By: Brian K. Henry
Moody sixteen-year-old barista Devin Mulwray is doing his best to ignore bizarre manifestations at his job in the chilly Northern California town of Arcata. Already teased about his recurrent ‘phase-outs’, the last thing he needs is to get pegged as a guy who sees ghosts. It doesn’t help his state of mind that his boss is a sarcastic slacker, his single dad is always on the road with clients and local occult fan girl Nayra is spreading ‘ghost boy’ rumors about him online.
But when violent paranormal activity badly spooks teens at an abandoned estate, Devin’s pushed into investigating by his eccentric friends Clive, a budding composer, and Rex, a tech-head excited by ghost hunting gadgetry. At first reluctant to get involved, Devin’s encouraged when Emily, one of the more empathetic girls at Grey Bluff High, is impressed with his daring.
Together the friends explore the creepy Rousten manor. But as the only person able to perceive the manifestations, Devin soon finds himself going one-on-one against a powerful spirit who attacks the locals and infiltrates Devin’s own dreams.
Devin must face his fear of confronting the spirit world and get to the bottom of the hauntings before the spectre unleashes more havoc on him and his friends.
Official Summary
Devin Mulwray, seems like an average guy, has a job as a barista, has two best friends, a single dad but he’s not, he can see ghosts. After two kids at a party gets spooked at the Rousten house Devin and his two friends Rex and Clive decide to investigate.
I’ll be honest the only thing that truly bugged me about this book was the fact that Devin could see ghosts and no-one was freaking out. Everyone just acted like this was an everyday thing, no-one was super surprised or shocked. Which makes it seem kind of unrealistic.
Let’s talk about characters, Devin, was a very normal character. I will say he is a lot braver than I am. You could not pay me to go near a house that is haunted at night time. I liked Devin’s humour and how he always had a sarcastic remark ready in hand.
Clive throughout the whole thing gave me a bad vibe. I don’t know why but I kept on waiting for it to come out that he was a bad guy. I think it is just because he is such a unique character that I am not used to reading about.
Naya just annoyed me throughout the whole book. I really didn’t see why she had to go around telling everyone about Devin. Naya came off as a know it all kind of character.
I enjoyed Rex, he was funny. He was super overdramatic about everything which I loved. I think I related to his character best. He was sweet but somehow still very sassy.
I don’t know why but Ramona was my favourite character and I know that she is seen as an unlikable character. I thought she was funny and she had every right to get angry with Devin. I am glad that she fired him, he was terrible at his job.
Emily was a very bland character, there wasn’t much to her. I wish we could have gotten to know her a little better.
The author is very descriptive although sadly this leads to unrealistic dialogue. Except for that, the book was good. The story was super imaginative and unique. It is a fast read and I would defiantly recommend it.
Author: Brian K. Henry – ISBN: 9781311490926 – Publisher: Self-published – Pages:271 – Source: eBook Review copy from the author
About The Author
Author Bio from GoodReads
Brian K. Henry is the author of the humorous paranormal novel I WAS A TEENAGE GHOST HUNTER. His other books include the fantasy novel HOUSE OF PRENSION and sci-fi novel SPACE COMMAND AND THE PLANET OF THE BEJEWELLED CONCUBINES, as well as the story collection SPACE COMMAND AND THE PLANETS OF DOOM. Primarily a writer of comedy and satire, Brian has also completed seven comedy screenplays, (including ZAK BEDFORD, PUNK DETECTIVE option to Feldco Development), several collaborations with punk-cabaret duo The Tyrants in Therapy and numerous short stories, sketches and, of course, tweets.
A California native and longtime Pasadena resident, Henry holds a PhD. in English from UC Riverside and a MA from CSU Fullerton. A die-hard CD addict and music fan, his collection spans classical to Britpop to punk with especially large sections devoted to Mahler, Prokofiev, Wagner, the Dandy Warhols, XTC, Morrissey and the Smiths, Depeche Mode, and Madness.
Henry’s dissertation focused on the works of Henry James, Nabokov, and Poe. Other literary favourites include Don DeLillo, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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