Review: Ghost Tamer by Meredith R. Lyons

Ghost Tamer

by Meredith R. Lyons

Release Date: September 19, 2023

2023 CamCat Books

Kindle Edition; 336 Pages

ISBN: 978-0744302790

ASIN: B0C3DXY2LF

Audiobook: B0CBD43GZK

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Paranormal / Ghost

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Aspiring comedian Raely is the sole survivor of a disastrous train wreck. While faced with the intense grief of losing her best friend, she realizes that someone is following her―and has been following her all her life. Trouble is, no one else can see him. For a ghostly tag-along, Casper’s not so bad. He might even be the partner Raely needs to fight the evil spirit hell-bent on destroying her. Raely and her friend must learn why this demonic spirit is haunting Raely and how she can stop him before he destroys her life―and her soul. Which, much to her chagrin, means she needs the help of a psychic (although she’s sure they are all charlatans) and must rid herself of the pesky ghost hunter who’s interested in exploiting her new abilities. 

 

My Thoughts

Ghost Tamer follows a struggling comedian who is dealing with the biggest tragedy of her life after being involved in a deadly train accident.  Grieving, healing from her injuries, she realizes that she is being followed, but not necessarily by someone or something that is living.  This story begins literally with a bang, and doesn't let go until the end. I enjoyed it quite a bit, thought the character development was fine, and was entertained by the witty dialogue and fast-paced story line.

 

While I did enjoy the story, and thought the plot moved along quickly, it was not quite as dark of a story as I thought it would be.  Despite the train wreck at the beginning, and the death of her best friend, this didn't delve as much into the emotional trauma of that loss as I was expecting and ended up much more on the lighter side of horror, almost to the point of being somewhat cheesy.  There were quite a bit of light, humourous moments thrown into the plot, especially between Raely and her ghost, and a lot of the dialogue was witty, but some of the secondary characters didn't necessarily ring true. The whole ghost hunter thing in which Raely got involved seemed out of sync with what was happening and although I understand the author was trying to show how conniving the world could be, it just didn't work for me, especially the aggression.  And honestly, the love interest? Where did that suddenly come from?

 

I did enjoy Raely's journey as she accepted the fact she could see ghosts and had one stuck to her all the time. Going through the journey with her and realizing exactly who the ghost was was interesting, and something I didn't actually see coming so I found that revelation thought-provoking.  I also found it incredibly sad, the secrets that a family can keep from one another.  The journey did lead Raely and her ghost through some interesting scenarios and I found them entertaining. Casper, the name she nicknames her ghost, was one of my favourite characters, and I am glad the author gave him a chance to develop and grow along with Raely as they discovered how they were attached to each other.  I did wish Raely had been developed a bit more though as she seemed quite childish at times and I had to remind myself she was actually a grown woman and not 16 years old. And for someone who was an aspiring comedian, I didn't really find her that funny, something for which I was waiting. I also think Lovonia was too mysterious and both Raely and Casper trusted her implicitly for no reason. Why would you trust someone you don't know, especially given the cryptic comments this person keeps giving you?

 

Verdict

Ghost Tamer was not a bad debut; it had an interesting story line, was fast-paced, and was light-hearted. And I think that is wherein the problem lay as the themes were quite dark, but the author took a lighter approach to the story, and didn't really explore Raely's emotional state after the train crash. Some of the scenarios didn't quite fit into the story line, hoping the reader would just suspend belief and accept them. That being said, this author is quite talented, I enjoyed the overall story, and I look forward to reading more of her writing in the future.  And there were enough good things in this book that I do recommend you take a look.  

 

 

 

Review: Magdalena by Candi Sary

Magdalena

by Candi Sary

Release Date: July 11, 2023

2023 Regal House Publishing

ARC Kindle Edition; 218 Pages

ISBN: 978-1646033348

ASIN: B0B7XYV7C7

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Paranormal

Source: Review copy from publisher / Blog Tour

 

2.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

In a small, secluded town that thrives on gossip and superstition, Dottie offers plenty of both when the scandal breaks about a missing girl, a ghost, and the affair that started it all. Having suffered a history of miscarriages, reclusive Dottie develops a strange motherly interest in her 15-year-old neighbor, Magdalena. Somewhere between fantasy and reality, Dottie finds new life in her relationship with the mysterious girl. But Dottie’s entanglements with Magdalena, a curious centenarian, a compelling stranger, an ex-mobster, and a murder of crows thrusts this once cloistered woman into a frenzy of public scrutiny. To quell the rumors, Dottie puts pen to paper and discovers something as frightening as it is liberating—her voice.

 

My Thoughts

Magdalena is one of those books that intrigued me because of the paranormal aspect and it was touted as a horror novel, one of my favourite genres.  Thing is, what I got was more of a literary fiction, something that touched on relationships and emotional discovery and really didn't have a whole lot of horror or paranormal aspects to it.  Yes, the whole town was supposed to be enveloped in this environment where ghosts try to stay and develop relationships with their loved ones, but the book didn't really focus on that too much.

 

First of all, I had a lot of difficulty connecting with Dottie as a main character.  Yes, she's a very sympathetic character and you can't help but feel sorry for her, but there comes this certain point when I just started to feel annoyed and wanted to give her a good shake because she was kind of apathetic as well, doing little to improve her circumstances or her relationships.  Dottie's husband was in a terrible accident and her parents left the town a long time ago looking for a cure for her mother's mental illness, something that haunts Dottie to this day, but while the author gives us some background information, it isn't enough to really develop enough empathy with Dottie to forgive her for her other actions.  

 

The plot of the story doesn't put Dottie in a good light as the author has her make some pretty poor decisions.  Why in heaven's name would you follow a 15 year-old girl around town and not expect anyone to notice your behaviour? She was stalking this girl, almost believing this girl was one of her lost children, and for a while I thought the story was going to delve into mental illnesses, but a golden opportunity was definitely missed here. As for some of the other things she does, they're just downright creepy, such as sitting in her backyard and staring through a fence hole for hours at a young girl.  Honestly, who does that? And to believe that all these other things are signs of the divinity? Like birds hanging around your house? Well, if you don't want an animal hanging around, don't feed them meatloaf everyday. I just felt like there were better ways to show something was creepy or paranormal.

 

To me, I feel like the author didn't do justice to this character and as I've already mentioned, missed a golden opportunity to develop her and delve into mental health issues.  I think some of the things she does are supposed to make you feel sympathetic, but all it did was make me wonder why no one was helping this woman, no one was encouraging her to seek help.  There was a nun who had been helping Dottie for years, so why didn't she encourage her to talk to a psychologist, get therapy, get some help? When the accident happened to Dottie's husband, why did no one encourage her to get a job, join a committee, further her education, etc.... So, what does she do all day? 

 

Now the plot. I tried to give it a chance, but it was more about Dottie and her lack of relationships than anything horror or paranormal. She latches onto this 15 year-old kid as if she's her lifeline and develops this unhealthy fantasy about being her mom and creates scenarios where she is hers. And then we have Magdalena, the 15 year-old, a character I also didn't care for as she seemed pretty selfish from the get-go, lying to get her way, and always sneaking around.  To be honest, I had a hard time trying to figure out the plot as there were so many different threads looping around and I don't think the author knew exactly which way she wanted to take this novel either; therefore, at times we would get scenes that would hint at paranormal stuff and mysterious goings-on, then we would get these familial scenes without really developing either one.  The setting itself was intriguing as I like it when you have a town that is eerie and perpetually covered in fog, but that is where the intrigue ends as the other plot lines kind of meandered all over the place.  I couldn't actually tell the time period as Magdalena had a cell phone, but Dottie's house had an old tv that didn't work and everything that was described seemed like it came from the 70s.  There was no mention of computers or the internet or anything remotely technological.  I think the author was trying to show the town was secluded, but didn't quite know how to give off that vibe so it came across as confusing. 

Verdict

Magdalena just didn't work for me as a horror or paranormal novel.  I struggled to empathize with any of the characters and there were so many things that happened in the story that just didn't make sense.  I thought Dottie's behaviour was creepy, but that doesn't make this a horror novel. There were a lot of aspects that I did like about this novel, but when you put them all together, they did not work and it was difficult to understand the point of the plot as it didn't fully make sense.  It's not that loose ends were not tied up or anything, it's just that it left me feeling unsatisfied at the end.  This is not a spooky book by any stretch of the imagination; my recommendation would be to try it and judge for yourself.

 

Review: The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

The Ghost Tree

by Christina Henry

Release Date: September 8th 2020

2020 Berkley Books

Softcover Edition; 415 Pages

ISBN: 978-0451492302

ASIN: B083RZ5SYK

Genre: Fiction / Mystery / Paranormal

Source: Review copy from publisher

2.5 / 5 Stars

Summary

When the bodies of two girls are found torn apart in the town of Smiths Hollow, Lauren is surprised, but she also expects that the police won't find the killer. After all, the year before her father's body was found with his heart missing, and since then everyone has moved on. Even her best friend, Miranda, has become more interested in boys than in spending time at the old ghost tree, the way they used to when they were kids.

So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging the remains of the girls through the woods, she knows she can't just do nothing. Not like the rest of her town. But as she draws closer to answers, she realizes that the foundation of her seemingly normal town might be rotten at the center. And that if nobody else stands for the missing, she will.

 

My Thoughts

The Ghost Tree had such an interesting premise: creepy small town, murdered father, witch legend, curse, eerie forest, and the 'tree'. What's not to love about all of those things when they are put together in what could have been such a fun, creepy story? Well, when fun creepy becomes campy and silly.  

 

I'll start with the strongest ingredient in this book, the setting and the atmosphere.  This is definitely not a town I'd like to visit, but for a horror setting, it's perfect.  With a creepy atmosphere layering almost everything the characters do, it's the perfect setup for some scary fun.  You've got the eerie house on the hill that every kid is afraid to approach, but makes for some interesting fun nights for those same kiddos when they are dared to race up to the porch and cause some mischief.  You've got the scary forest of which almost everyone is afraid, but they don't know why.  There is the murder of the main character's father that occurred over a year ago, but people are already forgetting about for reasons the main character can't understand.  There is the current murder of two girls, but again no one seems to really remember anything much about it or seems to care.  So yes, the perfect atmosphere for a deliciously scary story.

 

But, the author ruins all of that with her campy, silly characters and the seemingly endless references to the eighties as if we'd forget the time period of the book.  I can deal with the over-the-top cheesy horror stuff (I have watched Scream about a dozen times or so), but there is just some stuff I couldn't let go of though.  

****Spoilers ahead.****

 

Let me start with Miranda and Lauren, neither of whom I liked, but for very different reasons.  Both girls are 14 and 15 years old, and yes, it's important to remember their ages as this is one of the things with which I had a huge issue.  I think if I read one more line about how all Miranda wanted to do was lose her virginity, I was going to throw the book against the wall.. Seriously?  How many times can you read about a character pushing her boobs up against a guy before you've had enough.  And if that guy wasn't good enough, there was another one with a cool car waiting just around the corner because after all, you couldn't walk to school when you were fifteen.  Can you feel the sarcasm dripping from that sentence?   And Lauren, being chased by a guy almost five years older? What is up with that? Sorry, but I have a huge problem with that. That gives a new meaning to the word creepy. What would an almost-nineteen-year-old boy want from a fourteen year old girl? Yes, they could be friends, but this is not what happened. And neither of these characters were a treat to those around them either, to their parents or to most of the other characters or to each other, and they were supposed to be best friends.

The one character I really did like was Lauren's little brother. At four years old, he was sharp as a tack and understood things about people and the town he really should not have known at his age, but this was a novel about the paranormal so it worked.  I thought the scenes he was in were the highlight of this book.

 

At first, the eighties references were fun and nostalgic, but then they didn't stop.  And they really did detract from the story.  I can deal with the horror tropes as they show up everywhere, and are sometimes kind of fun, but when you mix both of these together, and they go on and on, but not always in a good way, I was ready to bang my head against the wall. 

 

I really feel bad about my going off on this book as I really tried to like it which is why I continued with it rather than DNFing it.  The plot itself had a tendency to drag on and relied more on gore rather than scare, neither of which were done effectively.  Again, the atmosphere, the setting, and Lauren's little brother were the redeeming features of this book. 

 

Verdict

The Ghost Tree had so much potential, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to the fun horror tropes and eighties nostalgia that it could have.   I am not against taking campy tropes and using them in these types of novels, but when they don't go anywhere, it just leaves you feeling letdown, waiting for that big moment, and then nothing happens.  It was quite easy to figure out who the 'big bad monster' was in this one as the author plays it straight and narrow with no surprising twist that would have been so much fun.  While I don't recommend this book, I do recommend you take a look at some of this author's other works as they are quite interesting, like her Black Wings series and her retelling of Captain Hook called Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook.