This eerie paranormal fantasy from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes is about the strange and startling experiences of Cooper Blake. Cooper is a high school athlete who has just awakened from a near-fatal injury, only to discover that he's being haunted by a female ghost. He had been in a coma after a car accident that resulted in the death of two people, and by all rights, he should have died with them. Miraculously, he managed to cling to life (or was he saved by someone?). It's a mystery that he survived at all. Cooper remembers little about it and awakens to his broken body.

Cooper's life has since become a kind of hazy dream. His doctors have warned that he won't return to football again and that some of his injuries will be permanent. But Cooper is now seeing things that sane people just don't see, leading to the question of whether or not he has totally lost his grip on reality. He awakens to a caring, pretty girl by his side, someone who has never left him since he woke up in the hospital. Samantha seems about his own age and he doesn't know her, yet for some odd reason, she has chosen to stay while he recuperates.

Cooper's multiple injuries require intense physical therapy as well as prolonged bed rest. Through crippling pain and frustration, Samantha is there every day to support him. She's his guide, his source of encouragement, an inspiration. But Cooper knows immediately that something is wrong with this picture: Samantha is no ordinary girl. In fact, she's not even living; she's an apparition whose colors change with her moods.

After Cooper's discharge, Samantha follows him home. Strangely, he is the only one who has been able to see her thus far, and this is the main reason why she has stayed. But she soon begins to feel stir crazy, wanting to live as a real person and experience what others do. It's with this motivation that Samantha pressures Cooper to find a body she can possess. Cooper is ambiguous in his answer to this but begins researching paranormal theory. It's a mystery to both that he alone is able to see ghosts while others can't and where he never could before.

The city library is where Cooper's research starts, and he runs into a student from a nearby school there. Brent recognizes Cooper, though Cooper seems not to remember him. After being questioned thoroughly, Cooper finds himself revealing important information about Samantha. Though the two are somewhat wary of each other, meeting brings the discovery of a whole world of others with similar special abilities. After Cooper unintentionally harms Brent in the library, Brent offers his help, intending to introduce him to others he knows. 

Delilah is one witch who Cooper already knows from school as she's the head of the cheerleading squad but has managed to keep her powers hidden. The revelation that Cooper has similar gifts to her own brings on new attention from her, though Brent is more interested in introducing him to Ryan. Ryan, a friend of Brent's in his early 20s, doesn't trust Samantha at all. After sensing Cooper's abilities, Ryan expresses a willingness to train him, and though he seems stoic and cold upon first impression, Ryan is persuasive and clearly very powerful. Though Cooper finally decides to accept his help, there's still the question of what to do about Samantha. Ryan doesn't believe for an instant that she's truly a ghost; in fact, his doubts about her intentions toward Cooper are strong enough to cast suspicion on her for others.

TOKEN OF DARKNESS is an unusual story written by a talented author. The ideas are original, and the focus is truly paranormal (though there is some hint of future romance, it doesn't play a huge part yet). The characters are appealing and will leave readers both curious and with a sense of foreboding. My only criticism is that the book is quite short (less than 200 pages), making it hard to wait for answers after your interest has already been piqued. But reading it is an interesting and absorbing experience that I think most teens will enjoy.