A GLIMMER OF GHOSTS

In this supernatural series starter, a ghost hunter finds out that there are far more menacing things in the world than poltergeists. 

Melisande “Mel” Blythe is one of the main investigators of Ghost Towne Investigations, owners of a YouTube channel who film their ventures into cemeteries and other venues, where they try to make contact with ghosts. What makes Mel different from similar ghost hunters is that she’s narcoleptic, and when she’s in a half-awake, half-asleep state, she can actually make contact with spirits. One night, Mel and her group are nearly overrun by fleeing ghosts, all of them eager to get away from a shadowy female figure who seems to be making her way through the graveyard. After an encounter with this mystery woman, Mel and her crew flee, and they later find that infrared cameras show the woman to have no body heat whatsoever. Mel is used to dealing with spirits, but the idea of other supernatural creatures is a bit hard for her to handle. It later turns out that the strange lady has companions, and one of them particularly catches Mel’s attention. What makes Skye’s novel truly stand out is the fact that the appealing main character’s disabilities, which include a brain injury as well as a sleep disorder, play a huge role in her life. The author also explains these aspects of Mel’s existence very well instead of tossing them into the story as mere throwaway facts, as less-sensitive authors might. This book would have benefited from supplying readers with more information earlier on, as readers are tossed right into the story with very little lead-in, giving the book more of the feeling of a sequel. Overall, though, this is a promising start, and readers looking for something different than the genre’s norm will be satisfied. 

An offbeat tale of things that go bump in the night featuring a well-developed main character.