Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 17))
Emotional depth resonates as 17-year-old Catherine fights off two kinds of haunting. Wracked with guilt and nightmares over a car accident that killed her best friend, Catherine goes to visit her warm and sparkly grandmother in Pasadena for a change of scene; however, in her grandmother's church, she's confronted by a dazzling, eerie man who's a ghost from the 19th century. Half the narration is in his disturbed, stalker-like voice, so readers know his horrifying murderous history long before Catherine does, but suspense remains about the outcome. Bunting's tight and compelling writing gives relentless emotional pain (a form of haunting indeed) as much play as physical danger. New friend/romance Collin, the minister's son, provides Catherine with fleeting bits of joy and a feeling of solidity from his realness. She is not free of burden by the end, but there is hope. Memorable. 2003, Clarion, $15.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 12 up.

Michele Wilbur (Children's Literature)
At age seventeen, Catherine already knows what it was like to lose someone you love. Her best friend dies suddenly in a car accident. To recover from her grief, she goes to stay with her grandmother in California during the Christmas holiday. Not long after she arrives she encounters a mysterious stranger who says he can put her in touch with her deceased friend. Catherine is cautious about his claims but curious, as she wonders if he can help her unload the guilt she is carrying. No one but Catherine seems to come in contact with this stranger and Catherine wonders if she isn't just imagining the whole thing. Then she discovers a diary and discovers several girls have disappeared and were never found. The plot becomes even more intriguing and peculiar when Catherine discovers that the girls looked like her. Eventually, Catherine meets the phantom stranger, not knowing what she will find. An enthralling story not just about the spirit-world, but about how loss can impact our lives. 2003, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company, $15.00. Ages 11 to 18.