Nothing to fear but fear itself...right?

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Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers...the place to be when the nights get cold, the days grow dark and that fog rolling in  too hard to ignore.  *-*

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Halloween is JUST around the corner (as are two other holidays we celebrate in my house - birthdays....woo-hoo!) and the creepy, spooky reads just keep coming like a hoard of zombies after a truck load of fresh brains.  (Mmm...um, not really...) Today's post is no different as it features the paranormal side of literature but in a decidedly un-zombie-type fashion.  No, the featured paranormal spectacle (or should I say specter  today is GHOSTS.  One is more than enough, two if they are Casper-like in disposition, but how's about a TOWN full of them?  Oh, and did I mention that they are all being led by one ticked off spirit?  Yeah....fun times....well, for READERS at least.  Enough with the cloak and dagger techniques, I'll leave that to the ghosts.  (*evil grin*) Today's book of choice is...

Ghost Town

by

Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson

with Tim Waggoner

From the publisher...

WELCOME TO EXETER, THE “MOST HAUNTED TOWN IN AMERICA,” thanks to a deadly flood that unleashed an army of ghosts decades ago. And when ghost trackers Amber, Drew, and Trevor attend a conference during Exeter’s spookiest week of the year, the ghouls grow restless. First, an innocent bookstore worker is mysteriously killed, setting off a string of strange deaths that point to a shadowy spirit known as the Dark Lady.
With a paranormal revolution ensuing, the team must stop the twisted bloodbath. But a past horror involving the death of a former teammate has them spinning faster than a specter in a storm, especially when they learn that it’s his ghost who awakened the Dark Lady. Now, with their lives on the line and the entire town at stake, the three must decide whether to trust the spirit of their old friend or to finally put a stake through his heart.

Creeeeppppyy!  Even creepier if you read book one, Ghost Trackers...which I had the fortune of doing but if you haven't or you simply need a refresher, just click HERE to be whisked away to that review. Now, just because it is book two in the series, doesn't mean you can't pick it up and enjoy it as is...because you can!  It works as a stand alone but if your time permits or your interest is great enough, I'd TOTALLY splurge and read both in their appropriate order; it deepens the connections and makes some of the exchanges hold more weight.  But I digress, let's get back to the show...

So, the newly formed team is attending an expo of sorts and what better place for them to be than the MOST HAUNTED TOWN IN AMERICA, right?  Umm, wrong...at least when the ghosties are out and about wreaking more havoc than usual.  Oh, there's a reason for their unease this year...the Dark Lady has been awakened and set her sites on YOU...I mean, them.  *ominous stare*  Yeah, it's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight, and if she has anything to say about it....the graveyard will be gaining a few more occupants.  Yes, it's a dark and twisted road trip that we're embarking on with more surprises and surprises appearances along the way than you can shake a stick at.

For those that read book one, remember Greg?  Ah yes, dear old...deceased and "I'm-one-with-the-darkness" Greg; such a wonderful fellow, wasn't he?  (<- sarcasm)  He wanted nothing more than to be one with the team and bit off WAY more than he could chew.  Don't worry, we'll see him again...or at least some semblance of him and I can't promise it will be for the better.  (Dun dun DUNNNNNNNN....) Will the team be able to stop the killing spree the Dark Lady and her human henchman (who believe you me is as scary or scarier than the Dark Lady - if she didn't have all her ghostly powers) have begun or will Exeter become the final destination for more than a few folks this Halloween and their celebration of "Dead Days" become more of a permanent state of mind?  Only time will tell...and that's something the team has VERY little of if they are to make it out alive....

Aside from the obvious ghost story and haunted nature of the town, this addition to the series gives us something to fear from the human realm as well.  His name is Mitch.  Sorry...there's no way around that mini-spoiler but it's much less spoiler-ish because we are introduced to this self proclaimed "man's man",  bada** wannabe early on and really...I can't be the only one wishing for a quick exit for this dude as well.  He has a past connection to Amber; one that she'd rather forget (and that she handled quite well might I add!) but one that he is unwilling to let go.  That inability to let go, that other mule-headed-ness attempt at making everything in the world bend to his ingrained thoughts on how they should be is what helps make a bad situation worse.  Let's just say if you are already inclined to be evil, going to a town where evil makes its bed is probably not the best idea...for anyone in your general vicinity   He's a bad man in the simplest of terms...and every now and then despite the evil they spread, bad things happen to bad people.  Moving forward...

Character wise, I enjoyed meeting up with the trio once again.  Amber and Drew have both grown individually and as a couple, providing the strength and support that the other needs but this trip is going to put that connection to the test.  Trevor is no third wheel to all this as his friendship with them both has been their even longer than their formerly unacknowledged attraction.  It's his unmasking of the events that happened at the Lowry House in their youth that brought them to this epicenter of ghostly activity...or rather his looming publication of those events...very fitting considering a ghost (not literal) from his past will be playing a starring role in the events about to transpire whether she likes it or not.  Jenn would be that "ghost" and the owner of Forgotten Lore bookstore; a flame from his past that never quite died down, she needs him now more than ever even if her belief in the paranormal is lacking...no worries, it won't be soon!  Let us not forget Arthur Carrington, ghost show hunter host extraordinaire and Erin Gilman, an ambitious documentarian longing to make her place in the film archives with her piece on Exeter...which is about to get OH-SO-MUCH more exciting then she ever imagined.  Yes, the cast is varied and expansive as is the death toll as it nudges ever higher...but to list them all would take more time than I have and ruin your fun, so I'll let you discover the rest on your reading journey....

Story wise I can't say I was completely surprised at every turn...some scenes you approached and you already knew how it would play out.  Bad I know...the veiling should be a bit thicker, but the good news is that it doesn't ruin the story.  Though the set ups may be obvious, you still don't know where or when they will occur, thereby keeping a small element of surprise.  ALSO, the creativity employed with the encounters and subsequent death scenes (because really, not EVERYONE is going to make it out of this one...alive at least) is just as good, just as scare inducing as in the first book (you remember, the biology class dissection where you were the frog? *gulp*). Ever imagine drowning in a flood...while standing in a room with NO water?  The Dark Lady has...and several people are going to experience that feeling as well as many others.  The first casualty sets the mood for things to come...and will forever make me think twice of being in the bookstore by myself at closing time (thank goodness proto call requires TWO or more people!); warning booksellers and bookish readers, this one will hit home!

All in all, a great follow up to book one with enough chills and thrills to keep you reading with the lights on...and away from historical buildings where tragedy has bound to have struck.  You'll cheer for the "heroes" as they battle the dark forces invading our here and now.  You'll shake with fright as the visage of the Dark Lady appears in your minds eye...*shudders*.  A terrific read this Halloween season or any other time you're looking for some good creepy reading fun, but best left to older teens and adults...unless you like sleeping with the light on for the rest of your days, if you sleep at all.

ARC (and finished copy) for review received courtesy of Melissa at Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as their complete catalog, be sure to visit them online, like them on Facebook or follow along on Twitter.  This book was released earlier this month and should be available for consumption...I mean purchase...on a bookstore shelf near you.

Until next time...happy reading!