Book Review: THE CASE FILES OF GG MICHAELS: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR

Title: The Case Files of GG Michaels: Paranormal Investigator

Author: JL Meredith

Publisher: Self-published

Pages: 213

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Guenevere ‘Guen’ Grace Michaels, the GG of the title, first encounters the paranormal when Hannah Schaeffer, a dead 16yo schoolgirl, appears to her as a vampire in 'The Face in the Window'. Guen is only 12 years old at this time.

Her second brush with the paranormal, 'The Padded Cell', takes place in college on Halloween night when she espies a ghost, who has not been able to move on. This Halloween party is being held in an abandoned asylum for the mentally ill. The asylum is not haunted by just one spirit. Something far more ancient and evil lurks in the dark. This is her roommate and best friend, Janet Yamashita’s, first experience of the paranormal. This is also where we meet Izaak Washington, a strapping footballer who saves Guen from the asylum and becomes her boyfriend.

In 'Ouroboros Charm', Izaak is away but Guen and Janet have been invited to a spring festival being held in a quaint town called Ouroboros Charm. Guen has been chosen as a princess of sorts for the main festivities. But the truth is that this is a dangerous cult, in thrall of a 100-yard worm. Will Guen and Janet get out of there alive?

In 'Beldam and the Belle', Janet and Izaak are both away meeting their respective families. Guen takes up what promises to be a quick assignment. A black businessman, Xavier Fox, wants to buy a defunct old ship called the Belle, and convert it into a hotel. He wants Guen to check out the ship and get rid of the ghosts that haunt it. The townsfolk are not pleased with his intention. One woman, in particular, Mrs Eunice Beldam, who runs a derelict charm store and operates as a witch, enchants both Fox and Guen through a powerful spell. Will Guen be able to resist the spell and release the ghosts? And what will happen when Eunice Beldam invokes a zombie?

In 'What Lies Beneath', Guen and Janet are called to the nearly 200-year-old Monahan House to release the ghosts reported to be haunting the place. There they discover something far more frightening than a few lost ghosts.

 

The book is written as several connected short stories, which describe a series of encounters that Guen has with the paranormal at various stages of her life.

 

WHAT I LIKED:

The author did a fine job with the descriptions, filling them with active imagery that helped me picture the scenes.

The paranormal creatures featured in each story are depicted by well-drawn black and white sketches at the end of each story.

 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

There were parts in at least two of the stories, where the writing seemed to aspire to become some kind of erotica writing. Not something I want to read.

The book needed better editing. There were many grammatical errors. A character’s ‘imposing’ strength is described as ‘interposing’.

The dialogue between Guen and Janet in Ouroboros’ Charm could have been edited better. It was hard to follow exactly who was speaking.

I found it odd that the 3^rd person PoV omniscient narrator referred to Guen as a blonde several times in the story. There was no need to objectify her like that. It’s the sort of thing a man writing a female character would do. The frequent references to her movie-star looks and calling her the blonde immediately got me out of the story.

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

Guen was too focused on growing her showbiz career. Her previous successes seemed to have made her blasé about the danger posed by the paranormal. In the last story, she was fixated on the episode she was recording than on what should have been her calling.

Also, she is a Catholic, but her faith seems to be a mere peg on which to hang the premise. Throw in a few Hail Marys, carry a rosary in her purse, say the prayer to the Archangel Michael to prove that she’s a good Catholic. But then the moment she’s given a charm necklace, she takes off her chain which has a cross without a second thought. Not a smart move for someone who is Catholic and aware of the Evil One’s power. Also, not a smart move to insist on wearing heels while out on the job.

In the last story, she has the arrogance to wonder "if He put her into these situations to foil His enemy."

Why introduce a new character, the boyfriend, Izaak, and never let him feature in any of the remaining stories?

 

ALL SAID AND DONE: The book had its moments, but there were sections that didn’t quite work.

 

 (I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)