Scamming Death

Scary Mary #5

by S.A. Hunter

Gran is the most important person in Mary’s life. Mary would do anything for her. So when Eddie, a freshman at her school, asks Mary for help with his grandma, she can’t say no. But what he wants is an exorcism. Mary goes to meet his grandma with misgivings. She’s not sure how she’ll break the truth to Eddie. Elderly people can change. They can stop recognizing their loved ones. They can act like completely different people. Alzheimer’s can do that. Dementia can do that. But a ghost can do that as well. Eddie’s grandma is possessed. But the ghost swears that she’s protecting the elderly woman because there’s something scarier than ghosts at the nursing home. An angel of death stalks the building. With Eddie and her friends, Mary must find the angel of death and stop them, but how do you stop an angel? Mary will have to figure that out before the angel strikes again.

Genres: Paranormal, High School, Fantasy, Young Adult, Ghosts

218 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2016

About the author

S.A. Hunter lives in Virginia and works in a library. She is the author of the YA series Scary Mary as well as other fantasy novels. Visit her online at www.sahunter.net or email her sahunter@sahunter.net

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book, but I think everything in the series is, I read it in only a few days and I'm a slow reader, a fast reader will do it it a day easy.

Mary is approached by a freshman who thinks his grandmother, who lives with Alzheimer's disease at a nursing home, is possessed. Feeling bad for him, she agrees to meet with his grandmother only to realize that she is possessed, but the ghost is protecting the woman from an angel of death, meanwhile at home, Mary has a ghost with the hots for Gran.

Fast-paced, the story unfolds cleanly and quickly, with the plot constantly rolling. The big issue gets resolved, but a few minor ones involving Kyle's weird behavior don't. I imagine this could carry over to the next story though.

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed on Lili Lost in a Book

I really liked this story—it was very interesting! There were some parts that were predictable, but overall it was good. I really liked Eddie, the kid that came to Mary for help in regards to his grandmother who is acting weird and may or may not be possessed.

“Should I get some holy water?"
Mary rolled her eyes and sharply shook her head. "No, do not splash her with holy water or yell at her in Latin."
"Why? You think it'll make her angry?"
"Yeah, like it would any normal person."

No one knows this like Dean 🤣

Anyway, as always, the Kyle/Mary relationship... Not into it. And the thing is that he is really nice now, so why can’t I like him??? I don't know why I’m still hung up on Cy. I’m sorry but I am 😞 How are you going to introduce a cute, funny guy like Cy in the first book and then rip him away from me immediately and then expect me to be okay with it 😭 AND THEN you’re going to throw in a weird altercation between the brothers over Mary?? I am so confused??? Cy, my dude, don’t play with my emotions like that 😩



It was almost like he still cared about Mary, but he was having a great time shoving his tongue down Vicky’s throat earlier in the book so I don’t even know. And yeah, Vicky and Cy are still together and it still hurts.

But what’s interesting is that Vicky and Mary are kind of getting along?? Like, they aren’t friends, but it’s not as bad as it was in book one. It’s so interesting!

I really like this series and Mary with her sass and her cool ability of hearing the dead. I am also really enjoying the paranormal aspect and all the different cases Mary has investigated. I don’t love the romance, which is an issue I’ve had since the end of the first book, but I’m somehow still hooked on this series. I don’t even know 🤦‍♀️ Lol. It's a lot of fun though!

[Sasha Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when I find a series that makes me want to KEEP READING!!! Sometimes I read just to keep reading or pass time....but sometimes you find a book or series that keeps you finding the time to read. All you can think about is the spare minutes in the day your gonna get to continue a story! That’s this series! I’m glad I started this series years after the original book release. Because I can’t imagine having to wait a year at a time to read the next one. I love the Mary character. Not afraid to be different, not afraid embrace the gifts she’s been given. And learning that everyone’s “normal” is different from the next persons. I’m so looking forward to visualizing Mary’s personal growth in this story ive come to love in the next book....I hope S.A Hunter keeps writing these books and maybe jumps ahead in time to older Mary! I’d like to seen the woman Mary is destined to become.

Thanks for another awesome ghost story Ms. Hunter!! Keep them coming, I have no intention on stopping reading....

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Great story. Love the series. The author keeps me guessing and it is an easy read. Looking forward to the next one.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt less ghost-y

[Tracy Trixy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Another great read.
I really love these characters, and the trouble that Mary finds herself in :)

[Lori Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I have read all the Scary Mary books and have loved them all. I know they are young adult , but older adults who likes paranormal will love them also!! Mary has evolved and grown through the books. This one had ghost possessions in nursing home patients. If you haven't read these books, start with the first one. I loved them!

[Adalinda Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost and teenage drama

This books starts off good, but it always leaves you wondering what will happen next. It was a fast read, which is good for those who have a busy schedule. Mary is dating Homecoming King Kyle who associates himself with the wrong crowd. His friends love to drink and have a good time, so when Mary interrupts that fun they get mad and want to get even. Mary gets involved in a nursing home ghost possessing spirits and has to figure out who and why they are doing it. All in all it was a good short read.

[Mariela Bustos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok this book just rocked like the others. No matter the age you are this series will capture you. I loved it from start to end, but what the heck. She left me with some questions? It will feel like forever for the next book, but I will wait eagerly for more Mary stories and Kyle updates.

[Summer Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series

I love these stories. I get hooked then I stay up till 2am reading. I do hate that she never learns her lesson about keeping secrets from her grandmother. She always ends up going to her anyways.

[Odd Zwiggles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

Lord this book like others in the series. Quick teen medium story. So cheerful new characters and new twists and turns.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Scary Mary book. Can't wait for the next.

[Philip Benge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant paranormal story by a good writer of this sort of story

[mr darren smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading book 5

Enjoyed reading book 5 looking forward to reading the next book in the series book 6 & then book 7

[Tisha Vogt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoy This Series for Yourself

When you find a series that you can follow through to book five, you know you have found something worthy of your time. This is an easy series to get lost in and best part; there are five published books to read one after the other!

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

****TONES OF SPOILERS DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO READ THE BOOK FIRST*******



A boy, named Eddie, asks Mary for help, specifically with his possessed grandmother. It seems like Eddie is making it up, but sure enough his grandma is possessed, and the ghost claims to be protecting Eddie’s grandma from something bigger, scarier. What is this scary thing? Can Mary defeat it? Can Mary go through internal struggles along with dealing with some possibly scary thing? Mary Hellick, a teenage girl in the book Scamming Death by S.A. Hunter is dealing with the fact that her boyfriend is basically ignoring her, and she's struggling internally with many things. Along with a ghost and it's friends possessing and protecting old people at a nursing home, she has to help these ghosts with an angel of death killing residents. It's safe to say she has a lot on her plate. Also the conflict was surprising, which made me love it even more, and with that the main character goes through a lot of internal struggles throughout this book. Mary struggles because of how she over thinks things about herself.

The conflict was surprising because of the plot twist towards the end. The ghost possessing Eddie’s grandma says to Mary, “Do you know about angels of death,” (Pg. 45-44, chap. 5)? Now this proves the conflict is surprising because I've never heard of an angel of death; that will be exciting to read about. They later find out that Pam, the women from the front desk, was the angel of death. “He says Pam killed him,” (Pg.116 chap. 10). This was surprising to me because I would have guessed the angel of death would have been the janitor or someone that does the laundry, not the front desk lady! But then later on Mary's “ghost friend” Harvey says “Hector is lying, and that Pam women isn't a killer,” (Pg.62 chap. 10)! Because the ghosts at the nursing home have an “unlimited supply of people to easily posses and use,” (Pg.62-61 chap. 10). They would lie to protect themselves and tell Mary and her grandma a big story about an angel of death that doesn't exist! So HUGE plot twist! I didn't see that coming. That was a big surprise in the conflict. I loved it!

The main character goes through a lot of internal struggle throughout the book. Because of all the second guessing and overthinking Mary does. “Mary wished Rachel's dad could've done that for her,” (Pg.56 chap. 3). This proves Mary struggled internally because she doesn't have a dad that would take her out of a bad situation like Rachel's dad did for her; therefore, Mary had to think about it to help her get over the fact that she doesn't have a father. As people who have read this series know, Mary internally and physically struggles with fitting in “usually, she'd be pleased with how she looked, but tonight she felt wrong. She knew she'd stick out,” (Pg.44-45 chap. 3). This is more evidence she struggles internally because she's thinking to herself if she's good enough to go to a party with Kyle, when she obviously is. Mary realizes she's not always going to fit in, and that's a good thing because everyone needs to know that they are who they are and don't always need to fit in and they shouldn't change that about themselves.

Mary over thinks sometimes and struggles with many things internally. The conflict was fun, exciting, and surprising. These two topics are important because of everything involving them would help the reader to understand the situation more. Mary’s struggle helps the reader put themselves in Mary's shoes and makes them understand her situation. The conflict plot twist helps with surprising the reader and keeps them reading. I can't stress enough how much I love this series! I hope other people love it as much as I do.