Author: JL Bryan
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 220
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 220
Ellie Jordan, the senior investigator of Eckhart Investigations,
is, at a mere 26 years of age, a veteran when it comes to fighting ghosts and
clearing haunted houses. She has a sidekick, a trust fund girl trained in
filmmaking called Stacey Ray Tolbert, who helps her to solve her cases.
The two women are called to the home of Anna and Dale
Treadwell. Anna and the couple’s 10-year-old daughter Lexa are tormented by a
ghost, Mercy Cutledge, who wants them to leave the huge yet rundown mansion
they have bought in the hope of converting it into a small hotel. Dale is in
denial, and refuses to believe that the ghost is real.
Mercy, it turns out, brutally murdered her former employer,
Capt Augustus Marsh, and was later committed to an asylum. When the asylum was
closed down, she returned to the house and hanged herself.
Calvin Eckhart, the owner of the firm, wants Ellie to work with
Jacob Weiss, a young accountant who is a psychic and needs to practise his psychic
calling as part of his therapy. This is something that Ellie isn’t too happy
about at the beginning, but then Jacob turns out to be an asset to the team.
Ellie’s and Stacey’s attempts to get rid of Mercy turn on
them. Even as they struggle to get rid of her, a deeper, more malevolent evil
awaits them in the depths of the house. Will they die in their attempts to rid
the house of this evil presence?
The book is written in the first person past tense point of
view of Ellie. The story was well written and I enjoyed it. It was good to see
things from Ellie’s perspective and get to know of her fun working relationship
with Stacey. The description of the house and the asylum were very evocative,
inviting me to imagine the scenes. The danger at the asylum, in particular,
were scarily real. The final confrontation and the resolution were well drawn
out. The story wasn’t left hanging, to be continued in Part 2.
Ellie has a great sense of humour. She says, If we could
learn to harness and domesticate ghosts, we could save a ton on air
conditioning, especially down here in the Deep South.
Elsewhere she says, The stairs below me creaked and groaned
under my weight – which isn’t that much, people.
In another instance, Ellie tells Stacey to play music to
temporarily stun the ghosts. Stacey clicks her iPod on but Taylor Swift’s “We
are never ever getting back together,” plays instead. It surprises the ghosts
for a moment but then they get over it. Ellie says, The ghosts recovered and
began to advance on us again from both stairways, clearly ignoring Taylor Swift’s
firm rejection of pursuing any further relationship.
While I liked the characters of Ellie and Stacey, the book
became even more interesting once the psychic element was introduced. Of course,
while Ellie’s back story was believable and explained the compulsions that
forced her to do such work, I could not understand why Stacey would opt to do
such work just because nobody else would. After all, she is a trust fund kid. Paying
the bills isn’t a pressing need for her. And her romantic interest Jacob isn’t
even introduced when she makes up her mind to continue ghost trapping for a
living.
Even though the book concerns the paranormal and the field
of parapsychology, Ellie prides herself on being scientific in her approach. She
has all kinds of impressive machines to help her corner and nab spirits and spy
them. Bonus points to the author for the imagination required to ‘invent’ such
machines.
One grouse I had related to Lexa’s parents. How could they
continue to make her sleep alone, when the house was haunted, and the ghost
repeatedly pushed the little girl’s locked door open to scare the family into
leaving? Why couldn’t they invite her to sleep with them? Isn’t there safety in
numbers? Especially when several characters mention the horror film trope of
characters separating just before they die.
This was the first book in the Ellie Jordan series and I
enjoyed it. I’m on my way to the second now.
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