Ghosts of Royston

Sophie Danner Thrillers #1

by Eric G. Dove

When a violent car crash into a remote mountain lake claims the wife and daughter of Cole Danner, he is left alone, badly injured, and suicidal. Strangely obsessed with his wife and daughter’s grave stone inscriptions and overcome by violent sense-assaulting flashbacks of the accident, Cole begins a dangerous and bewildering quest to unlock the potential truth of the fate of the two loves of his life – at the risk of losing his own.

A teenage girl regains consciousness to find herself wearing strange clothes in the remote mountain home of the backwards family Honeycutt. Thought to be the ten-years-dead daughter of the family matriarch, Cora, she becomes immersed in a bizarre, off the grid “community of faith” called Royston. A disturbing introduction to the family and the violent psychotic breaks of Cora unlock a sinister past – and the realization that escape is her only chance for survival.

Tense, gritty, humorous, and fast-paced, Ghosts of Royston is the story of a girl’s survival, a father’s devotion, and the colliding forces of life and after-life.

Genres: Mystery

275 pages, Paperback

First published April 3, 2013

About the author

Eric has lived a unique life of numerous careers.  From a sign maker to a set designer, then a singer/guitarist/songwriter (he had SO much hair in the 90's), then banging around Nashville, playing showcases with his band and writing songs for three different publishers resulting in oh-so-close-to a record deal.  On the long drives from Ohio to Nashville, audiobooks kept him from careening off I-65 and into a ravine.  With his vocal background, he soon took the plunge into audiobook narrating, resulting in 2 years of struggle followed by a 12-year and 500-audiobook career, with many awards and nominations.  In the midst of all this, Eric fell in love with three things - writing his own stories, racing sailboats, and Loren.  After several moves toward bigger water, he now lives full time aboard a 48' catamaran in the Caribbean (NOT as glamorous as it sounds) along with his beautiful and patient wife, Loren, and his rambunctious son, Rivers Danger, while continuing to write fictin AND co-produce, with Loren, the popular YouTube sailing channel, "SailAway".  With a partial return to land imminent (5 years full time on a boat is quite challenging), his primary focus has returned to writing.  With Book 4 of the Sophie Danner series coming soon and the brand new series already in the works, Eric has a busy year ahead.  We hope you'll all join us for the ride!

Reviews

[Reading With My Cats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book free from BookBub on a whim and I am SO glad I took a chance on it! It hooked me from page one and I really struggled to put it down. Highly, highly recommend!!!!

[Smc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional. No way I'm going to regurgitate what the original reason for why you might read this book.
It was a thriller and as close to Larry McMurtry and Dean Koonce, or Harper Lee for authenticity and skill as I have ever read. Not overdone nor undercooked.

[Lujuna Brown-Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by this author!

I didn't see this coming. I am pleasantly surprised by this author, (because I didn't know he was an author), and now I have one more thing to add to my "fangirl" life. I've been a fan of his narration for years and even follow his YouTube channel because I like his style. I never knew this man was a writer but I'm so happy to have the opportunity to read his first book and I was blown away!

This pulled me in from the start and kept me on the edge of my chair, waiting to see what came next. There were a good number of "hold your breath" moments and a lot of "OMG, please find her" moments throughout the book. I stopped listening when I became too sleepy to continue but picked it up the next day to finish, and what a finish he gave.

The story was intriguing, interesting, and suspenseful from beginning to end. It kept me invested and hoping for a happy outcome for this family and with my fingers crossed that things would work out for this young girl. My first impression was is this going to be a ghost story? (Not something I like), but it was nothing of the sort. It was the perfect balance of suspense and intrigue, and I was glad I continued until the end. There was some sadness but that was even something I could take after hearing the outcome and knowing everything this family went through. Now I'm looking forward to seeing what the next book will contain. I was blown away by the story and interested enough to want the next one!

[Melissa Cornett Vaught Coop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!!! It kept me wanting more with each page!!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

I recommend this book. The action takes place in the
Low Hills of the Appalachia. A serial killer takes out one of a family of three, or so he believes.
Actually, the father and daughter survive the accident, but neither is aware that the other survived. That is nugget of the plot. A family living in the most remote area of the mountains under the most crude circumstances kidnapped Sophia, who was thought to be dead. These kidnappers lived in a hut that had dirt floors. They had an outside 'toilet house.`A city girl had to digest the who her captors were and how they lived in order to escape her captors.

Thank you, Mr. Dove, for a good read.

[Vicki Quisenberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding Read

I love listening to Eric read books so when I heard that he wrote a book I couldn't wait to read it. Let me tel you I couldn't put it down. This book kept me up all night, I just had to know how t was going to end. The characters were well developed and believable, the p!it was intriguing and the were so many twists and turns that I was surprised at the end. That was a very pleasant change for me. Great first book I can't wait for more to come.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first introduced to Eric G. Dove as a narrator for my audiobooks. When I discovered he was an author, I thought I would give his book a try. It is different from what I normally read, but I did enjoy the story. It kept me on the edge of my seat as it was told from multiple perspectives. I look forward to seeing where he takes the story from here.

[Dan A. Foster · Rating 1 out of 5]

Royston

Here is another person who is willing to profane that which many worship by using their names as vulgar exclamations. In addition, this person has no better grasp of language than to flip out f-bombs and profanity as common terms. There are better authors available elsewhere.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute insanity that unfolds....

I left my house work undone because I could not stop reading this! The absolute insanity that unfolds is just riveting. I don't know how someone can think all this up and weave it into a cohesive story. It will slowly suck you in until your captured!

[diannscollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding Sophie

The story was unique, but it was too descriptive at times so I had to skim through that. I still would recommend this book because you knew you wanted to read it until it's conclusion.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Pretty good. It's hard to explain, but it gave me a gross feeling the whole time I read it. I guess it's the insinuations of certain things. I also didn't enjoy the dog violence, but overall the story was pretty good.

[Micky Parise · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading Eric Dove and came away rather impressed. Story started out slow but really picked up. Loved the characters and writing was top notch, what really was impressive was the point of view from "Punk", what a surprise and nicely done. Recommend highly.

[Bri Raver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had me on the edge of my seat wanting to hear what happened next!!!! Excited for the next in the series to come out!!

[Jenny S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great suspenseful book that I couldn’t put down! Downloaded the second book to keep the story going.

[Lorena Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 star

Very enjoyable read!
Kept me rivetted from start to finish with a great storyline and believable characters.
Keep an eye out for this author.

[Sue Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's not my cupboard tea. just over half way in, I realised I couldn't care less about any of the characters. dnf'd.

[Teri Frevert · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book made no sense to me.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book from start to finish. The character development was great and I felt a real connection to Cole and Sophie, and of course Punk. I found myself trying to speed read through some of the more stressful parts because I needed to hurry and see what would happen next! One reviewer mentioned that the book was too preachy. I didn't get that at all. The Honeycutt family are religious fanatics do not relate to society outside of their own "religious community". Any religious talk is related to that family's beliefs, but it's hardly preaching to the reader. There are plenty of edge-of-your seat moments in this story. I can recommend this to any thriller fan.

[Berrynana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another kindle freebie that didn't disappoint, surprisingly! A very touching, though quite unlikely story about an accident/phsyco horror story that could totally happen in real life... seriously, its some crazy stuff.
I especially liked the chapters written from Punk the dogs perspective. I have to admit, it had me tear up a few times!
I read a few reviews that said the book was preachy, I didn't find that at all. The mountain family are definitely religious, but the author didn't push their beliefs on the reader at all.
I could totally see this as a flick... though I say that about every book lol!

[Amanda Leclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great. Honestly, the cover makes it seem not as great as it is. It is a well thought out, well paced interesting plot, that goes about coming to a conclusion in a different way then I am used to with thrillers. The finally is unlikely and very dramatic,but hey, its a thriller! Really loved the two main separate points of view that come together. Well done, a great read.

[Loren Toddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really got into the book and enjoyed it but the chapters from the Dogs perspective were odd and a bit offbeat but I love dogs so I accepted it as part of the story thus enjoyed the book. I can see however that could throw someone off this book for sure though. Check it out if you like mysteries with tension!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me on the edge of my seat! Loved it!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A horror story without the 'edge of your chair' intensity.

[Adele Simpkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit too religious for my taste...otherwise not a bad read!

[Barbara Duckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Very scary that this could actually happen