Betrayal by Lee Nichols

Title: Betrayal
Author: Lee Nichols
Published: March 1, 2011 by Bloomsbury
Pages: 304/Paperback
Series: Haunting Emma #2
Source: My personal library 


Summary: Emma Vaile is the most powerful ghostkeeper in centuries. Which is great when she's battling the wraith-master Neos, but terrible when she's flirting with fellow ghostkeeper (and soul mate) Bennett. When ghostkeepers fall in love, the weaker one loses all power, and that's not something Bennett can handle. Heartbroken and alone, Emma tries to lose herself in school with fellow ghostkeeper, Natalie. When a new team of ghostkeepers arrive—one a snarky teen boy, the other a British scholar—Emma finds solace in training for the battle against Neos. But as the team grows stronger, they are threatened by an unknown force. One they thought was good.
As chilling and page-turning as Deception, this sequel will grab readers and hold them to the last page. No one is safe from suspicion as Emma closes in on the traitor.

Review: I thought this was a good continuation of the series, but I didn't like it as much as Deception and I wasn't left with very strong feelings about it.

The summary makes it seem like the entire plot is dedicated to finding out who the traitor is, when really that happens in only the last few chapters. The ending itself was a little too rushed for me. I felt like so much was happening in such a short amount of time. I didn't have time to process everything that had been learned and that had happened. 

I wish there had been more character development as well. I connected fairly well with the characters in Deception, but there was a disconnect for me in this one. I saw what the characters were supposed to be like, but I did't feel it. 

I also wanted to know more about new characters. I felt like I got to know Lukas and Simon pretty well, but I would have loved more information on the Siren. She seemed like an important part of the story, but nothing was ever done with her.

I know this sounds like a pretty negative review, but I really did enjoy Betrayal. It was a good sequel and the ending set it up (if a little too conveniently) for the next in the series.