4+ starsTOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FREAKY! This is, without a doubt, the scariest of all the books in the Experiment in Terror series. And it's been a long while coming, as we see how the beings that literally take over Perry's body and want her mind and soul as well, have been looking for ways in; and they finally found the IN they needed.SPOILER ALERT AHEAD - if you haven't read all the books up to this one, including [b:Lying Season|13061289|Lying Season (Experiment in Terror, #4)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323754445s/13061289.jpg|18226704], [b:Old Blood|13599714|Old Blood (Experiment in Terror, #5.5)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335551656s/13599714.jpg|19191362], and [b:The Dex-Files|15746858|The Dex-Files (Experiment in Terror, #5.7)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344824329s/15746858.jpg|21437922], DO NOT READ ON!!! (Yes, Old Blood is marked 5.5 and The Dex-Files are marked 5.7 - BUT READ THEM FIRST!!!We start where we left off in [b:Lying Season|13061289|Lying Season (Experiment in Terror, #4)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323754445s/13061289.jpg|18226704]: Perry left Dex in Seattle, after their week together exploded into amazing sex and passion in Dex's apartment. Except that when Dex had asked Perry earlier if she was in love with him, she lied and said no. Both Perry and Dex are afraid to come clean about their feelings for one another, even to admit their true feelings to themselves. So post-amazing sex, Dex is freaked out by knowing and finally admitting to himself that he's completely in love with Perry. Dex, thinking that he's only hurting himself, gets all awkward afterwards, instead of lovey-dovey. Which drives Perry over the edge, and the screaming ensues. Dex yells at Perry; she yells at him. She tells him that he's not the only one who can lie, meaning that she lied to him about loving him, and she storms out. Now as much as I'd like to hate Dex over all of this, the truth is that Perry LIED point-blank to him. Sure I get why but still... and Dex has just finally figured out that Jenn is sleeping around on him with her own cameraman douche canoe Brad. That, plus the wild week they've had where Abbey his dead ex-girlfriend shows up and tries to kill him with wasps and all the other stuff... Well, Dex isn't the best of head spaces either. When this book opens we find out that Perry not only left Seattle, but that she cut off ALL contact with Dex and the friends she made at Shownet, including Dex's friend and Jenn's Wine Babes co-host Rebecca. Perry's changed her email address and her phone number after she recovered, mostly from being a curled-up ball of tears and depression Perry got herself a job at a local coffee shop as a barista. But she's plagued by constant illness - pains, nausea, and headaches that she attributes to her stress levels and recent events. Except unexplained things like lights going on and off, constant anger, voices in her head, visions of demon girls with sharp teeth, and the smell of rotten meat follow her around. One day while cleaning the coffee shop's bathroom, Perry finds herself in the middle of an episode - one that leads to a dream-world where she delivers a monster baby... only to discover that in reality she had a miscarriage on the bathroom floor. Yes, that one time with Dex was unprotected... and guess what? Perry is thrown into even more of a tizzy and depression, now that her parents know what happened with Dex or part of it. Her parents are not happy. Trying to recover at home doesn't seem to help, because the awful visions and dreams and noises and anger continue to plague her until Perry feels as if she's two people: the Perry she knows, and a Perry that wants to hurt her and anyone she cares about in every possible way. And now she's dealing with "missing" time: entire blanks in her memory and unaccounted for time, like giving herself a manicure with a bright coral pink. (If you know Perry, that's not something she'd ever do!)Ada, her 15 year old sister, seems to be the on her side, as does Maximus, Dex's old friend and band mate. Perry met Max in book 2 [b:Red Fox|11710500|Red Fox (Experiment in Terror, #2)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1324262036s/11710500.jpg|19191181], and she sensed unresolved issues between Dex and Max. Dex said Max wanted to get into her pants. And while attracted to Max, Perry got enough of a strange vibe from Max that she couldn't completely trust him, even if she did use him to make Dex jealous.Now Max is coming on to her with a vengeance. He's aware of her "gifts" and seems to be supportive. In fact, Max seems to think that Perry could be haunted, and he offers to do a cleansing ritual to her family home to rid it of negative energy and spirits. Perry's not sure when she's in control, and when this other "thing" inside her will gain control; but she's hoping that Max is right, and that she's not possessed. Except that when he takes her to his apartment and makes a move on her, Perry finds herself not only having sex with Max, but wild, raw, bruising, punishing, angry sex... sex that leaves fingernail marks on Max's face. It bothers Perry, especially since the missing time is happening more and more.Cut to the chase, and Max's already suspicious motives hit the fan when, post-cleansing ritual, Perry's and Ada's parents come home early. Max acts like nothing was his idea, and that he simply went along with all of this to humor the crazy Perry. Ada is livid, as is Perry, especially when her parents start talking about getting Perry's old psychiatrist involved again. In the meantime, things get so bad, that her family has to tie Perry to her bed to prevent her from physically assaulting them.Ada calls Dex, who shows up on the double with a plan to take Perry to see an exorcist. But is it too late? Will the demon inside Perry take over completely before Perry can be healed? Will Max and Perry's parents prevent her from being able to leave with Dex to seek help?----------------------Yeah, this book was a big trip! It's definitely more personal than the other books, because even while those events happened to Perry, they were still exterior to her. Bird told her in Red Fox that spirits and evil are attracted to Perry's power and would try to take it for themselves, even to kill her to get it. This is the first time that we see a demon actually step in. This particular demon used Abbey to get to Perry during her especially vulnerable time of pregnancy and miscarriage, following the tumultuous events in Seattle with Dex.I was really happy to see Bird again! And I was thrilled that her sister, Ada, was Perry's lifeline and support. Max? Wow... there's so much more to him than meets the eye; does his last name of Jacobs have something to do with the Thin Veil? After reading Pippa's story in [b:Old Blood|13599714|Old Blood (Experiment in Terror, #5.5)|Karina Halle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335551656s/13599714.jpg|19191362] and her description of guides who take on the name Jacob or Jakob, we know that Perry's high school "friend" Jacob was really a guide and a ghost. So what's Max's story? And whose best interests does he have in mind? Is he doing what Pippa's guide wouldn't: literally stepping into Perry's life and attempting to change her decisions and affect the outcome of her life? If so, why wouldn't he KNOW that she was being possessed and want to help her? Did he really think that medication and a trip to the insane asylum was going to cure Perry - make her less herself - perhaps take away the gifts that she has?And the ending... what a cliffhanger!
