Tag Archives: ghosts

The Ghost and the Graveyard

Book Review of Genevieve Jack’s The Ghost and the Graveyard

The Ghost and the GraveyardI grabbed Genevieve Jack’s The Ghost and the Graveyard from the Amazon KDP list.

Description from Goodreads:
Left destitute by an unscrupulous ex-boyfriend, Grateful Knight takes her father up on his offer to live rent-free in a house he hasn’t been able to sell. Desperate to make a new start, Grateful tries to overlook the property’s less desirable features, like the graveyard that stretches to her back door. On the bright side, the unbelievably gorgeous cemetery caretaker, Rick, is dead set on helping her feel at home. She vows to take things slow, considering her recent disastrous relationship, but is baffled when she literally can’t keep her hands off of him.

When things in Grateful’s house start moving on their own another man enters her life, a sexy ghost with a dark secret. Magical forces are at work in the tiny town of Red Grove and they’re converging on Grateful. Solving this ghostly mystery won’t be easy and with the caretaker becoming increasingly jealous of her spectral relationship, Grateful may be forced to choose between the ghost and the graveyard.

Review:
I really quite enjoyed this book. That’s despite it being told in the first person present tense, which I generally hate and involving both a love triangle and insta-lust, which usually drive me crazy. The book somehow managed to overcome all of its handicaps and provide an enjoyable read. And it did it with surprising ease. The magic irritation-nullifying ingredient? Humour. The Ghost and the Graveyard is funny. Yes, yes it’s hot and steamy too, but that wouldn’t have been enough to overcome my dislike for the parts that make up its whole. I needed Grateful’s quick wit and sarcastic internal monologue for that. She’s a great heroine. She manages to stay strong and sure of her own sense of self in the face of some fairly severe identity shake-ups. She might have gone weak at the knees in the face of Rick and his awesome sex appeal, but she was never weak-willed. I respected that.

Rick was a surprisingly complex hero. He was simultaneously strong and fragile, loyal and of a little untrustworthy. I’m sure (in my own imaginings) that there will be a lot more to him and his backstory in the future books. I liked Lucas too. He was like a lost puppy, but I was a little tired of his whinging by the end of the book.

I was a disappointed that the book didn’t quite wrap up by the end. Don’t get me wrong it ended OK, but only one small part of the larger whole was solved. There were a lot of loose threads about. I’m always left wanting when that is the case. It’s a shame the next book isn’t out yet.

Soul Survivor

Book Review of Rosanna McCoy’s Soul Survivor

Author, Rosanna McCoy, sent me a review copy of Soul Survivor .

Description from Goodreads:
Awakening from a coma, University of New Mexico’s Professor, Grayson Lane, finds himself in a living nightmare. He remembers a delivery truck hitting him while out on a leisurely run, but he has no memory of his near-death experience in ICU or his soul encountering the soul of Sophia Cruz, the woman lying in the hospital bed next to his.

Bewildered by the entanglement of Sophia’s ghost, Grayson seeks the help of University of New Mexico’s parapsychologist, Dr. Prothro. But Grayson is skeptical of Prothro’s explanation, and he does not believe Zuri, his long-time lover, has become too busy with her pottery business to spend time with him.

Zuri is horrified when Grayson reveals the ghost that is possessing his soul to be that of Sophia Cruz, the dead wife of State Senator Domingo Cruz, the predator who is sexually extorting her. Dom is powerful and dangerous, and when Grayson tells her that Prothro suspects the Senator of murdering his wife, she pleads with him to steer clear of Dom.

Desperate, Zuri also turns to Dr. Prothro for help. He enlists Tate Edwards, a PI with a ghost of his own, to help her break free of Dom’s control. But none of them are prepared for the events that unfold when the ghost of Sophia Cruz begins using Grayson to accomplish her revenge on those who have betrayed her

Soul Survivor has ghosts in it, but I wouldn’t call it a ghost story. They play a decidedly secondary role. After a traumatic head injury Grayson Lane can see ghosts, meanwhile his girlfriend Lani can see monsters (and not the supernatural kind). He probably got the better end of that deal.

The book is very well written. Most of the characters are sharp and well defined. I especially like Tate and, though I know it probably makes me a bad person, Spyker. But I had a hard time reading it. This isn’t a happy, happy, joy, joy type of book. Lani is stuck in hell and the reader is forced to ride along side her. Luckily McCoy wasn’t inclined toward titillation and avoided being gratuitous. I don’t think I could have finished it if she had described the details of what we know Lani went through. But she is especially strong and determined to survive.

It has a happy ending of sorts, but I didn’t find the it particularly gratifying. I think that some people will though. Those who are comfortable with the idea that the rewards for a life well led come in the next will stand up and cheer. Those of us who want it here and now and aren’t so sure about the whole heaven thing might feel a little disgruntled. I did, as I often do when strong religious themes are sprung on me unexpectedly. I would have preferred the book without, but suspect the author wouldn’t have cared to write it that way. (But what do I know?)

The cover doesn’t really do it justice. Overlook it. The book is worth reading.

Book Review of J.L.M. Visada’s Midnight Squad: The Grim