Review: Really great story...nice twist at the end
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 11, 2011
I don't usually read ghost stories, I admit, but I was intrigued enough to pick this one up, partly because it was set in a part of the United States that I'm fairly familiar with, and partly because I like the author. The novel starts off as a pretty light story, despite the subject matter, with a group of paranormal investigators calling themselves "the Paranormal Posse" giving tours in a haunted graveyard and running investigations upon request of home owners and others who have experienced a fright. The team in the Posse have been working together for years, and the characters, despite their ghostly professions, are very grounded, real and likeable...and their dynamic with one another really works. Then things start getting weird...building to a "lockdown" in the historic Amador Hotel, a lockdown being when a team of ghost hunters spend the night in a haunted building and attempt to communicate with the resident spirits. I don't want to give anything away by saying too much, but dang, it gets pretty freaky after that! The ending wasn't at all predictable or what I expected...it was touching, upsetting, scary and very powerful. The relationship between one of the ghost hunters, Hector, and his son Darren really forms the heart of the book in a lot of ways.My only complaint really was that I wanted MORE. I actually could have read a longer book on this...there were a number of issues that I found myself wishing had been explored in more depth, including the history of the hotel, Darren's mysterious psychiatric ailments, the being at the end (I don't want to give anything away on that), and others I'm probably not remembering. All in all though, a great book! Highly recommend.