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The Ghost Ship #1
The Ghost Ship
What if you could go back to 1921 and climb aboard a great five-masted schooner on her maiden voyage?
You’d be a witness to history; you’d be on her decks when her keel smashed into an Outer Banks shoal. You’d get to know the villains who caused the tragedy. Was it pirates, Russians, rumrunners? Or something else?
Would you dare?
Ann Gavrion did and her life was never the same.
The history:
One cold, foggy morning in January, 1921, a five-masted schooner in full sail plowed into Diamond Shoal in the infamous Graveyard of the Atlantic. Known to history as The Ghost Ship, her officers and crew were not on board and their bodies never washed ashore. The only living thing on board was a six-toed cat. Also, her anchors and lifeboats were missing. Six agencies investigated the mystery, but it was never solved.
The novel:
Ninety years later, Ann Gavrion travels to Cape Hatteras to get over the loss of her fiancé in an airplane crash. She meets the enigmatic, yet charming, Lawrence Curator on the beach.
Behind her she hears the cries of villagers. “Shipwreck!”
A surfman runs up and shouts that the missing schooner, her sails set, is aground on the shoal. Ann recognizes the enormous ship from a photograph she’d seen the night before.
So begins her journey back to 1921 with the man the Navy sent to investigate the grounding of the great ship.
When Lawrence and Ann solve the mystery, Ann must return to her world. On the very beach where she’d begun her voyage with Lawrence, she meets his great-grandson, Rod. Exhausted, wet, she spills an account of her fabulous sea adventure. He calls her a charlatan and accuses her of using his famous ancestor to write a first person account of the tragedy for her magazine.
How many times, how many ways, must she prove that her voyage was real to Rod and the unbelievers of the world?
You’d be a witness to history; you’d be on her decks when her keel smashed into an Outer Banks shoal. You’d get to know the villains who caused the tragedy. Was it pirates, Russians, rumrunners? Or something else?
Would you dare?
Ann Gavrion did and her life was never the same.
The history:
One cold, foggy morning in January, 1921, a five-masted schooner in full sail plowed into Diamond Shoal in the infamous Graveyard of the Atlantic. Known to history as The Ghost Ship, her officers and crew were not on board and their bodies never washed ashore. The only living thing on board was a six-toed cat. Also, her anchors and lifeboats were missing. Six agencies investigated the mystery, but it was never solved.
The novel:
Ninety years later, Ann Gavrion travels to Cape Hatteras to get over the loss of her fiancé in an airplane crash. She meets the enigmatic, yet charming, Lawrence Curator on the beach.
Behind her she hears the cries of villagers. “Shipwreck!”
A surfman runs up and shouts that the missing schooner, her sails set, is aground on the shoal. Ann recognizes the enormous ship from a photograph she’d seen the night before.
So begins her journey back to 1921 with the man the Navy sent to investigate the grounding of the great ship.
When Lawrence and Ann solve the mystery, Ann must return to her world. On the very beach where she’d begun her voyage with Lawrence, she meets his great-grandson, Rod. Exhausted, wet, she spills an account of her fabulous sea adventure. He calls her a charlatan and accuses her of using his famous ancestor to write a first person account of the tragedy for her magazine.
How many times, how many ways, must she prove that her voyage was real to Rod and the unbelievers of the world?
323 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 25, 2011
17 people are currently reading
318 people want to read
About the author
Gerrie Ferris Finger
23 books99 followersFormer journalist and novelist, Gerrie, won the St. Martin's Minotaur award for the Best First Traditional Novel of 2009 THE END GAME.
THE GHOST SHIP and WHISPERING were released in late 2011.
MERCILESS, a novella, 2012.
HEARTLESS, a novella, 2012.
Read all three books in the Laura Kate Plantation Series: LOOK AWAY FROM EVIL, WHEN SERPENTS DIE, HONORED DAUGHTERS, WAGON DOGS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION sequel to THE END GAME released 2012
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013
MURMURS OF INSANITY 2014
RUNNING WITH WILD BLOOD 2015
AMERICAN NIGHTS 2016
WOLF'S CLOTHING 2018
COLORS OF BLOOD 2019
THE GHOST SHIP and WHISPERING were released in late 2011.
MERCILESS, a novella, 2012.
HEARTLESS, a novella, 2012.
Read all three books in the Laura Kate Plantation Series: LOOK AWAY FROM EVIL, WHEN SERPENTS DIE, HONORED DAUGHTERS, WAGON DOGS.
THE LAST TEMPTATION sequel to THE END GAME released 2012
THE DEVIL LAUGHED, August 2013
A GLORIOUS CURSE, May 2013
MURMURS OF INSANITY 2014
RUNNING WITH WILD BLOOD 2015
AMERICAN NIGHTS 2016
WOLF'S CLOTHING 2018
COLORS OF BLOOD 2019
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 29, 2013
A ghost story mixed with a mystery and a love story told by an author who weaves a wonderful tale. A look into a piece of nautical history as well makes this a great read! I don't believe in ghosts but this book....has me changing my mind.
March 27, 2012
This book calls itself a ghost story.... all I got out of it was romance. Waaaaaay to much romance for me. Apparently theres nothing else to do in that small town because everyone flirts with everyone and couldnt wait to get wrapped into each others arms... or more. Theres a page where the author is describing Spencer eat his soup with Ann. "He held the soup spoon like he was giving her the key to his cottage". UUGGHH!! Really ?? I couldnt get into the book to begin with and that line just sealed the coffin for me. Or another gagging moment - "Slowly, to the cadence of their hearts, they stroked the places that burned and cried for more, when at last, their muscles joined to do the eternal dance of lovers." Yea, I'm still retching from that one.
Dont even get me started about Missi, Sugah.
Then theres this part when Mrs Sweeny is making a roast beef sandwich for Ann. She pulled Rye bread from the fridge but then as Ann takes a bite of the completed sandwich its on white bread. Huh? Maybe the bread time travels too.
There were a few parts that I enjoyed. The actual Ann and Lawrence story line and Rod with his love and dedication to the animals.
Bottom line: Glad it was free on kindle.
Dont even get me started about Missi, Sugah.
Then theres this part when Mrs Sweeny is making a roast beef sandwich for Ann. She pulled Rye bread from the fridge but then as Ann takes a bite of the completed sandwich its on white bread. Huh? Maybe the bread time travels too.
There were a few parts that I enjoyed. The actual Ann and Lawrence story line and Rod with his love and dedication to the animals.
Bottom line: Glad it was free on kindle.
December 13, 2011
I really enjoyed this book, and I'm normally not a big paranormal fan.
Ms. Ferris weaves a tale of intrigue involving an unsolved historical mystery, along with some really good local flavor. I highly recommend this book and gave it five stars even though there were a few formatting gliches that the author is in the process of correcting.
Ms. Ferris weaves a tale of intrigue involving an unsolved historical mystery, along with some really good local flavor. I highly recommend this book and gave it five stars even though there were a few formatting gliches that the author is in the process of correcting.
September 28, 2011
Nice little paranormal.
February 16, 2024
Should be 5 Stars
I wish I could give it 5, but it feels incomplete. The concept is brilliant, but the execution was thin in most places. The characters had missing pieces. The plot was attenuated without meaningful progress through a local sequence. Still, the book was not a failure. I enjoyed it. Just wished for more movement in the plot.
I wish I could give it 5, but it feels incomplete. The concept is brilliant, but the execution was thin in most places. The characters had missing pieces. The plot was attenuated without meaningful progress through a local sequence. Still, the book was not a failure. I enjoyed it. Just wished for more movement in the plot.
April 1, 2012
Being a Carolina girl, with a fascination of the ships and legends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic and a preoccupation with time travel, I thought this book would be a perfect read.
Ann is still grieving for he lost fiancé, and finds herself in Hatteras during the offseason. She meets some of the locals, one of whom takes an instant dislike to her. No long after her arrival, she accidentally hitches a ride to the past. In the past, she spends time with Lawrence, a dashing sea captain who isn't exactly telling her everything. When she returns to her time, things quickly go to hell.
The first third is really about the time travel adventure Ann goes on. It was an interesting take on time travel, and I liked some aspects of it. The tale of the ghost ship was well-researched and I loved the retelling. The last two-thirds were more drama-laden, and seemed to drag on. Ann solves all of her problems with a whole lot of alcohol, and spends a lot of time hungover. Rob spends most of his time sullen and angry. He's attracted to Ann, but his wife is only recently deceased in a boating accident. Of the other characters, there is a lack of depth or interest. They seem typecast, and are generally horrid to one another.
I wanted to like it. I wanted it to be the sort of novel that keeps me up half the night. Instead, it felt clumsy and a bit directionless. The focus was on too much, and the story ended up getting lost in the words.
Ann is still grieving for he lost fiancé, and finds herself in Hatteras during the offseason. She meets some of the locals, one of whom takes an instant dislike to her. No long after her arrival, she accidentally hitches a ride to the past. In the past, she spends time with Lawrence, a dashing sea captain who isn't exactly telling her everything. When she returns to her time, things quickly go to hell.
The first third is really about the time travel adventure Ann goes on. It was an interesting take on time travel, and I liked some aspects of it. The tale of the ghost ship was well-researched and I loved the retelling. The last two-thirds were more drama-laden, and seemed to drag on. Ann solves all of her problems with a whole lot of alcohol, and spends a lot of time hungover. Rob spends most of his time sullen and angry. He's attracted to Ann, but his wife is only recently deceased in a boating accident. Of the other characters, there is a lack of depth or interest. They seem typecast, and are generally horrid to one another.
I wanted to like it. I wanted it to be the sort of novel that keeps me up half the night. Instead, it felt clumsy and a bit directionless. The focus was on too much, and the story ended up getting lost in the words.
May 12, 2012
That's all I can say... Wow. I picked up this book in January when it was free, as I do many others, and forgot all about it, as I do many others. Recently it was free again and when I saw I already owned it I dug it out of my massive TBR list and put it at the top. I started it yesterday and fell asleep with my Kindle on my chest. Tonight I finished it. I'm not going to describe the book, many others have done so, better than I ever could. I didn't expect to love this book. What a happy surprise! The characters were human, sometimes annoying and other times making me laugh. The author told an excellent story with just a few distracting typos/incorrect word usage. I am glad I own this book as I can see myself coming back to read it again.
October 27, 2013
This one earned an extra star because, although I jacked it in at only 8%, there weren't any mistakes I'd encountered by then.
Now this story was a really good idea and something different but the author made it a little TOO far-fetched for my liking, I'm sorry to say. Our leading lady, Ann, was in the area as she had recently lost her fiancee and was supposedly grieving, but then we're supposed to believe by page 24 she'd met a new chap, travelled back in time with him and had already decided she planned on staying with him forever !! It really doesn't read as being very likely.
It brought to mind Doctor Who and his companions. There's nothing wrong with that but it could have lost the romantic side of things till maybe later on in the story for me to believe it.
Now this story was a really good idea and something different but the author made it a little TOO far-fetched for my liking, I'm sorry to say. Our leading lady, Ann, was in the area as she had recently lost her fiancee and was supposedly grieving, but then we're supposed to believe by page 24 she'd met a new chap, travelled back in time with him and had already decided she planned on staying with him forever !! It really doesn't read as being very likely.
It brought to mind Doctor Who and his companions. There's nothing wrong with that but it could have lost the romantic side of things till maybe later on in the story for me to believe it.
April 25, 2012
I rather enjoyed this book. Other then a few minor typos 'The Ghost Ship' was well written.
Trying to escape from her own pain and lost love, Ann comes to the small town of Hatteras. Seeking solitude she wanders down to the beach where she's swept up into an adventure on the seas of another time and place with a man named Lawerance. Was it real or just daydream. Rod who strives to protect the areas wildlife and also great grandson of Lawerance hears her tale. Rod quickly discounts it as a story she's trying to dig up see as she is a writer.
The Ghost Ship is a simple, easy going story. Through this book you can see how the past, present and the future are entwined.
Trying to escape from her own pain and lost love, Ann comes to the small town of Hatteras. Seeking solitude she wanders down to the beach where she's swept up into an adventure on the seas of another time and place with a man named Lawerance. Was it real or just daydream. Rod who strives to protect the areas wildlife and also great grandson of Lawerance hears her tale. Rod quickly discounts it as a story she's trying to dig up see as she is a writer.
The Ghost Ship is a simple, easy going story. Through this book you can see how the past, present and the future are entwined.
April 13, 2012
I'm usually not very critical when it comes to books BUT this is one of the worst books I've ever read. It was badly written, the plot was terrible and confusing, the characters weren't really likable (more like despicable) and it was full of grammar mistakes. Oh, and there were a couple of racist lines like "all immigrants have cellphones" or something like that and "he moved the way only latinos move". Completely unacceptable.
September 6, 2012
best ghost story book I have read in some time, you can really get lost in this story, trying to find your way back to the best time in your life..
when she stumbles onto this beach and runs into a man that takes her breath away, takes her into another realm of lost time.
enjoyable read, keeps you guessing if she will ever find her way back or be able to convince his Grandson of the real story that lies beneath the ocean with his Grandfather, and just maybe fall in love with the grandson.
when she stumbles onto this beach and runs into a man that takes her breath away, takes her into another realm of lost time.
enjoyable read, keeps you guessing if she will ever find her way back or be able to convince his Grandson of the real story that lies beneath the ocean with his Grandfather, and just maybe fall in love with the grandson.
April 12, 2012
This was a very interesting book. I loved the historical mystery. I've not read many books about the ships and the eastern coast towns and I thought this one was exceptionally good. It peaked my interest into the ships that have disappeared during the late 19th century and early 20th century and the men that worked on them.
August 1, 2012
This was a pretty good read. I had difficulty with the main character initially, by the end, I just accepted she wasn't as put together as you would think she would be. The dynamics are a bit onerous and contrived, but I did find myself wanting to know how it all ended. Which is what is most important.
April 14, 2012
Good concept, poor execution. Too many immediate connections between characters and choppy transitions. I liked the part during the time travel though.
April 17, 2012
Really a spooky and good read.
December 13, 2012
So far so good, I'm really enjoying it, only on page 58 so early days
January 5, 2013
It was a fascinating ghost & love story. Wouldn't it be interesting if both could be true. Good read!
September 4, 2013
Good read if you like a ghost story with a little romance. Very enjoyable!!
February 20, 2015
Well written. Good read...
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews