Voices From Beyond: Ghost Finders Book 5

Ghost Finders #5

by Simon R. Green

In a quiet London suburb, four university students participating in an experiment inside a reputed haunted house hold a séance that goes terribly wrong. What - or who - ever they summoned has taken their minds away, leaving them empty shells.

Enter the Ghost Finders, ready to confront an enraged poltergeist for the students' very souls.

All in a day's work - except the team doesn't know that in another part of the city, a different entity has also breached the threshold between worlds. And this time what is at stake is not four lives - but the existence of humanity.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Ghosts, Fiction, Mystery

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2014

About the author

Simon Richard Green is a British science fiction and fantasy-author. He holds a degree in Modern English and American Literature from the University of Leicester. His first publication was in 1979.

His Deathstalker series is partly a parody of the usual space-opera of the 1950s, told with sovereign disregard of the rules of probability, while being at the same time extremely bloodthirsty.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fifth novel in the series finds the Ghost Finders of the Carnacki Institute investigating a haunted radio station. It has some seriously creepy moments and some genuinely touching bits of character; in addition to the standard bits of derring-do and snarky humor we see the depth of feeling in the relationship of Melody and Happy Jack, as well as that of J.C. and Kim. The auxiliary characters are particularly well-drawn in this one. The stakes seem to be rising, and I'm hoping for a big pay-off in the sixth and final volume.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

If anyone other than Simon R. Green had written this, I would have given up after the second chapter. I have serious issues with the Ghostfinders, as a series, and as a group of fictional people, and I only keep reading because I'm a completist. Well, ok, Green's off-days are better than a lot of people's on-days, but I hold this truth to be self-evident: the Ghostfinders books are no better than any other airport bookstore novel. On to my complaints.

As a series, I hate the Ghostfinders, because these are ideas and cases that could be saved for his other, better, series (series-es?). It actually makes me angry to think that the Nightside is ending, and I'm getting more of this series.

Can you imagine this story playing out in the Secret Histories series? It would be amazing. It would be great. It would have been freaking unbelievable in the Nightside. A haunted radio station with gory and disturbing messages that change depending on who hears them? Also, the Ghostfinders haven't earned their status as a group who are able to walk away from the kind of paradox that their victory here has created. JC tells himself that he remembers being on the other side of that conversation. Which means that up to that point, everything is the same, so how does it turn out differently? John Taylor, however, walks through that kind of paradox like most people walk through puddles.

As a fictional entity... I am unable to further suspend my disbelief regarding the Carnacki Institute. In their last two cases, the Ghostfinders have definitely stepped into Drood jurisdiction, have handled it far worse than a Drood, any Drood, would have, and have been saved by coincidence or their own pocket deus ex machina. There has to come a point, and the fact that it hasn't happened yet is what bothers me, when a group like the Droods have to look at a group like the Carnacki Institute and say "Ok, pack it up. You're hurting more than you're helping, and if we catch you playing in our sandbox again, we will erase you, with prejudice."

This feeling is not helped by the fact that Carnacki is the late-comer, and this group that was never mentioned before was suddenly being mentioned in the same breath as the Droods or whatever other Big Operation is being mentioned in the Nightside or Secret Histories novels. They don't feel that big or powerful. I guess part of the appeal (for most) of the Ghostfinders is that they are more relatable as normal humans (relatively, in Green's urban fantasy works) than his other protagonists? Except they aren't, with the possible exception of Melody. Happy is too powerful. JC is too arrogant. Kim is too Manic Pixie Ghost Girl.

I've written in a previous review that I feel like Green is trying to write this in the style of a suspense/paramilitary organization fiction. All of the tropes show up. I just wish Green was using a better playground to use them.

[David Caldwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost Finders of Carnacki Institute have faced off against some powerful spirits. This time, they are having to stop an immensely powerful beast that can literally change reality to suit its own needs. If they fail, which seems to be a given, the Earth as we know it will end.

Simon R. Green is one of my favorite writers. I loved his Nightside series. The Ghost Finders seems to be a logical next step for me. But it has some problems. The menaces are so huge and while JC, Melody, and Happy Jack all have some neat powers, tech, and tricks, it never really seems enough to win. But they always manage to find some small way to pull out a victory. It would be like a giant space ship (say the size of a moon) that has tons of defenses but also has one small vent shaft that would allow a torpedo to go directly to its power core and blow it up.

The problem is now that they have faced off against such large and powerful foes, they have to keep fighting ones at least that tough. That means more trick wins. A vicious cycle.

Don't get me wrong, I love the characters. Their interaction with each other and those around them is what makes the story worth reading. It is a dark, twisted tale with plenty of action, suspense and even some humorous bits. I just wish they had a more rrealistic chance of winning without a minor miracle saving them right at the end after they have had everything else fail. I am going with 3.5 stars.

[Noah Sturdevant · Rating 2 out of 5]

This really felt like a placeholder novel. Nothing was really resolved or addressed to fit the larger narrative. I don't know why this series feels so different than Green's others, but each books just feels shallow.

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Simon R. Green’s stories tend to have a dark twisted humor to them that makes the at times graphic horror of what is happening more manageable. VOICES FROM BEYOND definitely is classic Simon R. Green with the difference being that these protagonists have slightly less super powers than his other books. I liked that as it made the story feel more intense and their victory even more earned.

Now that isn’t to say there are no paranormal abilities in the motley crew that makes up the Ghost Finders. We have Happy, the pill addicted telepath who I adored as he was the source of most of the wit and cheekiness of this story. JC and his ghost girlfriend Kim are probably the most serious of the group and Melody is the science/tech girl of the team.

The main mystery in VOICES FROM BEYOND is set in a radio station called Radio Free Albion where voices are being heard over the broadcast. The Ghost Finders come in to help and they find out what their future holds for them in the aftermath of this case through a series of ghastly warnings and images of their future selves. There is a very heavy horror element here as much of the imagery and descriptions of the evil the characters face is really, really disturbing and gory.

VOICES FROM BEYOND is a fun mystery, heavy on the horror element and kept me entertained throughout. If you enjoy Simon R. Green’s other series you’ll find the Ghost Finder series right up your alley.

[Angela Verdenius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different to what I thought it would be. Very different from the Nightside books! Enjoyed it, though it was a bit heavy going at times (That was just my mood). But it's a story that doesn't go so fast you wonder how on earth it could possibly happen. If you're wanting something a little 'meatier' to get your teeth into, give this a go.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here:

http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...

Silly and over the top, as usual, but fun to read.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely getting darker and edgier, but the human dimension is also growing, much as it does in the Night Side. The formula is balanced by some nice complexity.

[Jacob Patrick Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Simon R. Green isn't for everyone, but I have fun with his books everytime.

[Stina · Rating 5 out of 5]

These just get better and better as the series continues.

This one even legitimately freaked me out for a little while there, Green is perfecting his haunting a with creepy results.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rollicking fast-paced adventure from Green. The Nightside is my favorite series, but anything he writes is fun to read.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voices from Beyond is the fifth and penultimate book in Ghost Finders series written by Simon R. Green. It stars a second string team in the Carnacki Institute, who hunts ghosts.

Radio Free Albion, a radio station, where voices are being heard over the broadcast. Enter the Carnacki Institute and The Ghost Finders team to help and they find out what their future holds for them in the aftermath of this case through a series of ghastly warnings and images of their future selves.

Voices from Beyond is written rather well. The narrative is a fun mystery that is heavy on the horror elements and is rather entertaining throughout. The substance of the plot was rather good, but it was a tad boring in a couple of places, which disrupted the flow of the story noticeably. The characters and world are explored and expanded more, which made the universe that Green created that much more interesting.

All in all, Voices from Beyond is written rather well and is a wonderful continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series, which I plan to continue in the very near future.

[Thomas Tymstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

☆☆ SPOILER ALERT ☆☆

I have read the previous stories, but this is the first review.

I liked those well enough. I also enjoy the writing of S.R. Green. 📚

It was too much and then not enough. The build up to the world of the terrible thing and then the actual world was overly detailed and scary. Then they didn't actually go into it. They kept forgetting that if they just changed the current problem then the future would change also. Why didn't they go back to the place where the door was and destroy it? Then they decided the Beast made a new door. [convenient]

The Boss beast fight was over in a minute. Why doesn't Melanie have better ammunition or know when to stop firing before she's empty?

PS, I didn't like anyone in this ending story. They all got on my nerves, whining, crying, accusing and questioning. Most people would be glad someone else was handling the situation no matter what they were doing.

✌🏾

[Cynik · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review for the series (books 1-6) Graphic Audio version. So that means this isn't quite the same as the text version since they dramatize it and basically make it into a play. Perhaps I would have liked the text version better. They are entertaining but like goofy action popcorn flick movies. There isn't any depth here. There tends to be a lot of repetition of phrases and descriptions. Sometimes within the same book, almost always from book to book. This is in a shared universe with his Nightside books but I liked those much more.

It was entertaining but not quite good enough to make the 3 star rating (which is my normal rating for most books - it has to be really good to get 4 or 5 stars for me.)

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has been very interesting to read. Simon does a good job with the 3 main characters everytime. Happy the medium, Melody who enjoys her instruments and JC the lead. Kim is back as the ghost of the group and works well with JC. There are 2 main hauntings in this particular book. I was able to read this book on a plane trip and completed within 2 hrs.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the best book in the series. It reminded me of a Doctor Who episode and I loved the messages from the future aspect. It was similar to one of the Harry Dresden Novels where the attack on Demonreach Island was causing ripples in time before the event that causes the ripples actually occurs.

It was a very cool plot in my opinion. Awesome in Graphic Audio.

[Abiearam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 2019

[Vinayak Malik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The improbable and the impossible combine to create a book that is just enticing enough to read through.

[Nicole Gozdek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ach, Mensch, ich wollte das Buch so dringend lesen: Letztes Jahr gekauft, kurz darauf angefangen ... und dann unterbrochen, weil etwas anderes, dringenderes dazwischen kam. Nun ist bereits März und ich bin endlich dazu gekommen, "Voices from Beyond" zu Ende zu lesen. Lektion gelernt, ich bin kein Parallel-Leser.

"Voices from Beyond" ist bereits der 5. Band der "Ghost Finders"-Reihe von Simon R. Green und ich finde, sie hat etwas. Zugegeben, der Humor ist etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig und wird wahrscheinlich nicht allen gefallen - anders kann ich es mir jedenfalls nicht erklären, dass der Bastei Lübbe Verlag nach 2 "Ghost Hunters"-Bänden die Übersetzung eingestellt hat. Denn die Charaktere sind einfach herrlich schräg: Der charismatische Anführer JC Chance hat immer einen flotten Spruch auf den Lippen und ist auch gerne bereit, sich über die Regeln seines Arbeitgebers, des Carnacki Instituts hinwegzusetzen. Mit zum Team gehört auch seine Freundin Kim, ein Geist, ein Handicap, dass JC und sie nicht daran gehindert hat, ein Paar zu werden. Ein cooler Technikfreak und Fan von Schusswaffen ist die taffe Melody Chamber - aber sie muss auch taff sein, denn ihr Freund, der Telepath Happy Jack Palmer, das 4. Teammitglied, hat so seine Probleme mit dem Leben. Seine Gabe, Geister und andere übernatürliche Phänomene wahrzunehmen, hat ihn depressiv und drogensüchtig gemacht. Und als Leser weiß man nie, in welcher Form man Happy im neuen Band antreffen wird.

Neben dem verrückten Team haben die Romane im Grund die gleiche Grundstruktur. Zuerst gibt es einen kleinen Fall, der leicht zu lösen ist, und dann einen großen, gefährlichen Fall, der überraschend aber meist etwas mit dem kleinen Fall zu tun hat. Gut, nicht besonders kreativ die Struktur, aber sie funktioniert, denn wenn man sie erst einmal durchschaut hat, ist man dem Team beim Lesen immer einen Schritt voraus, weil man weiß, dass da noch ein großer Knall kommen muss. Auch der 5. Band "Voices from Beyond" hat wieder Spaß gebracht. Ich freue mich schon auf den 6. Band "Forces from Beyond", der für August 2015 angekündigt ist.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 5th instalment of the Ghost Finders series follows the same basic pattern of the previous books - 1/4 of the novel taken up with case A, then the other 3/4 taken up by the unrelated and usually less interesting case B.

Case A here feels like the movie The Quiet Ones - we have a professor with 4 university students trying to prove ghosts don't exist by playing with a Ouija Board in a paranormal hot spot. Our team of Ghostfinders are called in when things go wrong and the 4 students are left as vegetables, their 'souls' being trapped in a beast dimension. Although over far too quickly/easily the case isn't without merit. I love how the souls get back into the wrong bodies and wish we'd return to see how that gets resolved though sadly we're immediately sent onto the next case.

Case B then has the ghost finders called into a radio station where ghosts are trying to communicate. Only it turns out that it isn't ghosts at all but their future selves trying to warn them of impending doom. This does very loosely connect with case A in that the entity here wants revenge for JC's triumph in the previous case. Meh.

While I love the Bizzaro fiction style flesh dimension, over all I wasn't particularly impressed with this one. The ending - particularly the destruction of the beast is a real damp squib.

As ever I adore the characters, and it is them and the overarching series plot that make these novels addictive rather than individual stories.

This one's OK, but far from the best in the series.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with the reviewer who said that they've definately stepped over into Drood Jurisdiction in this and the previous book.

And Green missed a golden opportunity there. He could have done a crossover with the Secret Histories, had Eddie and family enter into the picture, render aid to the beleaguered Ghostfinders "suddenly and violently and all over the place", then yank them up for a "Come to Eddie" meeting and tell them to focus, dammit, and FINALLY deal with the threat within their own organization "or there will be tears before bedtime".

I do enjoy the banter, and, like The Nightside crew (whose ending, I feel, was premature...a hiatus may have been warranted if the series felt stale to Green, but I think there was still plenty of fertile territory left to explore there) and the Droods, he has made me care about not only the team themselves but Catherine Latimer as well. However, I feel like the author, rather than building the tension up regarding The Flesh Undying, is stalling. Dragging his, the Ghostfinders, and, ultimately our feet in getting to something that should have been dealt with two novels back.

While I enjoyed this story well enough, I found myself getting impatient when I reached the realization that here is yet another story in which we will not see resolution, uncover and deal with the traitor within the Carnacki Institute and confront The Flesh Undying.

Oh do get on with it!

[Rastlin98 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that at certain points this book annoyed me. It was patently obvious who the big bad was, but no one seemed to have put it together until almost the last part of the book!!!! Very annoying, much of this story could have been shorter. Better editing needed as sometimes the story can be so long winded. I would of been more inclined to read that they had figured out who the big bad was, and then worked on a solution of trying to stop it!!!

The walk in the park with the head of the Carnicki institute was interesting and raised a number of points/queries. looking forward to the next instalment as I do like these books, but come on it could be so much more better.

[Tanushree Baruah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simon R Green continues in true form with this new addition to the Ghost Finders series. The series started off rather slow but picked up steam with the third book.

There were some really creepy moments in the book and I couldn't read it alone when I was alone in bed at night. All those suggestions of something terrible lurking, an evil which would mercilessly destroy everything and the atmosphere created were excellent horror. It was only when talks of a cruel Beast and an outworldly portal started, I got bored.

4 stars for an immensely spooky mid-section narrative and of course Green's trademark dry humor.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon R. Green scared the Hell out of me with this exciting new Ghost Finders novel. The idea of a haunted radio station is very original and the way Green executed is was nothing short of brilliant. The visions of an apocalyptic world were incredibly vivid and disturbing, but the witty dialogue and the likeable cast of characters make the reading of this book fast and pleasant.
Heartily recommended.

[Ed Nemo · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this newest Ghost Finders novel, we gain a little more insight into the Director of the Carnacki Institute as well as see the Ghost Finders prepare with a fight for their grudge match against the Flesh Undying.

Dry humor and interesting characters make this book very readable. I'm looking forward to the next book and hoping that we see an issue take the Ghost Finders to the Nightside or against the Droods. A fantastic encompassing Universe.

[Roswita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced ride to a possessed radio station that leaves the Ghost-Finder crew dealing with ghastly voices and horrific visions. This book is a wonderful addition to the series that actually answers a few questions about JC and Kim. Unfortunately, it also raises more questions. If I wasn't already hooked on the series, this book would do it fir me, because now I really want to know the answers! Well done, Simon. Keep them coming!

[Stacy Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed this series since book one and this one didn't disappoint. Although I want a more complete ending to the first case I thought the second case was freaky enough. My only problem with this series is Happy and his use of drugs, I just feel like by now they should be working more on getting him off than letting him use more and more. I only wish the books came out a little faster.

[Scott Combs · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with a lot of Simon R. Green's books there isn't much going on. This one seemed to drag on a bit with the same tired dialog banter between the three main characters. But I will say Simon's medicre books are still better than most other writer's books in the same genre. I will continue to read his next book just because they have an entertaining quality about them.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Simon R. Green really raised the bar for the Ghost Finders with this latest installment. Generally, I prefer the Nightside or Drood novels, but this kept me on the edge of my seat, and I found parts of the novel to be truly chilling and creepy. Can't wait for the next one!

[Limejuize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. A non stop thrill ride. I like that we get to see more into Melody and Happy Jacks relationship/how they feel about each other. I can't wait for the next one with the way this one is left off it promises to be game changing.