Ford Atticus Ford, former lead ghost hunter on the hit paranormal reality show Graveyard: Classified, has more than a few regrets—especially after young Chelsea Hopper was attacked by a demon…on live television.Assisting police departments by conducting paranormal investigations and uncovering buried clues now provides him with an ounce of redemption, but it will never be enough.What occurred … enough.
What occurred on that long-ago Halloween night was unforgivable, and Ford, chasing ratings and stardom, let it happen.
With Graveyard cancelled and his reputation destroyed, Ford sets out to avenge little Chelsea, and save his own soul—if he can.
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Two years ago, Ford Atticus Ford lost everything over a terrible decision to allow a five-year-old girl to be put in danger on his hit television show, Graveyard Classified. He literally encouraged her to confront a demon by herself on live television and she was clawed bloody by the monster. His misjudgment (and doesn’t that seem like a very understated way to describe what he did) destroyed his life, but he has slowly put it back together by seeking redemption through doing low profile, mostly pro bono, work for police departments across the country who have run into dead ends and need a miracle to advance their investigations. Part of the genius of this story is that Ford is a very sympathetic character and Doane makes him that way by making Ford very honest with himself—even when he doesn’t fully understand why he made the choices he did that led to the little girl being injured.
The novel revolves around Ford’s latest bit of police work, but it never strays far from the event that wrecked his life. A woman either committed suicide or was murdered years earlier and her diary has surfaced heating up a cold case. The problem—the investigating detective has a terrifying supernatural encounter in the woman’s house and calls Ford for help. That investigation is creepy and fascinating and we get to see how Ford took his fascination with the supernatural and made a television show out of it. We also realize very quickly that ghosts, demons, etc. are very real.
When the supernatural threat proves to be much more serious than Ford at first suspected, he reaches out to his former best friend, Mike, who won’t speak to him because of what happened to the little girl. Again, Doane shows his strength as an author. Mike had been the voice of reason and caution who didn’t do everything he could have to stop the danger to little Chelsea, but certainly looked to be the one with the stronger moral compass. Except—now that he’s broke as a result of some bad investments and his marriage has collapsed, Mike wants Ford to do a follow up Graveyard Classified movie to finish the investigation that broke the show. He wants to take advantage of Chelsea again, as do the girl’s parents, because their princely court-awarded damages have run out. It’s all utterly fascinating. The man the world vilifies for his callousness is the only one actually worried about the little girl.
Despite their badly damaged friendship, Ford and Mike have to figure out how to pull it all together if they are to defeat the new demon and save it’s intended victim. This would have been a great story in and of itself, but be warned, Doane has larger plans for Ford and Mike. There problems don’t end with this book.
A great book
I read about a third of this book before I couldn’t take it anymore. It never got anywhere.
I liked the novel that I purchaseed a three book set.
Took a common plot and still made interesting.
I don’t normally read this genre, but after I finished this book, I bought the other two in the series and read them in a few days. Wow! I was on the edge of my seat. I wish there had been more detail about the paranormal investigative process, and the writing was okay, a little repetitive in parts. Sometimes it seems like the author reiterated things to fill space and add words. But if you want an easy read, something spooky and a little creepy, I recommend this book and the series.
Loved it!!!
I liked it, but was not happy with its abrupt conclusion. It was like half a book, not complete. I liked the characters, it was scary, it kept my interest.
Wonderful, real-life characters that tackle things that go bump in the night. Easy-to-read, this book hit all the right places for a dark tale. Absolutely recommend this book! A word of caution, though, it does have a cliffhanger.
Ernie Lindsey has used his pen name, Desmond Doane to create this entertaining read. It is the first book in a three title series, but is a complete story in its own right. I love the concept and theme of this book, it captures your attention from the first page and holds onto you all the way through the story. The characters are totally real, apart from the ghosts and demons of course; and the main character, Ford is funny and makes you feel as if you are there experiencing all the action with him. Can’t wait to read and enjoy book two in the series.
I usually read 5 novels at a time, but once I hit the halfway mark on The Dark Man, I ignored the others until I finished this page turner. I loved it! Our protagonist is a witty, relatable, and fallible man looking for redemption, and you really root him on in hopes that he’ll find it. If you’re looking for a fun supernatural thriller, look no further. Get. This. Book!
Classic horror story filled with tragedy that keeps you guessing all the way to the end