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Ghost Gun
Win a free kindle copy of this book!
19 days and 03:56:01
100 copies available
U.S. only
A multiracial family from New York returns, again and again, to Mobile, Alabama — drawn back by family ties to a place where a decades-old act of racial violence still shapes the present. Their eighteen-year-old son has already begun to uncover what happened.
They arrive from the North with distance, money, and the quiet protections of privilege. In Mobile, those protections begin to thin. The past feels closer here — less abstract, more lived — and the divisions it produced remain visible in ways they cannot ignore. The family itself carries its own fault lines: a white father, a Black mother, and children who move between worlds, read differently depending on where they are.
At the center is eighteen-year-old Elijah, navigating the contradictions of identity, inheritance, and rage. As he pushes deeper into his family's past, what begins as a search for understanding starts to slip beyond his control, threatening consequences he cannot foresee.
Around him, each member of the family confronts their own fracture. His father retreats into systems of control, preparing for a future he believes is already collapsing. His mother resists a life shaped by fear and distance. His sister watches, reads, and searches for meaning in what remains unsaid.
Told through shifting interior voices, Ghost Gun explores the uneasy boundary between reckoning and destruction.
They arrive from the North with distance, money, and the quiet protections of privilege. In Mobile, those protections begin to thin. The past feels closer here — less abstract, more lived — and the divisions it produced remain visible in ways they cannot ignore. The family itself carries its own fault lines: a white father, a Black mother, and children who move between worlds, read differently depending on where they are.
At the center is eighteen-year-old Elijah, navigating the contradictions of identity, inheritance, and rage. As he pushes deeper into his family's past, what begins as a search for understanding starts to slip beyond his control, threatening consequences he cannot foresee.
Around him, each member of the family confronts their own fracture. His father retreats into systems of control, preparing for a future he believes is already collapsing. His mother resists a life shaped by fear and distance. His sister watches, reads, and searches for meaning in what remains unsaid.
Told through shifting interior voices, Ghost Gun explores the uneasy boundary between reckoning and destruction.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 10, 2026
About the author
cc ECK
1 book10 followerscc ECK writes literary fiction exploring family, race, memory, and the ways history continues to shape the present.
Ghost Gun, a debut novel, follows a multiracial family confronting the legacy of a long-buried act of racial violence. Told through four distinct voices, it explores inheritance, privilege, historical injustice, mental illness, and the stories families pass from one generation to the next.
While Ghost Gun is a work of fiction, the themes explored are shaped by the author's experience in an interracial family, and by years of reflection on how families carry history — through memory, silence, and the stories they choose to tell. Based between Brooklyn and the American South, ECK is currently at work on a second novel.
Ghost Gun, a debut novel, follows a multiracial family confronting the legacy of a long-buried act of racial violence. Told through four distinct voices, it explores inheritance, privilege, historical injustice, mental illness, and the stories families pass from one generation to the next.
While Ghost Gun is a work of fiction, the themes explored are shaped by the author's experience in an interracial family, and by years of reflection on how families carry history — through memory, silence, and the stories they choose to tell. Based between Brooklyn and the American South, ECK is currently at work on a second novel.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 15, 2026
I’m gonna try and do my best to describe Ghost Gun by @cc_eck_author, which happens to be one of my favorite reads of the year. First, I absolutely loved it. Second, this is a multi-narrative story about family, race and wealth that has stayed with me long after I read it. Moving from NYC to Alabama and back I don’t think I’ll read a better book that talks about pain and privilege in equal measures. Big 👍
June 20, 2026
Ghost Gun surprised me with how deeply it resonated. As a multigenerational story exploring race, identity, class, and the systems that shape American life, it felt far more personal than I anticipated. As someone with ties to Alabama and North Carolina and as a biracial reader who has lost a sibling to violence, I recognized pieces of my own family and experiences woven throughout the narrative. That emotional connection made the story especially powerful. My one critique is stylistic: the heavy use of em dashes, combined with the author’s choice to remain anonymous, occasionally pulled me out of the reading experience and even made me briefly question whether the work was AI-generated.
That aside, this is a powerful, emotional, and beautifully written novel that will spark meaningful conversation long after the last page.
That aside, this is a powerful, emotional, and beautifully written novel that will spark meaningful conversation long after the last page.
August 1, 2026
I happened upon this book because it was sent to me by the author as an ARC. I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and very much enjoyed it.
Ghost Gun is a multi POV book that explores the generational trauma caused by slavery and deep rooted racism in the South. The book gives us insight into the lives of a range of members of a family who had been struck by tragedy decades ago when one of their own was targeted as victim of vicious hate crime. While the premise is centered around this event, the book delves into the impact on the characters mundane lives and the differences and disparities experienced due to various external intersectional factors. I liked how each character had a very distinct personality and individual storyline which at times intersected with the other characters but was for the most part quite standalone and really isolated their experiences from the others. I also think this really helped to blindside me for the ending which made it much more impactful and really brought it all together.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m happy I read it! I would say the vibe of it reminded me of Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and might be of interest for those who enjoyed that.
Ghost Gun is a multi POV book that explores the generational trauma caused by slavery and deep rooted racism in the South. The book gives us insight into the lives of a range of members of a family who had been struck by tragedy decades ago when one of their own was targeted as victim of vicious hate crime. While the premise is centered around this event, the book delves into the impact on the characters mundane lives and the differences and disparities experienced due to various external intersectional factors. I liked how each character had a very distinct personality and individual storyline which at times intersected with the other characters but was for the most part quite standalone and really isolated their experiences from the others. I also think this really helped to blindside me for the ending which made it much more impactful and really brought it all together.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m happy I read it! I would say the vibe of it reminded me of Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and might be of interest for those who enjoyed that.
June 8, 2026
Ghost Gun by C.C. Eck is a gripping, multi-narrative story that masterfully unpacks family secrets, legacy, and generational trauma. Eck does an incredible job weaving together themes of privilege, race, power, class, and mental health in ways that feel both raw and deeply human.
The layered storytelling kept me fully engaged, with each perspective adding depth and emotional weight to the larger narrative. What stood out most to me was how the novel challenges systems of power while also exploring the intimate wounds families carry across generations.
Reading Ghost Gun put me in the mindset of Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward,both novels carry a haunting emotional intensity and a profound sense of history, pain, and survival.
An engaging, thought-provoking read that lingers long after the final page.
The layered storytelling kept me fully engaged, with each perspective adding depth and emotional weight to the larger narrative. What stood out most to me was how the novel challenges systems of power while also exploring the intimate wounds families carry across generations.
Reading Ghost Gun put me in the mindset of Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward,both novels carry a haunting emotional intensity and a profound sense of history, pain, and survival.
An engaging, thought-provoking read that lingers long after the final page.
July 16, 2026
Huge thank you to the author for my gifted copy!
This incredible family saga follows the Thomas-Engel family as they reckon with their violent past, generational trauma, and the ways that racism continues to impact each of them. They are a biracial family with a White father and a Black mother and two teenagers who are trying to figure out their place in the world.
The novel addresses the interconnected issues of racism, generational trauma, justice, social class, mental illness, and mass incarceration through the perspective of multiple family members. In addition to addressing these complex issues in a realistic and thoughtful way, the novel also includes some surprising twists that kept me guessing all the way to the end.
I loved the multiple POV and complicated characters and the ending left me questioning where each of them will end up next. I also loved that it was not all tied up neatly in the end. I highly recommend this fantastic debut and I can’t wait to read more from Eck in the future!
Huge thank you to the author for my gifted copy!
This incredible family saga follows the Thomas-Engel family as they reckon with their violent past, generational trauma, and the ways that racism continues to impact each of them. They are a biracial family with a White father and a Black mother and two teenagers who are trying to figure out their place in the world.
The novel addresses the interconnected issues of racism, generational trauma, justice, social class, mental illness, and mass incarceration through the perspective of multiple family members. In addition to addressing these complex issues in a realistic and thoughtful way, the novel also includes some surprising twists that kept me guessing all the way to the end.
I loved the multiple POV and complicated characters and the ending left me questioning where each of them will end up next. I also loved that it was not all tied up neatly in the end. I highly recommend this fantastic debut and I can’t wait to read more from Eck in the future!
This incredible family saga follows the Thomas-Engel family as they reckon with their violent past, generational trauma, and the ways that racism continues to impact each of them. They are a biracial family with a White father and a Black mother and two teenagers who are trying to figure out their place in the world.
The novel addresses the interconnected issues of racism, generational trauma, justice, social class, mental illness, and mass incarceration through the perspective of multiple family members. In addition to addressing these complex issues in a realistic and thoughtful way, the novel also includes some surprising twists that kept me guessing all the way to the end.
I loved the multiple POV and complicated characters and the ending left me questioning where each of them will end up next. I also loved that it was not all tied up neatly in the end. I highly recommend this fantastic debut and I can’t wait to read more from Eck in the future!
Huge thank you to the author for my gifted copy!
This incredible family saga follows the Thomas-Engel family as they reckon with their violent past, generational trauma, and the ways that racism continues to impact each of them. They are a biracial family with a White father and a Black mother and two teenagers who are trying to figure out their place in the world.
The novel addresses the interconnected issues of racism, generational trauma, justice, social class, mental illness, and mass incarceration through the perspective of multiple family members. In addition to addressing these complex issues in a realistic and thoughtful way, the novel also includes some surprising twists that kept me guessing all the way to the end.
I loved the multiple POV and complicated characters and the ending left me questioning where each of them will end up next. I also loved that it was not all tied up neatly in the end. I highly recommend this fantastic debut and I can’t wait to read more from Eck in the future!
June 25, 2026
⚠️ TW: racism, generational trauma, references to lynching, mental health struggles, grief, family conflict, and historical violence.
•••••
Ghost Gun is a quiet but powerful read that explores family, identity, and the lasting impact of generational trauma. The story follows a family returning to Alabama, where old secrets and painful history begin to resurface. It really highlights how the past can continue to shape the present, even when people try their best to leave it behind.
•••••
What stood out to me most was the theme of silence and how the things families don’t talk about can still affect generations down the line. It had me thinking about the stories that get passed down, the ones that don’t, and the people who end up carrying the weight of it all. While this isn’t a fast-paced or plot-driven read, it’s incredibly thought-provoking and emotionally layered. It’s the kind of book that gives you a lot to reflect on after you’ve finished the last page.
•••••
If you enjoy character-driven stories that tackle difficult topics and leave you with something to think about, I’d recommend adding this one to your TBR.
•••••
Thank you to cc ECK for the ARC. This is definitely one of those stories that will stay on my mind for a while.
•••••
Ghost Gun is a quiet but powerful read that explores family, identity, and the lasting impact of generational trauma. The story follows a family returning to Alabama, where old secrets and painful history begin to resurface. It really highlights how the past can continue to shape the present, even when people try their best to leave it behind.
•••••
What stood out to me most was the theme of silence and how the things families don’t talk about can still affect generations down the line. It had me thinking about the stories that get passed down, the ones that don’t, and the people who end up carrying the weight of it all. While this isn’t a fast-paced or plot-driven read, it’s incredibly thought-provoking and emotionally layered. It’s the kind of book that gives you a lot to reflect on after you’ve finished the last page.
•••••
If you enjoy character-driven stories that tackle difficult topics and leave you with something to think about, I’d recommend adding this one to your TBR.
•••••
Thank you to cc ECK for the ARC. This is definitely one of those stories that will stay on my mind for a while.
July 3, 2026
Ghost Gun is a very impactful read. It covers topics that need to be spoken about loudly, but this book does so in a way that compounds over time allowing the pace to build as the reader learns more about the characters over the chapters. By the end, as the readers are invested, the stories is fully covering topics that are heavy and traumatic, leaving the reader resonating on everything that they have just read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
July 8, 2026
“Ghost Gun” is a debut that tackles so many themes: race, mental health, psyche, family, trauma, culture, gender, class, education and more. Following a biracial family and their navigation from and through generational trauma, this story is told in parts by each character and their perspective. The only critique I have is there are so many sentences throughout that are way too long (I read this book aloud and ran out of breath sometimes lol) but besides that, really good story.
June 30, 2026
A great debut novel! Elijah is boarding-school bound for Yale when a trip to Mobile to see his dying grandfather cracks open the thing his family never said out loud: he was named for a relative who was lynched, and the descendant of the man who did it lives fifteen minutes away. What follows is a slow, devastating reckoning with what a bloodline passes down.
I love a family trauma novel told through multiple POVs. And the voices in Ghost Gun are unique. Elijah talks to you like he's sliding into the passenger seat, all slang and blazing intelligence, and he's the living soul of this book. Natasha, his book-devouring sister, reads Anna Karenina for the fourth time and aches for a love she hasn't lived yet, and I have never felt so seen by a fictional teenager. Their mother confesses in litanies. Their father narrates like a spreadsheet with a pulse. And blind great-aunt Willamita, cracking pecans and talking to a ghost, nearly walks away with the whole thing.
As someone with an interracial family, I appreciate this story. So much fiction puts a mixed family on the page and then declines to deal with race, or flattens one partner into a type. This book does neither. It's about the cost of the silence a family keeps, and what that silence does to a child who inherits a history nobody will name. ECK does not flinch. The title says it all: trauma as an untraceable weapon, no serial number, handed down, going off in hands that never asked for it. The ending pulled the floor out from under me.
A gentle heads up that this one moves through heavy terrain, including racism, lynching, mental illness, and suicidal ideation.
🎶 Pairing: "Hope She'll Be Happier" by Bill Withers (Zora sings it in the book, and it's perfect). I built a whole soundtrack for this story too, seven songs sequenced to the book. You'll find it, and my full book review, over on my Substack, The B-Side.
Always on the B-Side, Melissa ❤️
I love a family trauma novel told through multiple POVs. And the voices in Ghost Gun are unique. Elijah talks to you like he's sliding into the passenger seat, all slang and blazing intelligence, and he's the living soul of this book. Natasha, his book-devouring sister, reads Anna Karenina for the fourth time and aches for a love she hasn't lived yet, and I have never felt so seen by a fictional teenager. Their mother confesses in litanies. Their father narrates like a spreadsheet with a pulse. And blind great-aunt Willamita, cracking pecans and talking to a ghost, nearly walks away with the whole thing.
As someone with an interracial family, I appreciate this story. So much fiction puts a mixed family on the page and then declines to deal with race, or flattens one partner into a type. This book does neither. It's about the cost of the silence a family keeps, and what that silence does to a child who inherits a history nobody will name. ECK does not flinch. The title says it all: trauma as an untraceable weapon, no serial number, handed down, going off in hands that never asked for it. The ending pulled the floor out from under me.
A gentle heads up that this one moves through heavy terrain, including racism, lynching, mental illness, and suicidal ideation.
🎶 Pairing: "Hope She'll Be Happier" by Bill Withers (Zora sings it in the book, and it's perfect). I built a whole soundtrack for this story too, seven songs sequenced to the book. You'll find it, and my full book review, over on my Substack, The B-Side.
Always on the B-Side, Melissa ❤️
June 28, 2026
“It’s a combination of earned wealth and inherited wealth that keeps compounding, building momentum, accumulating prestige and legitimacy the farther it’s removed from its original sin.” This poignant line from cc ECK’s novel, Ghost Gun, captures the central tension of the novel. Through the eyes of the central young narrator, ECK delivers an ambitious story that forces readers to look at how wealth can shield a family from their own history until it suddenly can't. As a biracial family journeys through the South, shifting perspectives reveal how history shapes identity and family relationships. The novel balances intimate family moments with broader reflections on society, making Ghost Gun both an engaging family story and a thoughtful examination of the legacies people inherit.
I received an advance complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
I received an advance complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
June 14, 2026
This book is all about legacv...genetic, financial, educational racial. cultural. It is about what we inherit and the reverberating impacts of that across generations--wealth vs poverty, mental health vs mental illness, light skin vs dark skin education vs illiteracy, justice vs injustice, freedom vs incarceration/slavery. Each character in the family has chapters from their own point-of-view, and their vastly different takes on these issues is fascinating and thought-provoking. The ending felt a bit abrupt and forced me to recalibrate my view of some of the characters, but overall, I really liked how much this book made me THINK about these issues.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews