Monday, November 7, 2011

Ghost Night

Title/Author: Ghost Night (Bone Island Trilogy #2)  by Heather Graham.

Narrated by: Angela Dawe.

Genre: Supernatural romantic thriller.

Publisher: Brilliance Audio.

Source: Library.

Favorite character: Bartholomew.

All in all: It was okay.

Synopsis: A slasher movie turns real when two young actors are brutally murdered on a remote island film set. Their severed heads and arms are posed in macabre homage to a nineteenth-century pirate massacre.

Two years later, Vanessa Loren is drawn back to South Bimini by a documentary being made about the storied region. Filmmaker Sean O’Hara aches to see how the unsolved crime haunts her…and Sean knows more than a little about ghosts.

Lured by visions of a spectral figurehead, Vanessa discovers authentic pirate treasures that only deepen the mystery. Are the murders the work of modern-day marauders, the Bermuda Triangle or a deadly paranormal echo of the island’s violent history? As Vanessa and Sean grow closer, the killer prepares to resume the slaughter…unless the dead can intervene. ~Goodreads.com

My Thoughts:  I didn't love this book and I didn't hate it.  I thought it was entertaining as I drove around in my car and listened to it.  There are certain people I know who would like it and others who I know wouldn't.  What I like about this book is that there is a good amount of detail regarding the ocean and diving. It’s pretty interesting. I also really liked the setting of Key West Florida and the Bahamas. I have never been to the Keys, but I felt like I was there because of the way the climate, the neighborhood, and the people are described.  What I also really enjoyed was the pirate legend of Mad Miller, Dona Isabella and Kitty Cutlas.  I think their legend and even their names are cool. 

However, the detail of the ocean, salvaging and diving is so abundant that it sometimes bogs down the story. I appreciate the amount of research the author did but it treads into the "telling" territory.  I also felt that most of the book was the preparation of the film crew to actually go out on the boat and re-visit the island that the murders took place on.  I know that in real life there is a lot of prep before a shoot, but it almost felt like false starts.  Just when I thought something was going to happen there was research and background checks.  I'm wondering if this book could have been edited down a lot.

The two leads, Vanessa and Sean, were honest, mature and likeable. That being said, some people may complain that they have no flaws and are “too” good. This didn’t bother me one way or the other. I felt kind of neutral. To me, they are there to serve the story. One thing I do like about the characters is their romantic relationship. Although when they first met there was a misunderstanding, they were both mature and honest, like the characters themselves. They didn’t play games or act coy or talk about being hurt before. They were like, “Hey I’m attracted to you, let’s get together and see where this goes.” It was kind of refreshing and surprising.

After I read this, I realized it is part of a trilogy and there are some questions about other characters that sound intriguing. The first book is about those characters. However, it didn’t ruin the experience of reading this book and I didn’t feel lost. I just thought, “Hmm, wonder what happened there.”

***SPOILER ALERT: There is a paranormal element throughout, in which the main character Sean has a ghost friend, Bartholomew, who helps him out and Vanessa is led by ghostly visions to discover certain things. They helped to move the plot along, but I kind of wish they had been spookier. Also, there is a nice scary scene at the beginning and then one at the end. I think that it may have been more interesting to put more of those elements within the middle of the story, this may have made it more interesting for me and more dangerous for the characters themselves.  The ending...well it wasn't much of a surprise, because the killers could have been anyone.  There is no suspicion cast on them more than anyone else.  This could serve the story or hinder it for some people.  :END SPOILER ALERT***

The narrator did an excellent job. I actually recognized her voice from the audio book of Wild Ride. She has a real gift for doing a lot of different voices that are distinguishable from each other.

Although I don’t think I’ll be going back to read the first book or will continue with this trilogy, I enjoyed visiting Key West with the author and learning about diving.  If you are interested in a light read thriller with a dash of paranormal and some romance you may like Ghost Night.

4 comments:

La Toya said...

Well it seemed really promising from the little blurb about it, but I could see myself not getting into it because of the over explaining and everything.

But I'd probably still check this book out because I'm always in the mood for a thriller!

Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer said...

I loved this series..simply because of Bartholomew.

Jenny said...

I can definitely see how so much extraneous information about diving would slow the story down, kind of like all the whaling chapters in Moby Dick. Of course Moby Dick is pretty slow on it's own anyway:) I wonder if it would be as bothersome in written form when you could skim instead of having to listen to it all:)

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

I've become so insanely addicted to audiobooks, but I have yet to try a thriller type. I'll have to pick one up, though, perhaps not this one.

But I do have to admit that I like the sound of that romance. Why play games when you could just go with it?

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