North County Paranormal Unit: North County Paranormal Unit #1

by Amanda McColgan (Pseudonym), Amanda McCormack

Note: This book was previously published as “North County Paranormal by Amanda McColgan”. The content has not been changed beyond the author pen name.

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Recent college graduate Gabriella is badly in need of a job. So when her cousin James invites her to interview at the local branch of the Foundation for Paranormal Studies, New England’s top source for preternatural investigation, she’s thrilled. A job cleansing haunted houses with her favorite cousin AND it offers health benefits? She’s in.

But then a case goes wrong, putting Gabriella in danger just weeks after her arrival. Management blames James and while Gabriella hates to admit it, the evidence is against him. Now Gabriella has to choose sides as her teammates move to protect James and their boss tries to take her under his wing.

Will she be able to handle all of this on top of physical injury, poltergeists, and a glitchy computer training system that constantly insists she’s in New Bedford? Or is this maybe not the job for her after all?

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 17, 2021

About the author

Pen name of author Amanda McCormack.

Reviews

[Haly Hoards Books]

3.5☆
This was light and fun. It is easily read in under two hours.

Being the first in a thirteen book series to date, NCPU is an introduction to the characters who make up the unit. Gabriella is the FMC, who grew up in her grandmother's house, which had episodes of paranormal activity. When Gabriella's cousin, James, offers her a job with the North County Paranormal Unit (NCPU) she accepts. She soon finds herself fighting for her life!

I have the entire series but have not read any of the books yet. I am going to continue reading the rest of the series.

[Martina Commisso]

Most of this was great.
I really enjoyed the concept and creative plot. It was really fun. It was also thoroughly enjoyable to read. It was different than I expected; not quite as spooky and not as many paranormal situations as I originally thought, though I didn't find this to be a problem. There are also more books so I imagine that might amp up with time.

However, I have to give it only 4 stars because the twist stares you in the face about halfway through (and even earlier, though not as blatantly), and all you can do is wait for the characters to hit the same conclusion you had ages ago.
It was frustrating to see what Gabriella wasn't seeing about her boss, Robin, for over half of the novel. He was incredibly dubious and it got tiresome listening to her trust him time and time again. While I can see how her initial doubt in her cousin, James, was formed, I found it went on for too long. After hearing Robin yell at other staff members, she starts to doubt him and smarten up, but more than once, it just takes a compliment from the obviously suspicious Robin to send her back into trusting him. I don't know. I don't recall her age being disclosed, so maybe if she was in high school I could see someone being this trusting to a mentor figure, but as she's not attending classes outside of work and has her own apartment, I have to assume she's old enough to know better.
For the most part, this ^ didn't bother me as much as my review makes it seem.
The actual problem for me was when this happens at the end of the novel. After all of her training and all of the warning bells going off in her head, she still follows her very suspicious boss ALONE into the woods. It was excruciating and I found it utterly unbelievable.

I still had a lot of fun reading this and I am hoping to read further into the series, I am just hoping Gabriella smartens up a bit more.

[bookswithanna]

3,5
The story has so much potential!! Looking forward to the next books!

[Charlie]

I’m shocked that this gem of a book only has so few ratings. It’s a fun and yet still realistic ghost hunting procedural with interesting work place dynamics. The line from the synopsis “underfunded and over-caffeinated” to describe the team of investigators really drew me in and the book totally delivered on that premise. The focus is definitely on the team and not so much on the hauntings which I loved. This also means this is a little spooky, but not so spooky that you can’t read it at night in bed.

This is also a pretty quick read at a novella length, the perfect little ghosty palate cleanser. I read this for Summerween readathon and it was perfect!

I will definitely pick up the rest of the series! It seems that POVs will be switched up between investigators so I’m looking forward to this as well.

Also side note: This cover is hilarious and iconic! I want this in paperback to have in my home collection.

[Gilbert Stack]

This is a quirky story about a small group of paranormal investigators paid by a foundation to cleanse houses of evil spirits and deal with supernatural problems. What I liked most about the tale was the mundane bureaucratic setting where the supernatural was obviously understood to exist by enough of the population that this foundation, the government, and a great many clients draw upon the North County Paranormal Unit and many others like it, but at the same time it was my impression that the supernatural was not widely accepted as real by society as a whole. It was a very tricky balance which worked well in the story.

[maria arcara]

interesting premise

I thought this story was good and had quite an intriguing premise. I really liked James, Amelia and Madelyn; Bradley, too, even - I found him interesting and I look forward to learning what makes him tick. Gabriella, though, I was a little conflicted about. I mean, there were definitely some good things in her character; yet there were also some aspects of her that I found to be unsympathetic. I didn't have complete disdain for her or anytime like that, so I am curious to see if she is redeemed in future books in the series. I'm looking forward to the second installment of the North County Paranormal Unit now!

[Monty]

North County Paranormal Unit was a free download, and honestly? Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. It’s short, snappy, and entertaining enough that I flew through it in one sitting. While the paranormal action didn’t always hit as hard as I hoped and felt a bit lacklustre at times, it still did the job for a quick, no-strings-attached read. Free, fast, and fun enough, sometimes that’s all a book needs to be.

[Shelby]

Entertaining urban fantasy

Gabriella needs a new job. Her cousin James works for an organization that investigates and cleans up sitings of ghosts, demons, bigfeet.... And there is an opening. She's quickly in over her head. Will she survive orientation? My biggest problem is that I knew where it was going about a quarter of the way through. But it was fun.

[Lynn Leach]

Different than I expected but I liked it. Loved the twist. Look forward to more in this series.

[Therin Stapp]

This book really grabbed me - I kind of expected a quick read with goofy ghosts. Instead I found a really engaging workplace drama (with TERRIFYING, but secondary, ghosts).

[Volare]

Massachusetts paranormal enthusiasts will get a kick out of this one, especially if you're at all familiar with the areas described. The writing is focused on the characters' experiences and their interactions; very little delving into the process or minutiae of inspecting, hunting, or driving out hauntings, which may or may not appeal to the reader more. If you're here for aspects of mysticism, the spiritual details of banishing rituals or descriptive passages of eldritch horrors, this book isn't set up that way. No major gore or body horror, for the squeamish; nothing that'll keep you up at night. A light read that stays within typical expectations of "ghost stories", it leaves some questions that are hopefully addressed in future parts of the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Margarita Rose]

Gabs starts a new job with her cousin James. She trains to work for a paranormal agency. She is hurt on the job. What attacked her? How did it get to her? This is an action packed dangerous job. The story is original and you like the characters. They have a good relationship dynamic.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Vic]

3.5 Stars. Not what I was expecting. Loved the ending. Liked the characters. Good start for a new author and series. Starts a little slow but then picks up once you get passed that it's really good.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.