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Tag: Ghost novel reviews

The Secret of Crickley Hall

The Secret of Crickley Hall

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The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert Publisher: Tom Doherty, 633 pages Format: Hardback Source: Purchased What it’s about: In The Secret of Crickley Hall, Gabe and Eve Caleigh along with daughters Loren and Cally have rented Crickley Hall while Gabe is working on an engineering project nearby. Gabe and Eve’s goal is to find some peace and quiet to mourn the disappearance of their child Cam and to prepare themselves to acknowledge Cam’s death, even though his body has…

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Lincoln in the Bardo

Lincoln in the Bardo

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I didn’t know what a bardo was until I picked up George Saunders’s novel Lincoln in the Bardo. Bardo is the state of the soul between death and rebirth. The translation of this Tibetan word is “between two.” And that’s exactly the condition of the souls in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in 1862 when Willie Lincoln, third son of Abraham Lincoln, was interred. The death of Willie Lincoln and the night-time visits of Abraham Lincoln set off a series of events that will change the ghostly residents of Oak Ridge.

Ghost novel review: Leaving Time

Ghost novel review: Leaving Time

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Happy Halloween, everyone! I think this is my fourth book review for the R.I.P. reading challenge hosted by the Estella Society. Please hop on over there to see the other wonderful spooky books readers are discussing. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Publisher: Ballantine Books, 480 pages Format: Paperback Source: Purchased What it’s about: Teen Jenna Metcalf has been searching for her mother Alice for as long as she can remember. Alice disappeared over a decade ago following a trampling death…

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Haunted by James Herbert

Haunted by James Herbert

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Publisher: Jove Books, 338 pages Format: Paperback Source: Purchased Haunted was the subject of a group read over at Supernatural Fiction Readers hosted by Werner A. Lind on Goodreads as well as a R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X reading challenge at Estella Society. What it’s about: David Ash, a paranormal investigator for the Psychical Research Institute, has taken a case in rural England where he meets the siblings Simon, Christina, and Robert; and their aunt, Nanny Tess. They live in a decaying…

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Ghost Novel Review: Practical Magic

Ghost Novel Review: Practical Magic

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Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman Publisher: Berkley Books, 317 pages Format: Paperback Source: Purchased What it’s about: Following the sudden death of their parents who were “so much in love they failed to notice smoke emanating from the walls of the bungalow where they’d gone to enjoy a second honeymoon” (5), Sally and Gillian move in with their mysterious maiden aunts in a gothic Victorian on Magnolia Street. The young siblings are horrified to discover their aunts are free spirits…

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Review: Heartless by Gail Carriger

Review: Heartless by Gail Carriger

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Heartless by Gail Carriger Heartless is the first novel I’m reviewing for the 2014 R.I.P. Challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings. image courtesy of Abigail Larson I made the acquaintance of the Parasol Protectorate series with the first book, Soulless. Alexia Tarabotti, a misunderstood misfit preternatural resides in an alternate, steam punk Victorian England replete with foppish vampires and rustic werewolves. (The werewolves are, after all, from the wilds of Scotland.) Soulless is a delight. Despite the smart beginning to the series, I…

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Ghost Novel Review: Grave Peril

Ghost Novel Review: Grave Peril

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Grave Peril by Jim Butcher I read the first in the Dresden File series as part of the Goodreads October read-a-long. If you’re like me, and you want to start at the beginning of any series, you can access the non-spoiler discussion of the first book, Storm Front, here. I love the premise of a hard-boiled wizard detective though I felt the first book was a little uneven—vacillating in tone between noir and ribald. There is no such unevenness in the…

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Ghost Novel Review: Phantom Summer

Ghost Novel Review: Phantom Summer

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Blog Tour and Review: Phantom Summer Welcome to the book review and blog tour stop for Amy Sparling’s Phantom Summer. First, I’d like to thank Dianne from Oops I Read a Book Again for making this process so easy. What a gift it is for authors to have a blog tour coordinator. It is my pleasure to host a blog stop (my first!), so I just hope I’m doing it correctly. Without further ado, here are the details: Title: Phantom…

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Ghost Novel Review: Notes from Ghost Town

Ghost Novel Review: Notes from Ghost Town

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Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison Olivia will always regret not confessing her undying love to best friend Lucas, for just as she begins to tell him, fate intervenes. The next time Olivia sees Lucas, he’s a ghost. So begins Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison that I read as part of the RIP challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings. Olivia, a promising artist, faces multiple problems for one so young. Someone killed Lucas, and she must discover who…

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Ghost Novel Review: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Ghost Novel Review: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

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For my next selection of the R.I.P. challenge, I read The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. This reading ended up as a serendipitous survey of literature based in Malaya (present day Malaysia). In the last two years, quite unplanned, I’ve read three works set in this country, all as different as they can be. The first novel I read is Old Filth by Jane Gardam about a cynical octogenarian barrister of British ancestry; the second was The Garden of Evening…

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A Stir of Echoes: Book or Movie?

A Stir of Echoes: Book or Movie?

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I read Richard Matheson’s A Stir of Echoes as one of my selections for Bout of Books. It’s been on my list for a long time, so it felt good to put it behind me, and the Bout of Books read-a-thon provided the perfect opportunity. Finding A Stir of Echoes, however, proved a challenge as I searched one library and three bookstores and finally had to order it. When a party stunt awakens Tom Wallace’s psychic abilities, he must learn…

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Twelve for Twelve: 12 Ghost Novels for 2012

Twelve for Twelve: 12 Ghost Novels for 2012

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The clock is striking twelve on 2012! So, it must be time for those cherished year-end lists. Everybody’s doing it. At least all the book reviewers seem to be. And as Yossarian said in one of my very favorite books, Catch-22, “Then I’d be a damn fool to think any different.” So here are the top twelve ghost novels I read (with links if reviewed) in 2012: 12. In the Night Room by Peter Straub In the Night Room opened…

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Ghost Novel Review In Honor of Banned Book Week: The Lovely Bones

Ghost Novel Review In Honor of Banned Book Week: The Lovely Bones

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Welcome to Banned Book Week 2012! I love the irony inherent in turning a dusty, fusty institution on its head, don’t you? Here at Pen in her Hand, we’ve already reviewed two banned ghost books. They are Beloved and The Headless Cupid. Check them out. I liked them both, and I believe Beloved is a true tour de force. Today, we’re going to discuss one more banned ghost novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. A true ghost book, the…

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