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Ghost Gifts #3
Echo Moon
A past life, a past war, and a past love. Peter St John can’t foresee a future until he confronts his past sins.
When photojournalist Peter St John returns home after a two-year absence, the life he’s been running from catches up. For years his mother’s presence, coupled with Pete’s own psychic gift, has triggered visits to 1917. There, he relives battles of the Great War, captures the heyday of Coney Island on canvas, and falls in love with an enchanting and enigmatic songstress named Esme. Present-day Pete still pines for Esme, and his love endures…but so does his vivid memory of killing her.
When he discovers family heirlooms that serve as proof of his crimes, Pete will have to finally confront his former life. He also meets a young woman—who is more than what she seems—with a curious connection to his family. As century-old secrets unravel, can Pete reconcile a murder from his past before it destroys his future?
When photojournalist Peter St John returns home after a two-year absence, the life he’s been running from catches up. For years his mother’s presence, coupled with Pete’s own psychic gift, has triggered visits to 1917. There, he relives battles of the Great War, captures the heyday of Coney Island on canvas, and falls in love with an enchanting and enigmatic songstress named Esme. Present-day Pete still pines for Esme, and his love endures…but so does his vivid memory of killing her.
When he discovers family heirlooms that serve as proof of his crimes, Pete will have to finally confront his former life. He also meets a young woman—who is more than what she seems—with a curious connection to his family. As century-old secrets unravel, can Pete reconcile a murder from his past before it destroys his future?
421 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2018
378 people are currently reading
1291 people want to read
About the author
Laura Spinella
8 books562 followersEcho Moon is my eighth published novel. Author? Maybe. In truth, I’m a girl from Long Island who fell in love with the South and ended up calling New England home. Along the way, ideas emerged, leading to the books I've written, and Echo Moon is among my favorites—it is the final novel in the Ghost Gifts series.
When Ghost Gifts was published, I never thought I’d write about ghosts again. One and done, as they say.
To my surprise, the book was the #1 bestseller in Kindle store during most of its debut month, and went on to become a RITA awards finalist, RT Book Reviews finalist, and winner of an Audie, for Best Paranormal Romance. Foretold, book two, was an Amazon Editors' Pick the month it debuted. I remain humbled by reader reaction and the desire to hear more of Aubrey Ellis’s story.
Not all my novels are about ghosts, though I seem to have a good relationship with the ethereal world. Unstrung offered a change of pace for me and readers. The mainstream women’s fiction novel met with solid critical acclaim, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly, as well as being named to PW’s seasonal list of most anticipated and notable titles. I hope readers are as taken with quirky and capricious Olivia Klein as I was; I had the most marvelous time writing about her.
I live not far outside Boston with a husband, three technically grown children, two dogs and two cats. That's Auggie in the photo! Life takes place in a 130-year-old house where I can always be found writing my next novel. As always, I love to hear from readers. Feel free to drop me a line here, and many thanks for reading a Laura Spinella novel!
When Ghost Gifts was published, I never thought I’d write about ghosts again. One and done, as they say.
To my surprise, the book was the #1 bestseller in Kindle store during most of its debut month, and went on to become a RITA awards finalist, RT Book Reviews finalist, and winner of an Audie, for Best Paranormal Romance. Foretold, book two, was an Amazon Editors' Pick the month it debuted. I remain humbled by reader reaction and the desire to hear more of Aubrey Ellis’s story.
Not all my novels are about ghosts, though I seem to have a good relationship with the ethereal world. Unstrung offered a change of pace for me and readers. The mainstream women’s fiction novel met with solid critical acclaim, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly, as well as being named to PW’s seasonal list of most anticipated and notable titles. I hope readers are as taken with quirky and capricious Olivia Klein as I was; I had the most marvelous time writing about her.
I live not far outside Boston with a husband, three technically grown children, two dogs and two cats. That's Auggie in the photo! Life takes place in a 130-year-old house where I can always be found writing my next novel. As always, I love to hear from readers. Feel free to drop me a line here, and many thanks for reading a Laura Spinella novel!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
March 19, 2019
All in all this trilogy was pretty good. This last book was not my favorite of the three but I did still enjoy it. There just was something about the time from the second book till the supposed time of the third book didn’t sit right with me . That was my main complaint but if you can ignore that it’s a good story.
March 28, 2018
This is it! The last "chapter" in the Ghost Gifts series! It's been quite a ride, much of it unexpected. I'd like to share with readers ECHO MOON's backstory. I very much wanted to do something different with this book, but at the same time I knew readers would be looking for Aubrey Ellis, our powerhouse heroine with an incredible psychic gift.
That said, times do change and I felt strongly that another character needed to carry the GHOST GIFTS torch to the finish line. Enter Pete St John. If you read FORETOLD, you know we leave off with a cliffhanger. ECHO MOON picks up a number of years later with a grown-up Pete, Aubrey and Levi's son. The world-traveling photojournalist has a future to look forward to, if not for the past he's running from. The reader soon learns that the cliffhanger from FORETOLD has yet to be resolved.
ECHO MOON chases that storyline, chronicling the LIVES of Peter St John--a brilliant, yet brilliantly flawed photographer, who struggles in the present because he is constantly reliving his 1917 past. In the heyday of vaudeville, on the cusp of a Great War, Peter St John knows he loved a girl named Esme. He also knows he killed her.
When Esme's ghost turns up in Pete's present-day life, he is finally compelled to seek answers--but where to begin and what will he unearth? Is he a brutal killer, a war hero who snapped, or is something else at work? Has Esme's ghost decided it's time for revenge and a good haunting?
I loved writing ECHO MOON, thrilled to be on one more journey with these wonderful characters. I never imagined writing historical fiction, and I was amazed how drawn I was to long-ago Luna Park (once a Coney Island staple), a nation on the brink of war, and the innocent romance of the era.
While ECHO MOON is a GHOST GIFTS novel, the book can read as a stand alone title--good news for anyone who doesn't like to start from the beginning! But I do hope readers will build up to Pete's story. As the author, it's my instinct that Pete's journey is that much richer if you appreciate the Ellis-St John history, the weave of story thread that brought us to this book.
Thank you readers for asking for more of Aubrey Ellis's story. Thank you for taking time to stop by here and to leave a review for ECHO MOON, or any of the GHOST GIFTS novels. Happy reading. I hope ECHO MOON, and its conclusion, brings you as much satisfaction as it does me.
Laura
That said, times do change and I felt strongly that another character needed to carry the GHOST GIFTS torch to the finish line. Enter Pete St John. If you read FORETOLD, you know we leave off with a cliffhanger. ECHO MOON picks up a number of years later with a grown-up Pete, Aubrey and Levi's son. The world-traveling photojournalist has a future to look forward to, if not for the past he's running from. The reader soon learns that the cliffhanger from FORETOLD has yet to be resolved.
ECHO MOON chases that storyline, chronicling the LIVES of Peter St John--a brilliant, yet brilliantly flawed photographer, who struggles in the present because he is constantly reliving his 1917 past. In the heyday of vaudeville, on the cusp of a Great War, Peter St John knows he loved a girl named Esme. He also knows he killed her.
When Esme's ghost turns up in Pete's present-day life, he is finally compelled to seek answers--but where to begin and what will he unearth? Is he a brutal killer, a war hero who snapped, or is something else at work? Has Esme's ghost decided it's time for revenge and a good haunting?
I loved writing ECHO MOON, thrilled to be on one more journey with these wonderful characters. I never imagined writing historical fiction, and I was amazed how drawn I was to long-ago Luna Park (once a Coney Island staple), a nation on the brink of war, and the innocent romance of the era.
While ECHO MOON is a GHOST GIFTS novel, the book can read as a stand alone title--good news for anyone who doesn't like to start from the beginning! But I do hope readers will build up to Pete's story. As the author, it's my instinct that Pete's journey is that much richer if you appreciate the Ellis-St John history, the weave of story thread that brought us to this book.
Thank you readers for asking for more of Aubrey Ellis's story. Thank you for taking time to stop by here and to leave a review for ECHO MOON, or any of the GHOST GIFTS novels. Happy reading. I hope ECHO MOON, and its conclusion, brings you as much satisfaction as it does me.
Laura
July 3, 2018
Favorite Quotes:
He longed for Esme the way you might want air in a sealed tomb.
I just saved you from a gang of boys with ideas that’d make nuns faint!
Listen to me when I tell you it won’t stop, Pete. The dead haven’t anything better to do.
His eyes were set so close Esmerelda thought he could be his own one-eyed act.
Caroline thinks she meditates. Translation, three hours of binge watching Dexter.
My Review:
All three books in this series have been astoundingly well-crafted, ingeniously plotted, cleverly written, and tantalizingly unpredictable. While I rapturously enjoyed all three books, Echo Moon was the most intriguing, complicated, and riveting of the bunch. I had to read it slowly to ensure that I retained all the twisty and cryptic clues, but more so that I could savor every well-chosen word. The storyline cleverly brought together all the unique characters and their talents, foibles, and leftover mysteries from the previous installments, and incorporated them with new and complex issues that had been tormenting the main character of Pete since childhood.
I rarely read paranormal or otherworldly genres but I was stunned by the realization of how much I was enjoying the creative and unusual concepts that are so agilely put forth in this series in such a believable and plausible manner. I am in awe of Ms. Spinella’s wordcraft. She has mad skills and I greedily covet her cunning wordplay. I found all her characters to be well drawn, endearingly quirky, and enticingly detailed, with my favorite being her “redheaded actress who ate like a lumberjack.” I read all three books in succession and have basically been living this family for close to a week. I am already mourning the loss of their company.
He longed for Esme the way you might want air in a sealed tomb.
I just saved you from a gang of boys with ideas that’d make nuns faint!
Listen to me when I tell you it won’t stop, Pete. The dead haven’t anything better to do.
His eyes were set so close Esmerelda thought he could be his own one-eyed act.
Caroline thinks she meditates. Translation, three hours of binge watching Dexter.
My Review:
All three books in this series have been astoundingly well-crafted, ingeniously plotted, cleverly written, and tantalizingly unpredictable. While I rapturously enjoyed all three books, Echo Moon was the most intriguing, complicated, and riveting of the bunch. I had to read it slowly to ensure that I retained all the twisty and cryptic clues, but more so that I could savor every well-chosen word. The storyline cleverly brought together all the unique characters and their talents, foibles, and leftover mysteries from the previous installments, and incorporated them with new and complex issues that had been tormenting the main character of Pete since childhood.
I rarely read paranormal or otherworldly genres but I was stunned by the realization of how much I was enjoying the creative and unusual concepts that are so agilely put forth in this series in such a believable and plausible manner. I am in awe of Ms. Spinella’s wordcraft. She has mad skills and I greedily covet her cunning wordplay. I found all her characters to be well drawn, endearingly quirky, and enticingly detailed, with my favorite being her “redheaded actress who ate like a lumberjack.” I read all three books in succession and have basically been living this family for close to a week. I am already mourning the loss of their company.
January 15, 2018
Enthralling and imaginative, where the past intertwines with the present, Spinella masterfully delivers in the third and final installment of her GHOST GIFT trilogy. ECHO MOON is filled with suspense, mystery, and romance, and kept me turning the pages and on my toes until the very end, an ending I didn’t see coming. I love unexpected twists! Fans, new and old, as ECHO MOON can easily stand on its own, will devour Peter St. John’s story. I sure did.
August 6, 2018
I've given this a B+ at AAR, so that's 4.5 stars.
The first two books in Laura Spinella’s Ghost Gifts trilogy of paranormal mysteries introduces readers to Aubrey Ellis, a woman who has been able to communicate with the dead since she was a child. These novels centre around Aubrey and her husband, a hard-nosed investigative reporter, but in Echo Moon, the final book in the set, the focus shifts to Aubrey and Levi’s son, Pete, a talented photojournalist who spends his life reporting from some of the world’s most dangerous places. It’s an intriguing story that, after a slow start, becomes a compelling one, as the author skilfully weaves together two interconnected stories – one, the story of a young singer in the early part of the twentieth century, and the other concerning Pete’s search for the truth about a shattering event that took place shortly after the end of the First World War.
Aubrey Ellis’ psychic gifts – or her curse – have been passed to her son, who has, for as long as he can remember, been aware that he has lived a past life. He has memories and/or visions of events from the early part of the last century and remembers fighting, and then documenting events as a war photographer, in World War One. Pete also lives with a massive burden of guilt, knowing that he killed the woman he loved – whom he knows only as Esme – in that past life, and that weight is so heavy that it often threatens to consume him utterly. The images of war that haunt him day after day and night after night are so disturbing that he can’t bear the idea of spending more time with his memories and trying to find out the truth about Esme; and the violent outbursts that inevitably follow his visions make him even more determined to leave his past in the past. Being around his mother seems to intensify his ‘gift’ and increase the number and vividness of his recollections; and when Echo Moon opens, Pete has just returned home after two years spent embedded with troops in the Middle-East and other war-torn places. He spends his life searching for numbness by way of twenty-first century wars, running from his past life by throwing himself into untold dangers in this one.
Aubrey is naturally concerned for her son, and can see the toll his way of life is taking on him. She knows he is haunted by the belief he was a murderer in his past life, and wants him to seek help in the form of regression therapy, but Pete is dead set against it. But when, for the first time ever, he feels Esme’s spirit reaching for him in his present life, he starts to realise that something is changing, as his past and present lives have never intersected before. When he offers to go to Long Island to check out a property that Aubrey has recently inherited from her grandmother, Pete is staggered to discover yet more connections between his family and his past life.
With the help of Ailish Montague – a young actress who is the niece of Zeke Dublin (an important character in the previous book, Foretold) – Pete begins to make connections between seemingly random objects he finds in the house, his previous life and Esme – but it’s not until he is brought to the stark reality that he stands to lose those most dear to him if he continues to avoid facing up to the past that he finally decides it’s time to stop running and start putting the pieces together. Only once he’s done that will he be free to live his own life, free from his horrific memories and the burden of guilt.
Laura Spinella pulls her disparate storylines together very cleverly and together, they make for a captivating read. Sections set in 1917 follow Esme as she falls in love with Phin Seaborn, a young artist and photographer, while those set in the present follow Pete’s discoveries as his past life is gradually revealed and its connections to his present one prove to be stronger than he could ever have imagined. The author does a great job in depicting the difficult family dynamics in the Ellis/St. John household; both Aubrey and Levi are desperately worried about Pete and don’t quite know how to help him, while Pete is distancing himself from the parents he loves, knowing he’s hurting them but with no idea what to do for the best.
My one criticism – which may well be more to do with me than with the book – is that I found it a little difficult to get into at first, and wondered if not having read the previous novels had placed me at something of a disadvantage. Fortunately, Ms. Spinella’s writing is confident and engaging; she brings the past vividly to life and creates satisfying emotional connections between her principal characters, so it didn’t take long for me to become invested, and I’m happy to say that Echo Moon works fairly well as a standalone, so potential readers needn’t worry about picking it up on its own. In fact, I enjoyed its terrific blend of mystery, suspense and paranormal (with a bit of historical fiction and romance thrown in for good measure), so much that I intend to go back to read the other books in the series.
The first two books in Laura Spinella’s Ghost Gifts trilogy of paranormal mysteries introduces readers to Aubrey Ellis, a woman who has been able to communicate with the dead since she was a child. These novels centre around Aubrey and her husband, a hard-nosed investigative reporter, but in Echo Moon, the final book in the set, the focus shifts to Aubrey and Levi’s son, Pete, a talented photojournalist who spends his life reporting from some of the world’s most dangerous places. It’s an intriguing story that, after a slow start, becomes a compelling one, as the author skilfully weaves together two interconnected stories – one, the story of a young singer in the early part of the twentieth century, and the other concerning Pete’s search for the truth about a shattering event that took place shortly after the end of the First World War.
Aubrey Ellis’ psychic gifts – or her curse – have been passed to her son, who has, for as long as he can remember, been aware that he has lived a past life. He has memories and/or visions of events from the early part of the last century and remembers fighting, and then documenting events as a war photographer, in World War One. Pete also lives with a massive burden of guilt, knowing that he killed the woman he loved – whom he knows only as Esme – in that past life, and that weight is so heavy that it often threatens to consume him utterly. The images of war that haunt him day after day and night after night are so disturbing that he can’t bear the idea of spending more time with his memories and trying to find out the truth about Esme; and the violent outbursts that inevitably follow his visions make him even more determined to leave his past in the past. Being around his mother seems to intensify his ‘gift’ and increase the number and vividness of his recollections; and when Echo Moon opens, Pete has just returned home after two years spent embedded with troops in the Middle-East and other war-torn places. He spends his life searching for numbness by way of twenty-first century wars, running from his past life by throwing himself into untold dangers in this one.
Aubrey is naturally concerned for her son, and can see the toll his way of life is taking on him. She knows he is haunted by the belief he was a murderer in his past life, and wants him to seek help in the form of regression therapy, but Pete is dead set against it. But when, for the first time ever, he feels Esme’s spirit reaching for him in his present life, he starts to realise that something is changing, as his past and present lives have never intersected before. When he offers to go to Long Island to check out a property that Aubrey has recently inherited from her grandmother, Pete is staggered to discover yet more connections between his family and his past life.
With the help of Ailish Montague – a young actress who is the niece of Zeke Dublin (an important character in the previous book, Foretold) – Pete begins to make connections between seemingly random objects he finds in the house, his previous life and Esme – but it’s not until he is brought to the stark reality that he stands to lose those most dear to him if he continues to avoid facing up to the past that he finally decides it’s time to stop running and start putting the pieces together. Only once he’s done that will he be free to live his own life, free from his horrific memories and the burden of guilt.
Laura Spinella pulls her disparate storylines together very cleverly and together, they make for a captivating read. Sections set in 1917 follow Esme as she falls in love with Phin Seaborn, a young artist and photographer, while those set in the present follow Pete’s discoveries as his past life is gradually revealed and its connections to his present one prove to be stronger than he could ever have imagined. The author does a great job in depicting the difficult family dynamics in the Ellis/St. John household; both Aubrey and Levi are desperately worried about Pete and don’t quite know how to help him, while Pete is distancing himself from the parents he loves, knowing he’s hurting them but with no idea what to do for the best.
My one criticism – which may well be more to do with me than with the book – is that I found it a little difficult to get into at first, and wondered if not having read the previous novels had placed me at something of a disadvantage. Fortunately, Ms. Spinella’s writing is confident and engaging; she brings the past vividly to life and creates satisfying emotional connections between her principal characters, so it didn’t take long for me to become invested, and I’m happy to say that Echo Moon works fairly well as a standalone, so potential readers needn’t worry about picking it up on its own. In fact, I enjoyed its terrific blend of mystery, suspense and paranormal (with a bit of historical fiction and romance thrown in for good measure), so much that I intend to go back to read the other books in the series.
January 4, 2018
I've been a Laura Spinella fan since her debut, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and she's one of those writers who just gets better and better. A powerful love story in its own right, ECHO MOON offers a stunning and deeply satisfying conclusion to the Ghost Gifts trilogy. Every thread in the series effortlessly weaves together; every question you didn’t realize needed asking, is answered. As Pete St John, now an acclaimed war photojournalist, runs from both his lives—in 1917 and the present—Laura Spinella, who creates gloriously complex, tortured heroes, also proves herself to be a master of historical fiction. My advice? Cancel your weekend plans and read GHOST GIFTS, FORETOLD, and ECHO MOON back-to-back. And then read everything else she's written. You won't be disappointed.
May 22, 2018
I just finished this riveting, fascinating, heart-tugging, heart-pounding book. My emotions and thoughts are swirling...I want to weep and smile at the same time. Echo Moon is the perfect blend of past and present, spirits and humans, suspense, mystery, and romance, woven together in this spellbinding book. I read every chapter with anticipation and trepidation...I never knew, never came close to suspecting, what was going to happen next. I was so emotionally invested in this story and its incredible cast of characters, feeling their joys, their pains, their terrors, their hopes, their sadness, their love. If you haven’t done so already, read the first two books in this trilogy...Ghost Gifts and Foretold...before turning to the first page of this one. Laura Spinella, you are so gifted, your story-telling skills are dazzling, you always surprise me. And I’m so sad my time with Aubrey, Levi, and Pete is over...
April 7, 2018
A fabulous story that cleverly entwines the past with the present to captivate the reader. The third in the series this one being the final chapter follows Peter St John’s life in a race to understand his gift, help those from the past and move on to his future. Absolutely loved this book it is the suspenseful and a superb read.
January 15, 2018
Echo Moon is an intriguing tale of a young man, Pete, haunted by the ghost of a past lover, Esme. Spinella weaves the story seamlessly between past and present and includes characters from the first two books in the series. The descriptions of life in New York City in the WWI era are richly detailed and ring authentic. Throughout the book, I was kept guessing if Pete’s past life memories of killing Esme were true, and if so, if he could ever resolve the emotional pain resulting from that act of violence and move forward with his present life.
Ailish, a red-headed aspiring actress and singer, was an endearing heroine with wit, humor, and just the right touch of vulnerability. She was the perfect foil to Pete’s serious, emotionally-damaged personality. Plenty of conflict and sparks resulted when the two met and I found the ending satisfying and nicely tied up her dreams of events from another era, with his flashbacks of Esme’s death.
I highly recommend this book for readers of historical, contemporary and paranormal romance. Spinella is a masterful writer who weaves all these elements together into a story full of plot twists and memorable characters.
Ailish, a red-headed aspiring actress and singer, was an endearing heroine with wit, humor, and just the right touch of vulnerability. She was the perfect foil to Pete’s serious, emotionally-damaged personality. Plenty of conflict and sparks resulted when the two met and I found the ending satisfying and nicely tied up her dreams of events from another era, with his flashbacks of Esme’s death.
I highly recommend this book for readers of historical, contemporary and paranormal romance. Spinella is a masterful writer who weaves all these elements together into a story full of plot twists and memorable characters.
January 8, 2018
Laura Spinella has written a spell-binding tale of mystery, mysticism, and the ache of the human heart. I was immediately drawn into the world of Pete and Esme as he is haunted by a single memory that has ruled his life - a terrible act he committed a hundred years ago. Spinella weaves a compelling tale that takes the reader back and forth in time as Pete discovers the truth about who he is, what he's done, and how he can rebuild the life he lives today. A winner that is sure to be a hit among readers across many genres.
April 6, 2018
My Review of “Echo Moon” by Laura Spinella
I was enchanted and captivated by “Echo Moon” by Laura Spinella. Laura Spinella writes an amazing, intense, intriguing, unique and spellbinding story. This is the Finale in the Ghost-Gifts Series, and yet it can be read as a stand-alone. I suggest that you read the other two books to enjoy and appreciate the character history before you read “Echo Moon” The Genres for this book are Fiction, Para-Normal, Mystery and Suspense, Romance, with an essence of History. The author weaves her story with vivid descriptions of her colorful cast of characters and a timeline of the past, present and possibility of future events.
The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. One of my favorite characters Aubrey Ellis, and her special psychic gifts, is back. Some of the grifters and “characters” alive, and once alive are back. In this novel, Aubrey’s son, Peter St. John is now grown and a prominent photo-journalist going to dangerous places. Pete avoids coming home, where his own psychic abilities clash with his mother’s. Pete is tormented by his past.
Peter is forced to come to terms with the events of his past life in order to exist in the present and move on to the future. There are twists and turns and mystery and adventure. As long-buried secrets unravel, and there is more psychic involvement with the characters, the pieces of the puzzle finally seem to fit. I loved everything about Laura Spinella’s novel. My only disappointment is that I will miss the characters and I hope that the author will write some more about them. I highly recommend this novel to readers of imagination that appreciate fiction and romance. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
I was enchanted and captivated by “Echo Moon” by Laura Spinella. Laura Spinella writes an amazing, intense, intriguing, unique and spellbinding story. This is the Finale in the Ghost-Gifts Series, and yet it can be read as a stand-alone. I suggest that you read the other two books to enjoy and appreciate the character history before you read “Echo Moon” The Genres for this book are Fiction, Para-Normal, Mystery and Suspense, Romance, with an essence of History. The author weaves her story with vivid descriptions of her colorful cast of characters and a timeline of the past, present and possibility of future events.
The author describes her characters as complex and complicated. One of my favorite characters Aubrey Ellis, and her special psychic gifts, is back. Some of the grifters and “characters” alive, and once alive are back. In this novel, Aubrey’s son, Peter St. John is now grown and a prominent photo-journalist going to dangerous places. Pete avoids coming home, where his own psychic abilities clash with his mother’s. Pete is tormented by his past.
Peter is forced to come to terms with the events of his past life in order to exist in the present and move on to the future. There are twists and turns and mystery and adventure. As long-buried secrets unravel, and there is more psychic involvement with the characters, the pieces of the puzzle finally seem to fit. I loved everything about Laura Spinella’s novel. My only disappointment is that I will miss the characters and I hope that the author will write some more about them. I highly recommend this novel to readers of imagination that appreciate fiction and romance. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
March 26, 2018
I couldn't wait to read the third installment of the Ghost Gift trilogy ,and Spinella has saved the best for last. I dare anyone to read the first chapter and not be completely hooked. Esme Moon is one of the most memorable characters I've encountered in a long while and the author brings her story to life with painstaking historical detail.
The novel alternates from present day to 1917, a year when darkness enters the life of singer Esme Moon. The violence visited upon her reverberates 100 years later, and photo journalist Pete St. John is trying to understand his relationship with the long-dead entertainer.
Full of twists and surprises, Echo Moon is a richly written, multi-layered novel that I won't soon forget.
The novel alternates from present day to 1917, a year when darkness enters the life of singer Esme Moon. The violence visited upon her reverberates 100 years later, and photo journalist Pete St. John is trying to understand his relationship with the long-dead entertainer.
Full of twists and surprises, Echo Moon is a richly written, multi-layered novel that I won't soon forget.
September 26, 2018
.
This book combined murder, mystery, and the terrifying walk through a paranormal existence, mainly through dreams, connecting the past and the present, that few people would be willing to acknowledge or believe in.
The characters and plot were acutely described and completely believable. However, the beginning half of the book took an extraordinary amount of time to get to an interesting enough point to prod the reader onward. It was able to weave the past and present together almost flawlessly.
Bouncing back and forth between the past events and present events was sometimes a discombobulating distraction, which I did not enjoy.
This book is part of the series, but is able to stand on its own. The potential of an H.E.A. that was not possible prior to this point was finally within grasp.
April 22, 2018
Having loved the first two books in this series, I was so excited to get an ARC of Echo Moon! Foretolds ending left me so shocked and anxious to hear the rest of Pete’s story. I was not disappointed. I loved this conclusion, it was beautifully written and brought everything full circle. Thanks Laura for the opportunity to be one of the first to read this beautiful book!
June 12, 2018
This series was such a delightful surprise for me to discover. I thoroughly enjoyed each book. They were all well written, with great character development and intriguing mysteries. This last book wrapped everything up beautifully. So happy to see Pete finally resolve a lifetime of torment. I will miss Aubrey and Levi.
June 16, 2018
Originally published at Reading Reality
Echo Moon is a haunting story about the way that the past can quite literally haunt the present. Or at least Peter St. John’s present. And fair warning, I’m going to use the word “haunting” a lot in this review, because it’s the only one that really fits.
Pete has a gift, or a curse depending on one’s perspective, of being able to speak to the dead. He receives messages, and his receipt is beyond his control. As this story opens, Pete himself is running out the edges of his control.
While his mother Aubrey receives what they call “ghost gifts” from the past, Pete remembers his entire previous life – or at least his previous life up to the point where he murdered the woman he loved.
He can’t escape his visions of that past, and he can’t manage to escape his love for the beautiful, talented and ultimately doomed Esme Moon. Esme was a singer and medium in World War I era New York City, and Pete vividly remembers both loving her and killing her.
When his mother inherits a New Jersey beach shack from his grandmother, who worked the traveling carnivals in her own youth, Pete’s past and his present collide. In the uncertainty of whether he’s losing control or losing his mind, Pete finally lets himself explore the history that he has refused to acknowledge, no matter where it leads.
They say the truth will set you free. Pete needs the truth to make him whole – in one century or another.
Escape Rating B+: Although this is not strictly a time-travel story, the atmosphere in Echo Moon reminds me an awful lot of that classic, lyrical work of time travel, Time and Again by Jack Finney. It’s not the time period, but both stories have that strong bittersweet sense of the past haunting and looming over the present. Richard Matheson’s equally classic Bid Time Return (filmed as Somewhere in Time) also has that same bittersweet romantic feel.
But more than the time travel, Echo Moon reminds me of Robin D. Owens’ Ghost Seer series, which begins (naturally enough) with Ghost Seer. Clare Cermak’s gifts are very similar to Pete St. John’s, without the overwhelming sense of guilt that haunts Pete. After all, while Clare can lay the ghosts of her assigned era to rest, she isn’t responsible for turning them into ghosts in the first place.
Echo Moon is the third book in the Ghost Gifts series, although those first two books (Ghost Gifts and Foretold) feature Pete’s mother Aubrey and not Pete himself. Not having read those first two books, it took me a while to get into this one. It’s not that the action doesn’t pick up easily, or that what happens to Pete is truly reliant on what happened to his mother – or at least not exactly and certainly not at the beginning.
But not having already been immersed in the family’s history, the events here didn’t have quite the resonance they otherwise might have. We know that Pete is running from himself, but the reasons why aren’t as deep as they eventually become once the reader becomes invested in Pete’s story and especially Pete’s trauma.
Having PTSD because of events one experienced in a previous life is not the way that textbook definitions of PTSD usually go – and that makes it all the more difficult to treat or resolve.
In the end, the story does suck even the newbie reader into its web of romance, intrigue and mysticism. Once that happens, the story moves fast, as neither Pete nor the reader are ever quite sure whether the past is merely influencing the present or actively impinging on it or whether Pete has just finally lost it altogether.
When he finds it, and himself, it makes for a lovely ending.
Echo Moon is a haunting story about the way that the past can quite literally haunt the present. Or at least Peter St. John’s present. And fair warning, I’m going to use the word “haunting” a lot in this review, because it’s the only one that really fits.
Pete has a gift, or a curse depending on one’s perspective, of being able to speak to the dead. He receives messages, and his receipt is beyond his control. As this story opens, Pete himself is running out the edges of his control.
While his mother Aubrey receives what they call “ghost gifts” from the past, Pete remembers his entire previous life – or at least his previous life up to the point where he murdered the woman he loved.
He can’t escape his visions of that past, and he can’t manage to escape his love for the beautiful, talented and ultimately doomed Esme Moon. Esme was a singer and medium in World War I era New York City, and Pete vividly remembers both loving her and killing her.
When his mother inherits a New Jersey beach shack from his grandmother, who worked the traveling carnivals in her own youth, Pete’s past and his present collide. In the uncertainty of whether he’s losing control or losing his mind, Pete finally lets himself explore the history that he has refused to acknowledge, no matter where it leads.
They say the truth will set you free. Pete needs the truth to make him whole – in one century or another.
Escape Rating B+: Although this is not strictly a time-travel story, the atmosphere in Echo Moon reminds me an awful lot of that classic, lyrical work of time travel, Time and Again by Jack Finney. It’s not the time period, but both stories have that strong bittersweet sense of the past haunting and looming over the present. Richard Matheson’s equally classic Bid Time Return (filmed as Somewhere in Time) also has that same bittersweet romantic feel.
But more than the time travel, Echo Moon reminds me of Robin D. Owens’ Ghost Seer series, which begins (naturally enough) with Ghost Seer. Clare Cermak’s gifts are very similar to Pete St. John’s, without the overwhelming sense of guilt that haunts Pete. After all, while Clare can lay the ghosts of her assigned era to rest, she isn’t responsible for turning them into ghosts in the first place.
Echo Moon is the third book in the Ghost Gifts series, although those first two books (Ghost Gifts and Foretold) feature Pete’s mother Aubrey and not Pete himself. Not having read those first two books, it took me a while to get into this one. It’s not that the action doesn’t pick up easily, or that what happens to Pete is truly reliant on what happened to his mother – or at least not exactly and certainly not at the beginning.
But not having already been immersed in the family’s history, the events here didn’t have quite the resonance they otherwise might have. We know that Pete is running from himself, but the reasons why aren’t as deep as they eventually become once the reader becomes invested in Pete’s story and especially Pete’s trauma.
Having PTSD because of events one experienced in a previous life is not the way that textbook definitions of PTSD usually go – and that makes it all the more difficult to treat or resolve.
In the end, the story does suck even the newbie reader into its web of romance, intrigue and mysticism. Once that happens, the story moves fast, as neither Pete nor the reader are ever quite sure whether the past is merely influencing the present or actively impinging on it or whether Pete has just finally lost it altogether.
When he finds it, and himself, it makes for a lovely ending.
June 30, 2018
Echo Moon is the third installment to Laura Spinella’s Ghost Gifts trilogy. Ghost Gifts and Foretold should be read before reading Echo Moon. If you love psychic phenomenon and the paranormal, then this historical fiction novel, which also includes murder, mystery, family relationships, war and romance, is for you. I have always found psychic mediumship fascinating, and Spinella delivers a fantastic story from the first book to the last. In Echo Moon, Spinella masterfully takes you on Peter St John’s compelling journey as a photojournalist who lived in 1917 alternating the past to his present life. Her characters keep you enthralled, and the reader learns about the gifts of psychics, how they live, and how they enrich and help others.
The quote in this novel, “If Paris is France, then Coney Island, between June and September, is the World” touched me. I absolutely love it! I didn’t understand what it meant at first, but after I read Echo Moon, it’s meaning was revealed. Best of all, as we all learn, what’s right in front of you matters the most. Sometimes we don’t see it, but it’s right there. Make time to read this trilogy, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I highly recommend these novels, and I look forward to more of Laura Spinella’s work.
The quote in this novel, “If Paris is France, then Coney Island, between June and September, is the World” touched me. I absolutely love it! I didn’t understand what it meant at first, but after I read Echo Moon, it’s meaning was revealed. Best of all, as we all learn, what’s right in front of you matters the most. Sometimes we don’t see it, but it’s right there. Make time to read this trilogy, and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. I highly recommend these novels, and I look forward to more of Laura Spinella’s work.
April 23, 2018
My wish for a sequel to the amazing Ghost Gifts and Foretold is fulfilled with this hauntingly breathtaking love story of Peter St John, who is pulled once again into his past and his dreams of Esme, wanting desperately to know the connections of spirits and what they mean for his future. Pete realizes that his mother Aubrey holds powerful ghost gifts that force her make a decision that affects both of them deeply and he is torn with this knowing and the mystery of his own ghost gifts. Pete's horrific past of being in the war and terrifying memories cause him even more grief along with his PTSD as he seeks to escape them by taking on tours of duty as a photo journalist far away from home. The details of the war provide a very authentic sense of the history of those days. I loved each character, the rich descriptive details and poetic prose that the author folds into her story making each new discovery one that is spell binding. Chance encounters, ghost gifts reveals, or fate, this psychic love story is filled with suspense, emotions that tear at your heart, as the twists and turns keep coming and had me completely immersed and savoring each page not wanting this book to end.
May 9, 2018
OMG! I absolutely love this series! I've read all three of the books in the Ghost Gifts series and I've loved them all. Echo Moon is the perfect ending to this unique, captivating trilogy. This third book deals with Pete, the namesake of his grandfather who, as we learned in the first book, received 'ghost gifts'. Pete's mother Aubrey has a slightly different manifestation of the 'gift' and Pete's 'gift' is different still.
Echo Moon is an exciting and fast-paced story that I quickly devoured. Pete's quest to find out more about the woman he was in love with in 1917 and why he killed her took me on a ride full of twists and turns. Events and ghosts from the past rock Pete's world as the events and people in the present help ground him.
I totally understand that this is the end of the trilogy, but I'm sad that I have to say goodbye to these wonderful characters and their unusual gifts. I wish them all well and I would really love to visit them again. This is a unique and amazing set of stories and I highly recommend them!
Echo Moon is an exciting and fast-paced story that I quickly devoured. Pete's quest to find out more about the woman he was in love with in 1917 and why he killed her took me on a ride full of twists and turns. Events and ghosts from the past rock Pete's world as the events and people in the present help ground him.
I totally understand that this is the end of the trilogy, but I'm sad that I have to say goodbye to these wonderful characters and their unusual gifts. I wish them all well and I would really love to visit them again. This is a unique and amazing set of stories and I highly recommend them!
April 3, 2018
ECHO MOON is the third and final book of Laura Spinella’s Ghost Gifts Trilogy. Having read the first two books, GHOST GIFTS and FORETOLD, I could not wait to read ECHO MOON and it is undoubtedly the best of them all. ECHO MOON tells an intriguing story filled with romance, mystery and suspense. I could not turn the pages fast enough to reach the dramatic and unexpected conclusion. The characters are so expertly portrayed that I feel like I know them personally. Peter St. John and Esme’s story, with past and present woven seamlessly together, is exquisitely told, with every detail playing a role in the complex plot. I will not soon forget this beautifully-written and captivating tale and I highly recommend it. Reading GHOST GIFTS and FORETOLD first will enhance the experience of ECHO MOON even further. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy of this wonderful book.
April 18, 2018
I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Oh, it was so good that I could have read it faster, but did not want it to end. This is the third in the Ghost Gifts trilogy and it does NOT disappoint! The past and present are neatly intertwined while throwing in twists, turns and history! This book can be read alone, but I recommending reading them all!
While past characters from Ghost Gifts and Foretold are present, the main story is about Peter St. John's constant struggle with his present and reliving the past in his dreams... Some very violent dreams. Pete and his Mom struggle with the spirits that live through them and from one particularly scary event, Pete's Mom, Aubrey, has to make the difficult choice to force Pete out of their lives for everyone's safety. This leads Pete to truly discover the truths of the past so he could come to terms with his present. You can relate to the characters, their happiness, their struggles, all their emotions. I read chapter after chapter anticipating what would come next.
Wonderful story and a great end to the trilogy.
Oh, it was so good that I could have read it faster, but did not want it to end. This is the third in the Ghost Gifts trilogy and it does NOT disappoint! The past and present are neatly intertwined while throwing in twists, turns and history! This book can be read alone, but I recommending reading them all!
While past characters from Ghost Gifts and Foretold are present, the main story is about Peter St. John's constant struggle with his present and reliving the past in his dreams... Some very violent dreams. Pete and his Mom struggle with the spirits that live through them and from one particularly scary event, Pete's Mom, Aubrey, has to make the difficult choice to force Pete out of their lives for everyone's safety. This leads Pete to truly discover the truths of the past so he could come to terms with his present. You can relate to the characters, their happiness, their struggles, all their emotions. I read chapter after chapter anticipating what would come next.
Wonderful story and a great end to the trilogy.
October 4, 2021
3,5 stars. Nothing wrong with the book, a good story and also well written, but somehow I was slightly bored. I guess if it had been a little shorter it could have been much better, even during interesting scenes it was painful to wait for the "big reveal" because it took so long to come... also, I was listening to the audio version, that was good, both performances very enjojable.. but sometimes I would think "If I was reading this I could speed up those couple of lines so I could get to the interesting moment!!" Overall I preferred the first two novels in the serie, but I'm still glad to have read this one too.
August 3, 2018
Peter St. John is a tortured soul. Unable to escape violent memories of a past life, he shuts himself away from those who love him, instead pursuing a death-wish life. One person he can’t escape is the love of his life, Esme. Unfortunately, she lived in his past life one hundred years earlier, and his memory of what he did to her haunts him as much as she does.
Ms. Spinella juxtaposes elements in Echo Moon to create a dazzling effect of unbalance: the grit and gore of war against the garish pleasure of Coney Island; tortured Peter against Bohemian Ailish, the ethereal nature of ghost gifts to the stark reality of photographs.
The structure of this story is brilliant. We watch Peter in current times while the story of his past life is unveiled through Esme’s eyes—her echo of their love story. As his agony unfolds, she steps in to fill in the gaps, and the twist at the end will take your breath away.
Echo Moon can be read as a stand-alone, but what a delight to read the trilogy from Ghost Gifts through Foretold to Echo Moon. Ms. Spinella leads the reader through the twists and turns of both Aubrey’s and Peter’s lives and their struggles with their psychic powers. Her intricate weaving of plot and relationships is intriguing. This third book satisfies the reader as it ties up loose ends from all three books.
If you’re looking for a book—or a trilogy—that will keep you turning pages, this series is for you.
Ms. Spinella juxtaposes elements in Echo Moon to create a dazzling effect of unbalance: the grit and gore of war against the garish pleasure of Coney Island; tortured Peter against Bohemian Ailish, the ethereal nature of ghost gifts to the stark reality of photographs.
The structure of this story is brilliant. We watch Peter in current times while the story of his past life is unveiled through Esme’s eyes—her echo of their love story. As his agony unfolds, she steps in to fill in the gaps, and the twist at the end will take your breath away.
Echo Moon can be read as a stand-alone, but what a delight to read the trilogy from Ghost Gifts through Foretold to Echo Moon. Ms. Spinella leads the reader through the twists and turns of both Aubrey’s and Peter’s lives and their struggles with their psychic powers. Her intricate weaving of plot and relationships is intriguing. This third book satisfies the reader as it ties up loose ends from all three books.
If you’re looking for a book—or a trilogy—that will keep you turning pages, this series is for you.
April 10, 2018
The whole trilogy was great and Echo Moon was an incredible end to the series. I felt like I knew the characters and I didn't want to let them go. I thought I had everything figured out but I was so wrong! Twists and turns until the end. Laura Spinella is an amazing author. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it! Keep writing Laura!
November 20, 2018
I loved the second half of this book. But the first one was frustratingly slow. Pete had the unfortunate combination of Levy's and Aubrey's worse traits. He was almost 30, yet he was acting like the spoiled 12 year-old from the second book. Guest appearances from previous ghosts was a nice touch.
March 28, 2019
Fabulous Story! Third in a trilogy which stands alone, but after reading I went and got the first two! Mystery, suspense romance, past lives...A captivating jigsaw puzzle with an outstanding conclusion. I loved it!!
June 5, 2022
I have that feeling is loss you get when you finish a great series.
This trilogy was great, no idea how the author would progress the story line, and the way they did was really interesting. I couldn’t put this book down for the last half, and kept me on the edge of my seat until the final pages.
This trilogy was great, no idea how the author would progress the story line, and the way they did was really interesting. I couldn’t put this book down for the last half, and kept me on the edge of my seat until the final pages.
May 11, 2018
What a fantastic read! Everything I’ve come to expect from Laura Spinella! Love, romance, history ! A wonderful conclusion to the trilogy!
May 13, 2018
A wonderful read! I can hardly believe how expertly Laura has woven all 3 books of this trilogy together. Complex and thrilling! I would recommend to all my friends. Echo Moon is mystery, love, suspense, time travel- genius!
April 5, 2018
This book was an amazing ending to the Ghost Gifts series. Echo Moon is the story of Pete St. John now in the present and his past life from 1917 that haunts him. Pete knows in 1917 that he loved Esme and he also knows he killed her. At its heart, Echo Moon is an amazing love story. I loved the characters of this series Aubrey, Levi, Pete, and Esme. They are so very real and you feel everything they feel. I cried many times as I read this book as parts are truly heartbreaking. The story keeps you guessing as you are surprised with every twist and turn. I truly loved this story from beginning to end.
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