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Ghost Town
After her unexpected death, a young woman must navigate the ghostly purgatory of a sleepy Seattle suburb to uncover the gruesome truth of her murder, as a local detective begins to uncover a chilling connection to his own missing daughter.
In the quiet town of Ridgecrest, Amanda "Angel" Taylor finds herself suspended between life and death, awakening in a spectral limbo. With her life cut short and memories of her death shrouded in fog, Angel is thrust into a haunting mystery that intertwines her fate with that of Detective Steve Hoffman, a man desperate to find his missing teen daughter, Ashley.
On a determined quest for answers, Angel joins with the Ridgecrest Ghost Society, a cast of eccentric spirits with their own unfinished stories and regrets, including Suzanne, a ghostly guide with secrets of her own.
As both the living and the dead investigate Angel's case, they uncover a sinister conspiracy that ties their fates together in ways they never imagined. The deeper they dig, the more they realize that Ridgecrest is a place steeped in dark magic and twisted family secrets.
With malevolent forces closing in and time running out, can Angel and Steve discover the truths that lie hidden in the spaces between life, death, and everything in between?
In the quiet town of Ridgecrest, Amanda "Angel" Taylor finds herself suspended between life and death, awakening in a spectral limbo. With her life cut short and memories of her death shrouded in fog, Angel is thrust into a haunting mystery that intertwines her fate with that of Detective Steve Hoffman, a man desperate to find his missing teen daughter, Ashley.
On a determined quest for answers, Angel joins with the Ridgecrest Ghost Society, a cast of eccentric spirits with their own unfinished stories and regrets, including Suzanne, a ghostly guide with secrets of her own.
As both the living and the dead investigate Angel's case, they uncover a sinister conspiracy that ties their fates together in ways they never imagined. The deeper they dig, the more they realize that Ridgecrest is a place steeped in dark magic and twisted family secrets.
With malevolent forces closing in and time running out, can Angel and Steve discover the truths that lie hidden in the spaces between life, death, and everything in between?
- GenresHorror
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2025
5 people want to read
About the author
Nick R. Anderson
2 books1 followerNick R. Anderson is a Seattle native with a lifelong obsession for all things spooky and creepy. He is the creator and administrator of The Slasher Shack, a horror blog with hundreds of posts about genre films, books, and more. Nick is a member of the Seattle chapter of the Horror Writer’s Association.
Ghost Town, his debut novel, features many of the story elements he enjoys most: conflicted characters, paranormal phenomena, snarky dark humor, and ‘90s nostalgia.
When he’s not writing, Nick is usually reading creepy novels, viewing horror movies, watching football, or exploring the sprawling Seattle suburbs with his feisty pet chihuahua, Max.
You can find him online at nickrandersonfiction.com and slashershack.com, on Bluesky at @nickrwriter.bsky.social, and on Instagram at @nickwrites.horror.
Ghost Town, his debut novel, features many of the story elements he enjoys most: conflicted characters, paranormal phenomena, snarky dark humor, and ‘90s nostalgia.
When he’s not writing, Nick is usually reading creepy novels, viewing horror movies, watching football, or exploring the sprawling Seattle suburbs with his feisty pet chihuahua, Max.
You can find him online at nickrandersonfiction.com and slashershack.com, on Bluesky at @nickrwriter.bsky.social, and on Instagram at @nickwrites.horror.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 14, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review!
A young woman wakes up one morning and realizes something isn’t right. Turns out, she died a few hours ago and is now stuck in the world of ghosts.
This was a very quick read because it was a novelette and also because i flew through it. I just had to know what was going on. A lot is packed into a short book, but everything flowed very well and i was absolutely hooked. The characters were very diverse, everyone had their own little backstory, and i really liked how imaginative it was. Extra points since i live near this area, and a lot of the descriptions felt familiar to me.
Because it’s a novelette, a lot was not expanded on, but rather just quickly mentioned. im a sucker for long chonky books, so i feel like some more information would have been great too and would have felt less rushed (for example, the scene with the police towards the end).
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a modern ghost story. Truly a different take.
A young woman wakes up one morning and realizes something isn’t right. Turns out, she died a few hours ago and is now stuck in the world of ghosts.
This was a very quick read because it was a novelette and also because i flew through it. I just had to know what was going on. A lot is packed into a short book, but everything flowed very well and i was absolutely hooked. The characters were very diverse, everyone had their own little backstory, and i really liked how imaginative it was. Extra points since i live near this area, and a lot of the descriptions felt familiar to me.
Because it’s a novelette, a lot was not expanded on, but rather just quickly mentioned. im a sucker for long chonky books, so i feel like some more information would have been great too and would have felt less rushed (for example, the scene with the police towards the end).
Highly recommend if you’re looking for a modern ghost story. Truly a different take.
August 16, 2025
Ghost Town
Nick R. Anderson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Angel just learned she’s dead- and now a ghost. A ghost who was murdered, with no memory of who killed her or how it happened. In the afterlife, she’s welcomed by Suzanne from the Ridgecrest Ghost Society (RGS), who helps her adjust alongside other RGS members. Meanwhile, Detective Steve Hoffman begins investigating Angel’s disappearance after her best friend reports her missing. But Steve is also coping with the disappearance of his own teenage daughter, Ashley, taken just a week earlier. Could the two cases be connected—or is it just a coincidence?
I’ll be honest—I didn’t have high hopes when I started. The opening felt like it might lean cheesy (and at times it did). But somewhere along the way, the story got me. The characters were genuinely likable, each with their own charm. I especially loved Bill’s punny jokes. While I wouldn’t call this horror (I never really felt the book was aiming for scares), it was emotional, funny, and surprisingly moving. Some moments had me giggling, others had me tearing up. And the ending? I broke down.
⭐️⭐️ Potential Spoiler Below ⭐️⭐️
👻
👻
👻
Still here?
👻
👻
👻
I put this book off for a while after getting it, but I finally picked it up this week when I’d been feeling let down by other reads. I’m glad I did - because it feels like I was meant to read it right now. Toward the end, one of the ghosts communicates with their loved one, saying they’re safe, happy, and always watching over them. In that moment, the ghost says:
"Tell her about how we skipped class sophomore year to go to Deek's Record Store, and we bought cigarettes."
My father always called me Deeks, for as long as I can remember. My sophomore year I was constantly skipping science class. My father passed away from stage 4 lung cancer in September 2021, after being diagnosed just a few short days before. It was quick and sudden. Every year around this time, I feel the weight of those “lasts” - our last family trip, my last birthday with hearing him wish me a happy birthday telling me he loves me, the last time he hugged me, called me, his last heartbeat. Reading that line felt like a small way of him letting me know he’s okay, happy, and still watching over us.
As cheesy as it sounds, I needed that reminder this week.
Thank you NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours, and most of all Nick R. Anderson for this story. It came at exactly the right time. I recommend it.
#GhostTown #NickRAnderson #XpressoBookTours #NetGalley #BookReview #BookRecommendation #GhostStory #ParanormalFiction #ThrillerReads #Bookstagram #BookReviewersOfInstagram #BookCommunity #ReadersOfInstagram #BookLovers #HauntedReads #SpookySeason #EmotionalReads
Nick R. Anderson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Angel just learned she’s dead- and now a ghost. A ghost who was murdered, with no memory of who killed her or how it happened. In the afterlife, she’s welcomed by Suzanne from the Ridgecrest Ghost Society (RGS), who helps her adjust alongside other RGS members. Meanwhile, Detective Steve Hoffman begins investigating Angel’s disappearance after her best friend reports her missing. But Steve is also coping with the disappearance of his own teenage daughter, Ashley, taken just a week earlier. Could the two cases be connected—or is it just a coincidence?
I’ll be honest—I didn’t have high hopes when I started. The opening felt like it might lean cheesy (and at times it did). But somewhere along the way, the story got me. The characters were genuinely likable, each with their own charm. I especially loved Bill’s punny jokes. While I wouldn’t call this horror (I never really felt the book was aiming for scares), it was emotional, funny, and surprisingly moving. Some moments had me giggling, others had me tearing up. And the ending? I broke down.
⭐️⭐️ Potential Spoiler Below ⭐️⭐️
👻
👻
👻
Still here?
👻
👻
👻
I put this book off for a while after getting it, but I finally picked it up this week when I’d been feeling let down by other reads. I’m glad I did - because it feels like I was meant to read it right now. Toward the end, one of the ghosts communicates with their loved one, saying they’re safe, happy, and always watching over them. In that moment, the ghost says:
"Tell her about how we skipped class sophomore year to go to Deek's Record Store, and we bought cigarettes."
My father always called me Deeks, for as long as I can remember. My sophomore year I was constantly skipping science class. My father passed away from stage 4 lung cancer in September 2021, after being diagnosed just a few short days before. It was quick and sudden. Every year around this time, I feel the weight of those “lasts” - our last family trip, my last birthday with hearing him wish me a happy birthday telling me he loves me, the last time he hugged me, called me, his last heartbeat. Reading that line felt like a small way of him letting me know he’s okay, happy, and still watching over us.
As cheesy as it sounds, I needed that reminder this week.
Thank you NetGalley, Xpresso Book Tours, and most of all Nick R. Anderson for this story. It came at exactly the right time. I recommend it.
#GhostTown #NickRAnderson #XpressoBookTours #NetGalley #BookReview #BookRecommendation #GhostStory #ParanormalFiction #ThrillerReads #Bookstagram #BookReviewersOfInstagram #BookCommunity #ReadersOfInstagram #BookLovers #HauntedReads #SpookySeason #EmotionalReads
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2025
Spooky, Stylish, and Surprisingly Heartfelt
Ghost Town is like if The Sixth Sense and Veronica Mars had a ghost baby in 1991 Seattle. The story follows Amanda “Angel” Taylor, a young woman who wakes up dead (yep, dead) and stuck in a spectral limbo. She doesn’t remember how she died, but she’s determined to find out—with the help of a ragtag crew of ghosts and a grieving detective whose missing daughter might be connected to Angel’s fate2.
The vibe is eerie but not overly grim, and the ghost world is full of quirky, unfinished souls who add some levity to the darker themes. There’s a solid emotional core here, especially in the way the book explores grief, memory, and the idea of justice from beyond the grave.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
That said, the pacing can be a little uneven, and some of the twists feel a bit telegraphed. But the atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. Think foggy streets, flickering lights, and secrets buried deeper than the town’s cemetery.
If you’re into supernatural mysteries with a touch of heart and a dash of dark magic, this one’s worth checking out—especially for fans of The Lovely Bones or Midnight Club–style storytelling.
Ghost Town is like if The Sixth Sense and Veronica Mars had a ghost baby in 1991 Seattle. The story follows Amanda “Angel” Taylor, a young woman who wakes up dead (yep, dead) and stuck in a spectral limbo. She doesn’t remember how she died, but she’s determined to find out—with the help of a ragtag crew of ghosts and a grieving detective whose missing daughter might be connected to Angel’s fate2.
The vibe is eerie but not overly grim, and the ghost world is full of quirky, unfinished souls who add some levity to the darker themes. There’s a solid emotional core here, especially in the way the book explores grief, memory, and the idea of justice from beyond the grave.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
That said, the pacing can be a little uneven, and some of the twists feel a bit telegraphed. But the atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. Think foggy streets, flickering lights, and secrets buried deeper than the town’s cemetery.
If you’re into supernatural mysteries with a touch of heart and a dash of dark magic, this one’s worth checking out—especially for fans of The Lovely Bones or Midnight Club–style storytelling.
July 3, 2025
This book was fantastic! The book was fantastically paced, though I would of liked to see more about the villan being a villan. The choice felt out of nowhere slightly along with I feel some of the characters back stories would be nice to see in the future, as they ranged from all over the eras.
I wouldn't be mad if this became a series, I liked learning about each ghost and some of their stories.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I wouldn't be mad if this became a series, I liked learning about each ghost and some of their stories.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 5, 2025
The story was an okay read although it did lack character and plot depth and left me wanting more out of it by the end. In terms of the atmosphere for the setting I found it to be well developed and executed although if the plot was more engaging it would have proved a better read as a whole.
Thankyou to Net galley and Slasher Shack LLC for an advance copy of this book.
Thankyou to Net galley and Slasher Shack LLC for an advance copy of this book.
November 7, 2025
Once I started, I couldnt put it down! Anderson crafts a fast paced spooky mystery about a ghost trying to solve hwr own murder. With lots of twists and a lineup of suspects, it's impossible to stop reading until the mystery is solved.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews