From the stars of the SyFy network’s popular show Ghost Hunters, the second novel in a new spine-tingling supernatural series.
When Amber, Drew, and Trevor are invited to a paranormal conference in the most haunted town in America, they confront a murderous ghost called the Dark Lady and her human servant: Amber’s abusive ex-boyfriend Mitch. The three friends must stop the Dark Lady before she destroys the entire town, and they'll have the help of a surprising and spooky ally….
I am the "Ghost Story Junkie" and you can't imagine how excited I was to see that the library had ordered the second book by two main hosts of TV's Ghost Hunter programs. The beginning of the book was fantastic. An entire town that has an unusual amount of haunting and spectral visitors...so many that they host an annual event called "Dead Days". Of course there are authors of paranormal materials as well as ghost documentary teams and people that just hope to meet one...ghost to person. About midway into the book it began to become too much with the introduction of something called "the Dark Lady" that took the entire story in the realm of the really...really...really unbelievable with monsters and people turning into monsters and mind control...nothing was left out. It would have been great if they had stuck with the beginning concept of trying to document...understand...and prove the existence or the non existence of life beyond the vale.
The TAPS gang…Amber, Drew and Trevor are visiting the town of Exeter. The town has the reputation of being a hot paranormal “it” town. The gang is attending a conference there. During the visit, the gang is brought on right away to investigate a case. A woman has been bludgeoned to death. As the gang investigates the case, they are met by an old friend or is he an enemy?
I am on the fence about this book. On one hand I liked the creep factor but on the other hand, I felt that the book was slow to get moving. There was a bunch of detail spent on the characters and explaining what everyone’s relationship was to each other.
Once the story got going about a third of the way into the book, then it did move fairly fast. The creep factor I was speaking of is what makes this book. Ok, it is not so much the scary but more the paranormal. The unexplainable that makes you go…WTF? There was a moment of that in this book. Then I got excited reading this book. Kind of like the stuff that the gang actually experiences on the television show. A plus that I did have about the details is that it helped me to imagine the Dark Lady and what the TAPS gang was facing. It was like I was a part of the team. Drew is the brains of the group. Ghost Town is a good treat to give yourself this Halloween.
A good Halloween read if you’re looking for something cozy and mindless. But overall, not a book I’d read again. It had a tenuous plot and so-so characters.
I have never read anything worse. I had to put it down for several months and literally forced myself to get back into it solely to say it was done with. It reads like a seventh grader wrote it, but honestly that might be giving it too much credit. I will say, it's not boring. Mostly because it is so confusing and wacky that you can't believe someone actually wrote it.
This is the second book in the series. The first being, Ghost Trackers. I enjoyed that one and so was excited to get this one. We follow the same characters we do in the first, so I would say to read that first book. You are able to then get the references placed in this book about their adventure in the last. You also get a better feel for the characters. You could read this one first, but like I said, the enjoyment would be more if read in order.
In this book we also get to see the relationship of Amber and Drew in a better light. Mostly because Amber is much more confident in herself. She also has a great sense of self that may throw a few since she was so broken in the first. However, this didn't bother me at all. I just enjoyed the more confident Amber.
Amber is also thrown by a reemergence of an old abusive boyfriend. One who is hellbent on making her pay for dumping him. Of course the paranormal gets involved and what was dangerous becomes even more harrowing. The friends have to figure out what is going on, what they are up against, and what to do before more people die. How are they able to fight something that can draw from illusion and you can't touch? It's an interesting conundrum.
I have to say that this adventure was fun. It wasn't scary to me (I'm a big chicken) because the scariest thing wasn't the Dark Lady (although she was a close second) but the abusive ex, Mitch. Probably because I can see that as more of a danger IRL than who or what the Dark Lady represents. Still, the adventure was suitably dark. I also have to say that I was pulled out of the sense of dark by Drew's psycho-analytical observances. It had a tendency to shed light into the darkness so it was much less scary than if he didn't do that. I must say, however, I did like his analysis so this really isn't a complaint. Just an observance myself. :) Still, it may bother some people who are looking for an extremely dark novel.
I think my biggest criticism of the book is the secondary characters. I have to admit, I was not a fan. Still, as long as the main characters are interesting, I really don't mind as much. I just hope that the next book finds these characters a bit more exciting and confident. Confidence in something evil makes it seem much scarier, IMO. Plus, it would be great to see more confident females as well.
I give this book 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the story but it wasn't as dark as I feel it was leaning toward. I enjoyed Amber and Drew's romance and I like the main characters. I think this is a continuing series so I guess I'll end with (and those that enjoy Ghost Hunters will recognize this:) "On to the next..." ;)
I finished this book about a week ago. And I have to say, it was good. But there were some parts that didn't exactly make it for me. But starting from the beginning, it's excellent. It starts off with a girl in a bookstore dealing with a irksome customer, but even from that start you begin to learn more about her surroundings and the town ("ghost town that is") and how she came to be there. She's a normal student at a community college, the interesting and riveting part is the fact that she lived in Exeter. The most haunted town in the U.S.
So, fast forward to a few minutes later when the girl is getting ready to lock up the bookstore for the night, a book she's set back on the shelf falls. she turns around, feeling a bit weirded out, but like any other person, realizing it was probably not that big of a deal. books fell off shelves all the time! ... right?
She puts it back up only to turn away and have two books fall, ok. now something was definitely up. the girl turns around puts the two books up and she walks away, before she reaches the door however ...
oh, i wouldn't spoil. this is a review after all, but i still won't go that in depth. I enjoyed the beginning let's say that. It was chilling, at least to me, and it was a great start to a horror novel for sure. It also gave you a news sheet of the actual town the book was based in. Soon enough it goes into a rhythm. Your introduced to the main three characters. Amber, Drew, and Trevor. The story mainly follows after them, but there are also key others that play a part in the story, some of them being spirits.
I liked the way the story always kept you interested, you never could expect what would happen. And it gave me what I wanted at least from any story, the urge to finish it until the end. I recommend it to all fans of thrillers or horror books. Maybe it gets a bit unrealistic but the fact is, not most books are that realistic if you think about it, but this kind of story has you scanning through until the end of the page, even when the whole time turns into disfigured monsters in a strange dreamworld. (sorry, guess i do spoil a bit) You should read it. Please do.
Drew, Amber, and Trevor are back. They are invited to the Esotericon Conference in Exeter, the supposed “Most Haunted Town in America.” While there, Trevor decides to take full advantage to sell his book about their experiences at the Lowry House. After what happened there, none of them are exactly keen on experiencing a paranormal event again this soon, but they have no choice.
They are thrown headlong into figuring out whom the Dark Lady is and why she’s trying to destroy Exeter. Before things get heated up, Connie Flaxman, Drew’s boss, all of a sudden feels the need to find out just what Drew is up to and follows him to the paranormal conference in Exeter. She, surprising to the rest of them, inserts herself into their investigation.
Enter Mitch, Amber’s ex-boyfriend. An, let’s say, assertive individual decides Amber’s quick dismissal of him and her show of strength in an earlier meeting, have him deciding to get Amber back, willingly or…otherwise. He makes a good ally for the Dark Lady, who doesn’t hesitate to exploit his anger to her benefit.
Erin decides to make a film about the town and employs a crew, who arrive in Exeter with well-known paranormal investigator, Arthur Carrington. The fun begins and it all happens during the town’s celebration called Dead Days. The Dark Lady is angry and wants them to ‘stop.’ Who is to stop what?
That’s what Drew, Amber, and Trevor—with the help of a few others—need to find out if they are to save Exeter from certain disaster…again.
Once you pick this book up, you’ll find it hard to put down. The authors do a fabulous job of weaving in glimpses of their past investigations with the current one. This is a quick yet titillating look into the “other side” and just what paranormal evil lurks in our midst. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “One Major Mistake”
I did enjoy Ghost Town more than I did the first book. The three main characters from Ghost Trackers again are gathered together in this sequel, and this time they're attending a conference in Exeter, IN--known as the Most Haunted Town in America. Something has suddenly started killing people around town, and it's dark dangerous, and using people as puppets.
I like Amber's growth in recognizing her psychic gifts and her relationship with Drew. That was a positive part of this book. It's an entertaining novel, but does seem to have a bit more "grittiness" to it that I don't really think is absolutely necessary. There is an added character from Ghost Trackers that makes an appearance and helps with the case and I found this to be actually another interesting twist on the novel, although it was easy to figure out who and what.
All in all, I would read the third in this series, too. The plot is interesting and not so gory and bloody that it becomes a horror novel.
This is the second book in a series featuring supernatural investigators, this time set at a convention held in the most haunted town in America. The novel is credited to Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (who are affiliated with a television program called "Ghost Hunters" on the Syfy channel which I've not had the occasion to watch) with Tim Waggoner, but it read to me like one of Waggoner's media-inspired solo novels. It's a fun, spooky read, with some interesting quirks and twists. There was a confusing scene on page forty-one where six people are named as sitting down at a table and the narrative says "the seven of them," but I'm probably just over-thinking it. All in all, I couldn't help picturing Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Daphne all grown up but still hanging out.
This is the second book in the series and I actually liked it better than the first one. The three friends travel for a conference, only expecting to have a good time and relax, but what they find is anything but. Amber has a weird nightmare about books beating her to death and the next day a woman is found dead in a bookstore...beaten to death by books. The three are basically thrown into the case of finding out about the Dark Lady and how they can stop her before she kills the whole town. She has help--Amber's ex-boyfriend, who is abusive and isn't afraid to kill. Some things are definitely better left alone!
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
I really enjoyed this book as well as the first one in this series. The authors of the books is what made me read them, but this is the kind of thing I enjoy reading. Anything about ghosts and the paranormal just sucks me right in. I hope there is another book added to this series soon. I can hardly wait to see where Trevor, Drew, Amber and Greg go next and this time maybe Trevor won't feel so lonely if he can talk a certain Exeter woman to come along on their journey.
I got about a chapter in before I'd had enough of the character who insulted folks interested in ghosts/ghost hunting/fantasy ("Weirdos" Yep, we're all weird because we have an unusual hobby. That includes snottily referring to the 'middle-aged creeper in the Ghostbusters costume'. What's next, calling us 'four-eyes'? Please continue to insult your novel's demographic.)
There are so many fantastic novels out there these days that I'm darn sure not reading one with characters who insult me.
I really wanted to like this book, since I loved all the others he's written, but I just couldn't. This was the first fiction book he's written for adults and I just couldn't get into it. The best books he's done are still the nonfiction books on the cases of T.A.P.S. My opinion is Jason Hawes should stick to those.
There were a lot of things wrong with this book: weak characterization, weak plot, too prone to stereotypes (the director obsessed with making it big, the celebrity obsessed with staying big, etc), and just plain awful dialogue, but the thing that stood out to me the most was how often the writers used the word "had". They had felt this, they had done that. It was incredibly jarring.
Pretty corny but better than I expected from TV personalities on a PG paranormal investigating show (of which I used to be a fan, so I am familiar with the authors (but not the co-/ghostwriter - ha ha!) Many legitimately creepy and unexpectedly gruesome scenes make this worth finishing even when the milquetoast characters have their 'Full House' cornball moments.
More a young adult / adult storyline w/ young professionals ghost hunting in a town that survives on the Dead. Language is limited but sexual references are not, so it's not really for teens or under... it's a good read on an interesting subject....
I really enjoyed this book; although, there were sections where I felt it dragged a little. The paranormal aspect, however, was extremely well done and the story builds up steam as you continue reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Meh, I officially think I am over these guys. The first in series was strong. The second, I felt like I was reading a Heather Graham novel. Another way to look at it...it took me 4 days to read a book I should have been able to read in one night.
I enjoyed this book from page one on....it is extremely well written and keeps you guessing. A nice mixture of gore and good old fashion scares. I like this book more than the first (although that is an excellent read as well).
This was a very good book, except that I liked the first book better because it was more creepy, and this one seemed a lot more fictional. It was very good though.
An interesting take on the paranormal... Not stellar reading, but I did like that it was a supernatural murder mystery. Worth the read if you like ghost stories/ghost-hunting!