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Phasmata
Ryan’s biggest problem wasn’t that he’d almost died on a routine convoy run in the service.
It honestly wasn’t even the fact that he could see ghosts.
Less so that his best friend happened to be an undead kid named Carl who had turned Ryan’s life into a videogame. Character sheet, perks, abilities, and everything that went with it.
Or that his own past haunted him more willingly and frequently than any haunting ever could.
It was the simple reality that he’d become a restless spirit in his own life. A man shuffling through life as if he were undead.
At least until he figured that part out and forced himself to start moving forward.
A new job has opened up in Noxfield, West Virginia. A place to start over and get behind the wheel to drive his life to where it’s meant to be. Which is honestly wherever he wants to take it.
With a new boss, personalized ghost-hunting equipment, new co-workers, and a brand-new location that’s as haunted as could be, Ryan Hale is attempting to live.
To escape his past that’s clung to him like an echo of life.
At least, so long as West Virginia and its flood of ghosts doesn’t cut that dream short.
What waits for him in Noxfield is far worse than anything in his past could serve up to him in a nightmare.
Worse than anything he’s seen from the Other Side since his brush with death.
Or since he finally faced the truth about his life and how little of it he’d actually lived.
Because West Virginia is haunted.
Truly haunted.
And by more than just ghosts.
It honestly wasn’t even the fact that he could see ghosts.
Less so that his best friend happened to be an undead kid named Carl who had turned Ryan’s life into a videogame. Character sheet, perks, abilities, and everything that went with it.
Or that his own past haunted him more willingly and frequently than any haunting ever could.
It was the simple reality that he’d become a restless spirit in his own life. A man shuffling through life as if he were undead.
At least until he figured that part out and forced himself to start moving forward.
A new job has opened up in Noxfield, West Virginia. A place to start over and get behind the wheel to drive his life to where it’s meant to be. Which is honestly wherever he wants to take it.
With a new boss, personalized ghost-hunting equipment, new co-workers, and a brand-new location that’s as haunted as could be, Ryan Hale is attempting to live.
To escape his past that’s clung to him like an echo of life.
At least, so long as West Virginia and its flood of ghosts doesn’t cut that dream short.
What waits for him in Noxfield is far worse than anything in his past could serve up to him in a nightmare.
Worse than anything he’s seen from the Other Side since his brush with death.
Or since he finally faced the truth about his life and how little of it he’d actually lived.
Because West Virginia is haunted.
Truly haunted.
And by more than just ghosts.
- GenresUrban Fantasy
470 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2025
91 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 10, 2025
A good and original story, if maybe a bit too chaotic.
Ryan is small town ghost hunter with unusual talent and abilities. He is accompanied by a mysterious ghost named Karl, that has given Ryan a game like system to improve his abilities and get new ones for completing quests - aka helping people and sending souls to the after life.
After a particularly rough job, his boss Cindy decides to quit her firm and sends Ryan to a new employer, the enigmatic, bubbly and rich Misha in West Virginia. In West Virginia Ryan slowly gets to meet his new teammates (all women) and chases after a cult that has been planning to turn Virginia into a large ritual for hundreds of years.
Ryan was good protagonist and I don’t have any complaints about the side characters, other than that we barely got to know them. Misha was only there for a while in the beginning and end. Ai barely played a role at all. Karl didn’t let anything about himself slip. Dolores was there for two chapters then disappeared with no info as to wether she is still alive. Daisy we got to know a bit, but nothing concrete about her family situation. The plot also ended …. - I wouldn’t quite call it a cliffhanger, but there were a lot of unresolved plotlines, unanswered questions and still missing rewards and people.
I would have wished for a bit less action and instead more time to get to know the characters and a cleaner ending point to book 1. There also wasn’t any romance in this one, as it was already packed too full. The story is intriguing enough so I hope the author leaves himself more time and doesn’t rush the story along. But Im def interested in future books.
Ryan is small town ghost hunter with unusual talent and abilities. He is accompanied by a mysterious ghost named Karl, that has given Ryan a game like system to improve his abilities and get new ones for completing quests - aka helping people and sending souls to the after life.
After a particularly rough job, his boss Cindy decides to quit her firm and sends Ryan to a new employer, the enigmatic, bubbly and rich Misha in West Virginia. In West Virginia Ryan slowly gets to meet his new teammates (all women) and chases after a cult that has been planning to turn Virginia into a large ritual for hundreds of years.
Ryan was good protagonist and I don’t have any complaints about the side characters, other than that we barely got to know them. Misha was only there for a while in the beginning and end. Ai barely played a role at all. Karl didn’t let anything about himself slip. Dolores was there for two chapters then disappeared with no info as to wether she is still alive. Daisy we got to know a bit, but nothing concrete about her family situation. The plot also ended …. - I wouldn’t quite call it a cliffhanger, but there were a lot of unresolved plotlines, unanswered questions and still missing rewards and people.
I would have wished for a bit less action and instead more time to get to know the characters and a cleaner ending point to book 1. There also wasn’t any romance in this one, as it was already packed too full. The story is intriguing enough so I hope the author leaves himself more time and doesn’t rush the story along. But Im def interested in future books.
November 29, 2025
This was an excellent book that held my attention throughout the Thanksgiving holiday. I stopped playing games of any sort to just sit and read it. That hasn't happened in a while, but the plot was just that good.
The MC is a former soldier turned ghost exterminator. His current company shuts down, and he's offered a new gig in West Virginia. Upon arriving, he meets his new boss (hot to the MC), new partners (all hot to the MC) and finds himself involved in some really weird stuff going on in the fictitious town in WV. The police detective murder mystery was exceptionally well done, and had me reading late into the night to see how that part resolved.
The MC still has a serious medical condition that seems to plague every one of the author's MCs: Flirting Tourette's Syndrome. If he's in the vicinity of a woman he finds attractive, outrageously flirty comments start to fly out of his mouth with no intention behind them. And they always work to attract/seduce said women. The fact that every MC the author has does this has become a distraction, but the plot was so damned good, I overlooked it.
The LIs are multiple, but he hasn't gotten anywhere with any of them yet. Clearly there is a physical type working here, because they are mostly full figured with large .
I am very much looking forward to more of this story, and would read it probably more eagerly if there wasn't a harem element to it, as it is bound to distract from such a strong plot.
The MC is a former soldier turned ghost exterminator. His current company shuts down, and he's offered a new gig in West Virginia. Upon arriving, he meets his new boss (hot to the MC), new partners (all hot to the MC) and finds himself involved in some really weird stuff going on in the fictitious town in WV. The police detective murder mystery was exceptionally well done, and had me reading late into the night to see how that part resolved.
The MC still has a serious medical condition that seems to plague every one of the author's MCs: Flirting Tourette's Syndrome. If he's in the vicinity of a woman he finds attractive, outrageously flirty comments start to fly out of his mouth with no intention behind them. And they always work to attract/seduce said women. The fact that every MC the author has does this has become a distraction, but the plot was so damned good, I overlooked it.
The LIs are multiple, but he hasn't gotten anywhere with any of them yet. Clearly there is a physical type working here, because they are mostly full figured with large .
I am very much looking forward to more of this story, and would read it probably more eagerly if there wasn't a harem element to it, as it is bound to distract from such a strong plot.
December 24, 2025
Sooo good get this book!
When was the last time you thought thr main character was going to die 38 percent into the book? And find yourself holding your breath thinking what the heck this is a book! Why am I scared here like I'm the one in trouble? That's a book that draws you in multiple times, and has everything you can want. Interesting main character that's clueless to the situation but intelligent and well reasoned on his actions.
The author hit it out of the ballpark with this book one!
When was the last time you thought thr main character was going to die 38 percent into the book? And find yourself holding your breath thinking what the heck this is a book! Why am I scared here like I'm the one in trouble? That's a book that draws you in multiple times, and has everything you can want. Interesting main character that's clueless to the situation but intelligent and well reasoned on his actions.
The author hit it out of the ballpark with this book one!
November 25, 2025
I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
I enjoyed this. Liked the scenes especially when he was spoiler free: reloading and rearming it tickled me for some reason. Looking forward to more but know it will be a while. Alas. Time to google other books because I enjoyed this and Anna dressed in blood years ago. Time to find some more cheers will you are as ever a delight to follow in your many works
I enjoyed this. Liked the scenes especially when he was spoiler free: reloading and rearming it tickled me for some reason. Looking forward to more but know it will be a while. Alas. Time to google other books because I enjoyed this and Anna dressed in blood years ago. Time to find some more cheers will you are as ever a delight to follow in your many works
December 2, 2025
4.5 stars. This fared a lot better for me than a lot of the author's recent books. Some of the usual heavy-handed flirting, but it never got recursive like it does in some of his stuff. I don't think this is a Runnerverse book, and for me that would be a good thing. That was getting played-out in my opinion, so some fresh worlds are in order.
I assume there will be a sequel based on the way this one ended, but I guess we'll find out.
I assume there will be a sequel based on the way this one ended, but I guess we'll find out.
December 9, 2025
different
This story was different, different in a lot of ways from Wills other work. I noticed this book had a lot of editing errors as compared to previous releases, one of the big ones is at the end it says thanks for reading súper sale on superheroes which is a different book. Not sure if this is the start of a series, I hope so because there is a bunch of loose ends. I hope he gets better editors in the next one
This story was different, different in a lot of ways from Wills other work. I noticed this book had a lot of editing errors as compared to previous releases, one of the big ones is at the end it says thanks for reading súper sale on superheroes which is a different book. Not sure if this is the start of a series, I hope so because there is a bunch of loose ends. I hope he gets better editors in the next one
December 10, 2025
Look, having the guy drop a loaded gun on his medical brace as a result of having a flashback to his combat days is technically a 'show don't tell' way of letting us know that he's an injured veteran with PTSD, but subtle it is not. I wouldn't say I'm exactly Mr. Subtlety either, but I don't think this book is for me.
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December 13, 2025This needs movie production. Stat!!!
This would make the most amazing new horror series since the '80's.
The creepy ghost whispering, the thriller tension, the army vet holding back evil with his holy water squirt gun. Brilliant. This could actually get me to go to a theater again. Please, please, please, please make this a movie!!!
This would make the most amazing new horror series since the '80's.
The creepy ghost whispering, the thriller tension, the army vet holding back evil with his holy water squirt gun. Brilliant. This could actually get me to go to a theater again. Please, please, please, please make this a movie!!!
December 17, 2025
Favorite book in a long while
This book was similar to a game about ghost hunting that I love which made me love it more. But more then that the plot and the characters really made me love this book. This is now one of my favorite books from any author and like top 3 from this author
This book was similar to a game about ghost hunting that I love which made me love it more. But more then that the plot and the characters really made me love this book. This is now one of my favorite books from any author and like top 3 from this author
November 21, 2025
Spooky Scar Ghosts
If you're into ghost stories this is a book for you if not I'd still recommend it it has plenty going on and isn't actually all that scary as usual William D Aarand has crafted a great story with in depth and intriguing characters
If you're into ghost stories this is a book for you if not I'd still recommend it it has plenty going on and isn't actually all that scary as usual William D Aarand has crafted a great story with in depth and intriguing characters
Read
November 23, 2025Great new book
As always well written with vivid characters but a new and fascinating direction. I always enjoy his books but sorry when I got to the end. I can't wait to see where this goes next.
As always well written with vivid characters but a new and fascinating direction. I always enjoy his books but sorry when I got to the end. I can't wait to see where this goes next.
November 24, 2025
Another good read
This work was a surprise and a step to the side. I can see where it can socket in, but it is a pleasant divergence and I look forward to further developments. To the faithful: don't take it too serious and enjoy the triumph of good over evil!
This work was a surprise and a step to the side. I can see where it can socket in, but it is a pleasant divergence and I look forward to further developments. To the faithful: don't take it too serious and enjoy the triumph of good over evil!
December 5, 2025
Best book in a a while
This is the best book William has written in a while. And I mean that as somebody who enjoys basically all of his books.
This was genuinely awesome. I couldn't put it down
This is the best book William has written in a while. And I mean that as somebody who enjoys basically all of his books.
This was genuinely awesome. I couldn't put it down
December 6, 2025
Different than anything I've ever read by this author. A definite must read!!!
This story/series is like nothing I have ever read by this author which made it even more intriguing to me. The world building and char
This story/series is like nothing I have ever read by this author which made it even more intriguing to me. The world building and char
November 24, 2025
Very good book
This is a fine fantasy harem adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Ai. I anxiously await the author's next novel.
This is a fine fantasy harem adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Ai. I anxiously await the author's next novel.
December 1, 2025
Amazing
Cannot wait for the next book! I love the story, the way it twists near the end is quite unique and enjoyable. I hope you cant put this book down same way I couldn't 😃
Cannot wait for the next book! I love the story, the way it twists near the end is quite unique and enjoyable. I hope you cant put this book down same way I couldn't 😃
December 21, 2025
Best work ever!! A must read.
Best work since swing shift series!! All of his works are great reads but this is his best!
Keep them coming.
Best work since swing shift series!! All of his works are great reads but this is his best!
Keep them coming.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews