The ghosts of the past always return to haunt you.
Psychic paranormal investigator Kimberly Wantland has gained celebrity with her hit television show The Wantland Files, resolving hauntings for people with nowhere else to turn. When a desperate family in Guthrie, Oklahoma pleads for help, she can’t say no–even though she and her crew have no idea the secrets they’re about to uncover.
The … about to uncover.
The Johnsons are a gentle, God-fearing family, with deep roots in the history of Guthrie. Their youngest daughter, Faith, has come down sick. And no doctor can cure this mysterious illness.
With a mob of protestors harassing her every move, a poltergeist plaguing the family, and her relationship with Sterling heating up, Kimberly faces her most difficult case yet. But nothing stays buried forever. Kimberly will face down hell itself to defeat the spirit possessing Faith and to put the ghosts of Guthrie to rest.
more
Ghosts in Guthrie by Lara Bernhardt
“Their child is sick, Kimberly. I know you can’t resist the cases revolving around children.” Those are the words which convince Kimberly Wantland of The Wantland Files televisions series that a detour to Guthrie, Oklahoma, is necessary, even if the slate of sites for the season has already been determined.
The prologue has fixed the scene and Kimberly and crew have effectively left the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in the hands of the friendly spirits who are said to haunt the historic structure. Even if Kimberly has set her sights on her eventually returning to Albuquerque and the strange events occurring at her home, she and the crew know that sick children are a stronger reason to spend the time in Guthrie to see what can be done to help.
Lara Bernhardt’s third book in the Wantland Files series successfully weaves the essentials—characters, plot and setting—into a fabric that will delight her readers–both those who know her work and those who will learn to enjoy her fiction.
Readers of the previous stories will appreciate how the characters which make up the Wantland Files technical crew develop. We get more insight into the characters as we learn more about their talents, their experiences, their quirks and their strengths. Even the skeptic Sterling, who represents those readers who are skeptic about the ghosts and hauntings, becomes less and less sure that science can explain everything Kimberly experiences. The characters peculiar to Guthrie– the troubled girls, the ranting cynic, the parents and the townspeople –all add to the understanding of how keenly developed characters lend to the reader’s entertainment. And, of course, there is Kimberly herself, talented, gifted and open to exploration of the psychic world.
Plot in Ghosts in Guthrie also enhances the reader’s enjoyment. The author has carefully selected the events for the characters to experience. The story line flows smoothly even with the surprises one expects from a skillful author. The evolving romance between Kimberly and Sterling is subtle at some points and obvious in others. Using historical information about Guthrie also enriches the plot.
Bernhardt has chosen Guthrie, Oklahoma, the once booming capital of Oklahoma because of the many Victorian style homes left over from the city’s boom days. Stories of hauntings, real or imagined, frequently come up in conversations. Often mentioned is The Stone Lion Inn, a bed and breakfast on the other side of the aqueduct. Because it was once the capital, much of Guthrie’s early history—the Run of ’89, the Carnegie Library, granting of statehood in 1907—invites itself into the novel and boosts its enjoyment.
Followers of Lara Bernhardt’s The Wantland Files series will find delight in this latest episode. Kimberly and her crew find a different challenge and succeed in an historic setting appropriate to the series’ previous episode. Reading this latest from Lara Bernhardt suggests that the more to come will certainly get better.
Richard Rouillard
Retired Professor of English and Humanities
Oklahoma City Community College
Member of the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book