The Ghost

I could not get through this book. I tried twice and there was too many descriptive words to explain a scene or person. It felt like he picked up a thesosours and used all these weird words and phrases that nobody uses. You had no idea where the book was going. If you want to get descriptive then at least tell us where you are going so we will hang on till the end.

This story started out slow and I skimmed through a lot of the non dialogue parts of it because I didn’t think it was relevant. What kept me reading to the end was waiting to find out what the crime was and of course who the stalker was. I have to say though once you realize what they did it wasn’t difficult to figure out who was doing the stalking. Not a bad story but could have done without all the painstaking detail.

If you are looking for a faced-paced thriller, this is not it. Until you get into the second half of the book, there is no indication as to where the book is heading. Even when it becomes apparent the main character’s past is coming back to haunt him and his childhood friends, the story is not exactly a page turner.
I don’t mind a story that is told with a great detail or at a slow pace if the events and people involved are interesting or likeable. This book moved at a glacial pace until well into the second half of the book but none of the characters were likeable and, worst yet, none of the characters were particularly interesting. This makes for a boring, tough read.

I don’t have to love a character to be interested in a character, but I must care about what and why the character did or did not do. The main character was mean, lacked empathy and was bland. Just being mean doesn’t make a character interesting. Why he became the person he became? The was no evolution into him becoming a bad person. He grew up poor, but lots of kids grow up poor and don’t mean people. Every child makes a bad decision and this does not make them a bad person or, may even prod them into becoming a good person to make up for that one bad decision. In this case, he did number of bad things, but there was little evidence of any remorse. The bad behavior of his youth, especially the “prank” that comes back to haunt him, did not turn him into a monster or gangster nor did it prod him into fighting to become a good person or make up for what he did. He simply went on with his life until someone else seeks revenge for the prank.

So, what was the point of the story? The bad guy stays bad, continues to lack empathy and only cares when someone else seeks revenge? Even then he continues to only care about himself, takes no responsibility for his actions and it is doubtful that he will use this experience to attempt to become a better person.

It may have been a better story to have made the person seeking the revenge the main protagonist of the story. We really don’t know a lot about him but from what we do see I think there is more interesting character to follow showing how the victim of this prank, went from a week victim to an assertive person seeking revenge against those how wronged him.

I do think that the writer is talented. He paints a vivid picture with words and I think the plot had a lot of potential for an interesting psychological thriller. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me the way he chose to write it.

While I didn’t particularly like this book, I do believe the author has the potential to write a really good book (especially since this was his first book), so I would give this author another chance.

Finally, a writer with a great grasp of language and strong writing ability. This book started slowly, developing characters and setting. After about a quarter into it, it took off, started building, and didn’t stop until the end. It was a gem. It was a great tale. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Well-developed and thoughtful characters in an original plot. A better than average read.

I began reading this book, but never finished it. It was not holding my attention. *S*

It took a long time to really say nothing. A mediocre man, living a mediocre life of his own choosing. Perhaps other people will enjoy this, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.