Books and Chat

From the cover one would expect this to be a horror story.  The elements are there and perhaps to some the idea of ghosts would make this a true tale of horror.  But the story reads more like an action adventure.

Corporal Mike Ross is driving a Hummer in an army convoy in Iraq when a roadside bomb goes off.  He’s left with a metal rod in his leg, no hearing in one ear, a cornea transplant and a discharge from the army.  We could have had a story filled with depression, angst and other symptoms of PTSD, all of which would make the story more realistic.  Thankfully we’re not.  He’s a guy dealing with his altered situation, living with his financially struggling mother and going to college to try to make a better life.

What we do have is the sudden ability to see ghosts thanks to the cornea transplanted from, as it turns out, a psychic.  Mike was adamant there was no such thing as ghosts until that eye shows him differently.  It also turns out that Mike has an ability to interact with them.  He’s a Ferryman; someone who can help the nearly departed pass over. 

We get a wide variety of nearly departed, everything from the benign, ones that want nothing more than to help the loved ones left behind, those who haunt, skinwalkers that possess the living and some who are organized and have an agenda.  Mike is thrust into the role of helping both the living and the nearly departed.  And of course, most people think he’s either a con man or crazy.

Mike is not hero material but more of an average guy doing his best to deal with his new situation and making mistakes along the way, but he does learn from them.  The story is sharp and well written with lots of action that moves along at a good clip.  It also contains

some humor.

Instead of chapters the book is split up into episodes with each one focusing on a main issue or challenge, although all are connected and move the entire story along.  That part is slightly annoying as it appears each episode may have been written for a different media and gives us somewhat of a reminder of “who or what” from a prior episode.  Thankfully these “reminders” are very short.

There are a number of grammar errors in the book, but nothing that you wouldn’t expect from a small publishing house.  They probably aren’t even noticeable to those who read fast.

This is the first book in a series.  I’m looking forward to the next one.