Arlene Watson Books in Order

The Arlene Watson novels take Thomas DePrima's storytelling down to Earth and into the realm of paranormal suspense. Instead of warships and pirates, these books follow a teenage girl whose quiet talent for reading tarot cards becomes the doorway to something far more dangerous.

In When the Spirit Moves You, Arlene and three close friends are just looking for something to do on a hot, dull summer day before their senior year of high school. A casual decision to hold a séance at an abandoned mansion with a reputation for ghost sightings feels like harmless fun, especially now that Arlene's new hand-painted tarot deck seems to sharpen her intuition.

Nothing about the evening stays harmless. Their attempt to contact a spirit appears to fail, right up until the moment the entity they disturbed makes its presence known. From there the story pivots from teenage dares to a struggle to understand what Arlene has awakened and how to protect the people she cares about.

Years later, in When the Spirit Calls, Arlene is in college and far more aware of her abilities to sense and communicate with the dead. When recurring nightmares show what looks like her own violent death, she and her old friends are forced back into the world of séances, spirits, and unanswered questions, trying to work out whether the visions are a warning, a threat, or something stranger.

These books keep the focus tight on friendships, family, and the awkward work of growing up with a gift you never asked for. The horror is more about dread, possession, and the way ordinary choices can draw people into supernatural danger than about gore.

Readers who enjoy ghost stories with a young-adult feel, some romance around the edges, and a heroine who treats paranormal abilities like another problem to solve rather than a glamorous secret will find a lot to enjoy in Arlene's journey.