath to readers who love ghost hunting, secret societies, and ancient mysteries mixed with character growth, deep bonds, and prose that grabs you.
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