Gabe, a teen on a summer job, tells the same ghost story every day. Fun fact, he doesn’t believe his story for a bit and just hopes to give the tourists a great scare until he meets an actual ghost. A ghost who needs help. Gabe finds himself in a dangerous situation. He has to stop a dangerous ghost with his friends, which is a near impossible task.

What a great spooky ride this was! I immediately liked the story from the start. The first sentence was the best way to start this ghost story, and I know that I’m certainly not the only one thinking like that. “Ghostlight” is not only an amazing middle grade story, but it also talks about some important topics in life that one may or may not encounter at some point. I always like these messages that are displayed in middle grade novels and I wish there would also be some or at least more in adult books.

I also really liked the setting of the story. A lighthouse? And of course the surrounding area. I mean, come on, how great is that? Something refreshing, and of course lighthouses are always great places. The writing style was pretty great as well, and I also managed to read this in one sitting, which I think speaks high volumes. I absolutely should stop gushing about “Ghostlight” but I can’t.

“Ghostlight” is terrifying but the right kind of spooky, I sometimes even forgot that I was reading a middle grade book, so keep that in mind while picking up the book. It may not be meant for every young reader out there.

Scheduled to post 9/20/22.

I didn't dislike GHOSTLIGHT, but it didn't click the way I wanted it to. I think because it felt like it dragged, especially toward the end. A few too many "just kidding" moments where you think the teens have it, but they don't that had me saying, "okay, let's move it along."

My favorite characters by far were Yuri and Callie. Those two were freaking adorable and were the real weight of the ghostbusting team. The two of them are the Hermione of getting stuff done. Gabe ended up being the muscle, but he was far from being the Ron or the Harry. He actually served a valuable function in the story. They all did. I just liked Yuri and Callie way more than Gabe. That doesn't mean is disliked Gabe. He just didn't hold a candle. Rebecca was okay too and she definitely belonged in the story, but she was another one where I just wasn't connecting much with her for whatever reason.

I really liked the story as a whole. I think it's fun and fairly unique as far as haunting and ghost stories go (while haunted lighthouses are far from unique, I like what Oppel did here with it). I liked all the historical digging (and literal digging) the teens had to do in order to solve their growing (literally) problem. They just got thwarted a few too many times for my liking. It pulled the story along longer than I think it needed to be, but that's really my only complaint.

I definitely liked the ending and how it leaves the story all wrapped up in a bow, but with an asterisk. Like, it's done, but is it? I like that little thread left dangling. I found that even more satisfying than just leaving it at the sweet part of the ending.

It's a fun read that I think a lot of kids will like. It didn't hit me quite the way I hoped it would, but GHOSTLIGHT is still a worthwhile read for the story, the little bit of history you get with it, and the adventure the teens go on.

4

When I saw the tour for Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel I was already feeling the need for that MG spookiness and wanted to read as many as I could during September and October.

When I began reading Chapter One I was like this is GOOD it could be a 5 star read but sadly I was having trouble with some of the Chapters which were a bit long and kept on putting me off and out of the story. Then the next chapter was short which really helped the momentum of the story. I did like the main characters of Gabe, Yuri, Callie, Rebecca and Toronto. Yes I know Toronto is a place but through Kenneth's writing I got a feel for it.

Idid think Viker was an okay adversary but I wanted to know more about Rebecca when she became a ghost as it seemed to me that it was glossed over . For all these reasons I have given Ghostlight 3 stars

As a huge fan of horror, there are so many times when I find myself wishing that there was less gore for the sake of gore, and more focus on atmosphere and backstory.

With Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel, I can confidently say that this walked those lines nearly perfectly.

The story begins with Rebecca Strand in 1839, a girl who wishes for nothing more than to takeover the role of Keeper of the lighthouse from her father. On the night this dream is to become a reality, Rebecca quickly discovers that there is so much more to being a Keeper than simply ensuring the light stays lit.. Unknown to her, the lighthouse also protects the world against an uprising of the wakeful and wicked dead, Maleficent ghosts can be banished in its beam, and only members of The Order continue to protect the world from evils, specifically in the case of spirits such as Nicholas Viker, a deceased soldier who has taken his lust for destruction into the afterlife, feeding on weaker spirits for his own gain. After a tragedy results in the death of both Rebecca and her father, she remains in this realm while her father is absorbed by Viker, determined to avenge her father, and finally

Gabe is a high schooler who is spending his summer as a tour guide for the small coastal town’s amusement park. He takes groups of visitors to the lighthouse daily, and always like to add in a bit of local lore and ghost stories to his tours. One evening he comes in contact with Rebecca herself, and soon an epic battle between the wakeful and wicked and humanity itself begins, leaving just Gabe, his two best friends, and a ghost to protect the world itself.

I absolutely LOVED this middle-grade mystery! I was instantly drawn into the mystery and atmosphere, and I found the characters to be well developed and multi-faceted. The creepiness factor was perfect, and there were a few moments where I was pleasantly uneasy for all the right reasons.

Released on September 6th, this is not one to be missed!

Thank you so very much to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the opportunity to read and review this title,

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ebook ARC copy of this title in exchange for my review.

This was such a good book! As an adult, sometimes middle grade books are tough to get into, enjoy, loose myself in - my adult brain keeps thinking 'that was a bad choice' and so on. This one pulled me in, and I really enjoyed the story. Reminded me of the old Blossom Culp series by Richard Peck. Good mix of history and mystery, and enough ghosts to make it a great choice for the Halloween season coming up!

4 stars - I recommend it to anyone wishing to share a story with a younger person, or just for a good, enjoyable, quick read.

I thought this was a super fun and spooky middle-grade ghost story. Although while it's in the middle-grade category the kids are all 16 I believe, and it does read more as YA to me.

Gabe leads a ghost tour as a summer job, and while telling the story of how Rebecca Strand and her father were killed at the lighthouse he accidentally wakes her up. She wants him to help her stop a ghost named Viktor... he was the one that killed her and her father and consumed his soul.
Thankfully not only has he just met someone that is very interested in ghosts and the story of Rebecca and her father in particular, but she and his best friend Yuri believe Gabe and are very willing to help Rebecca in her quest to find the Ghostlight and free her father.

However not only has Rebecca woken up but so has Viktor, and he is bound and determined to get the Ghostlight for himself and consume as many ghosts as possible to make himself basically invincible.

I really liked Gabe, Yuri, and Callie. They made a great team hunting down the past and trying to figure out how they are going to stop Viktor. Rebecca is a little more complicated in my feelings, I liked her a lot at first, but as the story progresses she got more and more angry and forceful when it came to stopping Viktor. I completely understand why, but it changed my feelings for her. Also how no one was like hey calm down you're losing yourself and are going to end up exactly like Viktor, kind of bugged me.

Overall I enjoyed this book, it was just spooky enough, and I think if I would have read it at night it would have added even more spookiness. This was a great ghost story, and I loved how the group had to comb through the past, and all the ghosts (besides Viktor) that they met along the way.The story starts out slow, but steadily picks up with twists and turns around every corner, and before you know it, we're at an epic battle between the good guys and the bad ghosts,
I would definitely read more by this author.

This was a decent read. When I saw how long it was, I think around 100,000 words I was intrigued because some middle grade fantasy hits about 20,000 lower than that.

While it was good, I’m not sure it needed all the space, because some chapters felt long for the sake of it and there wasn’t always much going on to develop the characters or the plot.

Gabe is working a summer job in Toronto at a haunted light house and tells the story of Rebecca Strand who died alongside her father in 1839 under mysterious circumstances. He’s told the story so often he knows it by memory and even knows it so well he adds in little sprinklings of things that may not be true just to spice it up a bit.

Then he meets a girl who runs a blog about ghosts and then he meets one himself, Rebecca.

I think the characters were all okay. They had distinct voices and you could easily tell them apart if they were all on the page.

The character I didn’t like really was Rebecca. She’s been asleep for almost two hundred years after looking for the ghost that killed her and her father. So now that she’s awake and someone can hear and see her, well, she wants to be heard all the time, which I get.

Her behavior was frustrating. She would get angry and yell, make demands, talk over people like Gabe’s best friend because she wanted what she wanted. And it was something that was never addressed. Gabe would say she was upset since he was the only one who could see her and they would table whatever they were talking about. But no one ever brought up her behavior.

I thought maybe at some point someone would but Gabe just accepted it. Yes, she’s been dead and mute to the world but that doesn’t mean she can make demands of people that aren’t safe and that she doesn’t have to listen to people.

At the end of the book her behavior actually gets worse and she’s basically doing things the evil guy does. And Gabe just leaves her to it because he has something he has to do in order to wrap up the wildness that is a terrifying ghost vortex around the CN tower.

After that, her behavior wasn’t addressed. No one thought it would be a good idea to just take her aside and has what in the world she was thinking? Girl’s prone to aggressive anger and the way it was just ignored bothered me.

There’s also the reunification of her with her father. It’s quick, it’s sweet and there’s not really a lot of emotions in it for me. But there was another ghost who had a reunification of his own and it had far more power. I don’t know, it was anticlimactic.

Something I thought was great was the introduction of two ghosts, one of whom was Indigenous and one a colonizer. And the colonizer has seen that yeah, he was wrong. It was nice to have it addressed and the ghosts of the Indigenous people were actually important to the story which was nice. Having it shown in the book that yes, the country belonged to other people and they were treated about as horribly as possible was great because the kids said they learned about it in school.

I loved that bit.

Over all, I’m giving it a four (4).

I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to them and the publisher.

I enjoyed this title from Kenneth Oppel. A ghost story that isn’t too scary with characters that are likable and relatable. All around solid read.

Gabe’s summer job leading ghost tours at a Toronto amusement park takes an unexpected turn: he summons an actual ghost, Rebecca, who died in 1839. She and her father were murdered by Nicholas Viker, a villainous ghost who literally consumes his enemies. Rebecca wants Gabe to help her save what’s left of her father’s spirit and Gabe learns of Viker’s plan to destroy modern-day Toronto and all its residents.

On Viker’s side? A dark universe with an army of the “wicked and wakeful dead.” Team Gabe? Ghostly Rebecca, Gabe’s uber-mechanic friend Yuri and daring ghost-blogger Callie. The four 16 year-olds (Rebecca’s a teen spirit) take readers on a thrill ride of a plot packed with harrowing escapes, puzzling mysteries and Viker in hot pursuit at every turn.

Along with the action, master storyteller Oppel adds depth through memorable characters. Yuri’s family emigrated from Russia and faces challenges assimilating in a new country. Gabe struggles with anger toward his deceased father who left the family for another woman. In an interesting twist, both Gabe and Rebecca’s fathers fall prey to Viker. Callie, from India, brings contagious enthusiasm for the wealth of historical facts Oppel seamlessly weaves into the narrative. Callie observes, “Ghost stories are like history class, only better.” The novel’s satisfying conclusion leaves the door open to more ghostly adventures. Begs to be made into a movie: visually cinematic with witty humor, nonstop action, a dash of sweet teen romance and plenty of heart. Recommended first purchase for all middle grade collections.

#Ghostlight#
By: Kenneth Oppel
Ghostlight is a well crafted story featuring a group of Canadian teens who've become involved with ghosts that haven't gone to their final homes and have earthly agendas. Evil dominates most of the ghosts with a final showdown that threatens civilization.
The book is MG (Middle Grade). It isn't a book for the youngest middle graders. The theme is too dark and many images disturbing.
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for offering me the opportunity of reading this in lieu of an honest review.
Review by: Librarian

Even though, I am experiencing a summer heat wave where I live, I'm eagerly awaiting fall and cooler temps and Halloween. I love a good ghost story that middle grades AND YA readers will enjoy, and Ghostlight fits the bill very well!

The concept between lighthouse keepers helping keep their harbor cities safe from spirits sets the mood for this fast-paced novel. Gabe is working a summer job giving ghost tours of a haunted lighthouse. He didn't seem to believe the lore surrounding it, until he met Rebecca Strand. Who is Rebecca? She is the long-deceased daughter of Keeper Strand. Both were murdered by Viker, a vicious spirit who was attempting to steal the ghostlight for his own means.

Along with his friends, Yuri and Callie, Gabe tries to help Rebecca free her father's spirit and stop Viker once and for all. A battle 200 years in the making set against the backdrop of present-day Toronto rages on a stormy night, and I believe young readers will be hooked! Additionally, I think there is enough room in the ending for a potential sequel.

I absolutely will be grabbing a copy of this for my school library and cannot wait to get it into the hands of students. I also look forward to see if Kenneth Oppel takes this story a bit further with these characters.

When I saw this cover I knew I needed to read the book! I love finding a new Middle Grade Spooky book to read and this one hit the spot.

The book is mainly told from one point-of-view and it comes from Gabe. Although, in the beginning the first chapter is from Rebecca’s and I like how this was done. Plus, there are chapters/pages where the evil spirit, Viker, is out doing what he does best and he is quite terrifying! We get her backstory and it really is the culminating event for the rest of the plot because without it, I don’t know if Gabe, and even Rebecca, would be where they are now.

Gabe is very hesitant when it comes to believing in ghosts. He may be a guide for a ghost tour but that doesn’t mean he actually believes what he is saying. It’s always nice to see a character be proven wrong on a stance they have and learn that is wrong through weird and spooky events happening to them. Rebecca really needed his help and she wasn’t going to go without trying everything in her power! They both work together as a team and two more kids also join the mix, one being another skeptic and the other a newly blogger who wants to solve the mystery of Rebecca and her father’s death. They all make a great group.

Sometimes it is hard to not compare one ghost story to another because it can feel like reading something familiar. I will say that this one didn’t give me that feeling at all. It felt refreshing and I liked the idea of an order of lighthouse workers vanquishing the dead! It was really cool to read about and I kind of wish it was a job. Although, I would probably regret it eventually, haha.

Overall, this was a fun read and I liked how there was more than one ghost with a story. It wasn’t overly spooky and there was a great group of kids working together to defeat the evil presence.

Kenneth Oppel’s Ghostlight is a quick-moving MG story involving a trio of teens battling a long-dead villain seeking to raise an army of ghosts in modern-day Toronto. Full of action, the narrative also includes a number of brief but effective emotional moments and also highlights the poor treatment of Native groups.

Gabe Vasilakis has a summer job giving the Ghost Tour of the Toronto’s Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, which in 1839 saw the unexplained deaths of its keeper and his 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca Strand. Unexplained no more, though, as Gabe ends up able to communicate with Rebecca and thus learns she and her father were part of a secret order of ghost-banishing “Keepers” who “protect the harbors, the cities, the coastlines of the world … since the Lighthouse of Alexandria … stand[ing] guard over the night to protect the living from the wakeful and wicked dead.” In a scene vividly depicted in chapter one, Rebecca and her father were killed by a strong ghost named Nicholas Viker, one who gains power by consuming other ghosts (including Rebecca’s father) and who, like Rebecca, has woken from a long slumber. Gabe, his best friend Yuri, and new friend and “ghost-blogger” Callie join forces with Rebecca to try and prevent Viker’s rise to power. To do so, they must find the “ghostlight”, a magical gem that can cast a light to banish ghosts, sending them on to whatever is their next stage.

The plotting, as noted, is fast paced. The book opens with a bang, a battle between Rebecca and her father against Viker, one they eventually lose in horrific fashion. The story also closes with a big battle, though on a far more epic scale and involving many more people (some living, some not so much). In between, Oppel presents some puzzles for the trio to solve (what happened to the gem in the intervening centuries) and throws in smaller conflicts between the group and Viker, who has his own allies. The tension ratchets up gradually but steadily, with each encounter more dangerous than the last and the effects scaling upward so that by the end the entire city is under threat. And while the anxiety is also increased by the physical danger to our main characters, two other elements add a slower-burn but if anything more disturbing kind of anxiety: the disquieting potential for Rebecca to move to the darker side of her ghostly existence, and the way in which the semi-physical “clasp” between Rebecca and Gabe drains him of energy while enlivening her.

Thanks to these unnerving elements, and some vivid description of physical horror (the way Viker consumes ghosts, how his appearance changes in grotesque fashion) and shootings, this is a book that really is in that MG range rather than one you’d read aloud to a younger child, such as a seven or eight-year-old, though of course, one knows their own child best. As for possibly older readers, due to the fast pace, as I’ve found is often the case in MG books, obstacles faced by the characters are sometimes too easily overcome, with characters either gliding by them with little effort or thanks to coincidental actions, both of which occur here. Middle grade readers will probably shrug, if they even notice, though older readers may find such instances more problematic. It’s also possible middle grade readers won’t even notice the history lessons Oppel provides, making use not just of the specific geography of Toronto but also the city, and the nation’s history. That includes the mistreatment (putting it lightly) of its original inhabitants, a welcome addition to the story.

Oppel has always been great with characters, and that holds true here as well. Gabe is dealing, and not particularly well, with recent trauma in his life: a divorce, his dad moving out, and then worse, his dad dying before anything has a chance at being resolved (at least, while they were both alive — is there a chance now that Gabe knows ghosts are real?). Meanwhile, Yuri must deal with the possibility of his family being forced to return to Russia because of how difficult his father is getting certified to do engineering work in the US. Oppel does an excellent job in detailing the complexities of Gabe’s feelings and also allowing both teens to have moments of unpleasantness due to their stress. Callie also has her own family issues, though less dramatic, as she wants to be a journalist, a profession her all-dentist family scorns for its lack of money-making potential.

The story’s climactic battle resolves the main storyline, but Oppel leaves open the possibility of a return to this world and these characters. Younger readers will probably find themselves hoping that possibility becomes reality.

[box] Published in September 2022. Rebecca Strand was just sixteen when she and her father fell to their deaths from the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in 1839. Just how they fell—or were they pushed?—remains a mystery. And their ghosts haunt the lighthouse to this day. . . .

Gabe tells this story every day when he gives the ghost tour on Toronto Island. He tries to make it scary enough to satisfy the tourists, but he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts—until he finds himself face to face with Rebecca Strand. The true story of her death is far more terrifying than any ghost tale Gabe has told. Rebecca reveals that her father was a member of the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from “the wakeful and wicked dead”—malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But the Order has disappeared, and Viker’s ghost is growing ever stronger. [/box]

*Review of ARC from NetGalley (SPOILERS BELOW)

Legit scares are a welcome shift in middle grade horror, and Ghostlight is on trend. Viker's imagery is sure to give readers the frights they're looking for. Oppel really knows how to put a cast of characters together. Rebecca, Gabe, Yuri, and Callie balance each others' strengths and faults. The climax could have been condensed (I thought the creation of a second ghastlight was necessary), and the plot between Gabe and his father was sidelined for too long before the resolution. Overall a strong addition that I'll be purchasing for my library's scary section.

This book starts in 1839 with a whirlwind story of Rebecca Strand and her father who serve as lighthouse keepers charged with controlling ghostly beings around their town. The first chapter is super fast paced and a bit scary and unexpected!

The book then switches to present day Gabe whose summer job is giving tours of the now defunct but touristy lighthouse. When he repeatedly says the name of Rebecca Strand while conducting tours, he accidentally summons her ghost which begins their adventure in avenging her and her father's death so many years ago.

I had a good time with this spooky, fun story about the world of ghosts and the living interacting and coming to terms with each other while fighting the evil power that killed Rebecca and her Father.

Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel is a middle grade mystery with some horror elements.

This book starts off with a violent murder scene- so definitely for older middle grade readers to young adult. But overall the story was really exciting, and Gabe is a likable lead. I enjoyed the history elements, but the big bad is a vengeful ghost who murders people so just be aware this was more intense than I thought a middle grade novel would be.

Gabe was giving a ghost tour of a lighthouse (and area) as a summer job, when he accidentally connected with Rebecca, the ghostly daughter of the former lighthouse guardian, Keeper Strand; both deceased the same night in 1839.

Rebecca needs the help of Gabe and his two friends to retrieve a special lens and use it to kill the evil ghost-eater Viker before he becomes so strong he can kill the living again. And to free her father from Viker's insatiable appetite.

BEWARE: This is a middle-grade mystery with very scary elements. It is not meant for younger children. I suggest a minimum age of 13+ because of some horror images involving war, violent death that creates ghosts, and Viker, who is a monster creature who "feeds on" other ghosts to gain strength, by swallowing them.

As a book of this kind, it is well above average in depth, storyline, and writing. And the weaving of fact and fictional Canadian history into everything is excellent.

5/5 Stars Not for children younger than 13. (Horror elements.) Parental guidance is suggested.

Thanks to Random House Children's,
Knopf Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley, for the preview of this ebook; the review is voluntary.

#Ghostlight #NetGalley
#RandomHouseChildrens
#KnopfBooksforYoungReaders
#ChildrenseBooksonDeathGriefandBereavement
#ChildrensBooksonDeathandDying
#ChildrensScaryStories
#MiddleSchoolScaryStories
#MiddleSchoolGhostStories
#MiddleSchoolMonsterStories
#MiddleSchoolFictionLighthouse
#MiddleSchoolFictionLighthouseCanada
#MiddleSchoolFictionCanadaHistory
#MiddleSchoolCanadaHistory
#MiddleSchoolFictionDeath
#MiddleSchoolFictionGhostTour
#MiddleSchoolHorror
#MiddleSchoolDeathofaParent

Gabe is a teenager who is working at a historic lighthouse in Toronto during the summer, telling ghost stories to tourists. One day though, he accidentally summons a real ghost. She warns him about a dangerous ghost that killed her and her father and who is seeking to gain even more power. Together with his best friend Yuri and his new friend Callie, Gabe must work to stop this ghost before he takes over the world.

This one started out a bit slow but then I really enjoyed it! I loved the story and the creativity here. It was so interesting and a good read for anyone who likes paranormal books.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that my daughter was super excited to read. I will note that this was not an easy book for an 8 year old to read on her own, so we read it together.

Gabe is working a summer job as a tour guide at a “haunted” lighthouse. called the Gibralter Point Lighthouse. The story goes that the lighthouse keeper, Keeper Strand, and his teenage daughter Rebecca, fell off the catwalk around the lightroom one night while tending the light, and died. The myth suggests they were murdered and that the daughter haunts the lighthouse to this day. Gabe hams it up a bit to keep the tourists engaged. By all accounts he does a good job, and the tourists all leave satisfactorily spooked. One day, there’s a girl there who wants to speak with him after the tour. Her name is Callie and she writes about haunted locations. Turns out she wants to see the Gibralter Point Lighthouse specifically, because she’s related to Rebecca Strand. She and Gabe meet up with his best friend Yuri and grab some lunch.

Throughout all of his ghost tours of the Lighthouse, Gabe used Rebecca Strand’s name so often, he woke Rebecca’s ghost. She was able to talk to him about what really happened, and how a ghost named Nicholas Viker is the one who pushed them off the lighthouse. She and her father didn’t fall. They were murdered by a ghost. And about how lighthouse keepers were part of a secret society where the light from the lighthouse kept ghosts away from the cities. Most importantly, some keepers even had a special amber lens called a ghostlight. Like the bright lighthouse beam, it could kill ghosts, even those that had consumed other ghosts to strengthen themselves, but the true power is that the lens frees the ghosts inside. But her father’s ghostlight is missing and Rebecca needs Gabe’s help to find it and to defeat Viker, thus freeing her father whom Viker had eaten.

There is a lot going on in this story and I feel the author vividly and intriguingly described everything so well, that as I read it aloud to my daughter, we were both able to easily visualize everything. Viker is a scary guy, and his form has become warped after centuries of consuming other ghosts for energy. I was worried this would be too scary for my 8 year old but she was super into it! Watching Callie, Yuri, and Gabe form a friendship, and then a team, was great. Rebecca Strand joined their group and fit in easily, creating one very smart ghostlight hunting team. They worked well together, got into scrapes, and pulled off some interesting capers. They had to hunt through the history of the island, of different buildings, old families, and other lighthouse keepers…it was very exciting.

My daughter and I were kept on the edge of our seats constantly, and she never wanted to stop reading.

I hope this is the beginning of a series, because something about that ending has me wanting more…

***ARC courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

What worked:
I always appreciate a great hook, and chapter one of this book describes the “murder” of a lighthouse keeper and his daughter in the early 1800’s. The plot jumps almost two centuries ahead as a mystery-adventure evolves with ghosts taking on major roles. Gabe is able to see and speak with Rebecca, the ghost of a character dying in the first chapter, and he’s determined to help free her father from the ruthless ghost named Viker that devoured him. The key to stopping this spirit is a ghostlight that went missing so Gabe and his friends must collect clues to locate the amber lens before Viker becomes too powerful to stop. He’s consuming other ghosts to build strength, and the living characters are unaware of his ultimate plans.
Strong emotions are shared to create subplots. Gabe’s father left the family in the prior year but was then hit by a car and killed. Gabe is left with unresolved feelings of love and anger toward him that continue to pop up. Seeing his father’s ghost doesn’t make things better. Rebecca obviously has strong emotions due to her own death and her father’s fate after being ingested by Viker. Gabe’s best friend Yuri’s family recently moved from Russia, but not all members of his family have adjusted well to the changes. Unrest with Yuri’s family creates additional angst for his character. Another friend named Callie is the most stable character, but even she experiences concerns due to family expectations. Becoming a journalist does not offer the money she can make if she pursues a career in dentistry like her parents and other family members.
The most entertaining aspect of the book is the main plot itself. Trying to locate the lost ghostlight to stop an evil spirit is straightforward, but the author effectively adds twists and turns to complicate matters. You can imagine the difficulty of finding a lens lost in the sand two hundred years ago, but Gabe learns the identity of various characters that create a trail of clues to follow. These characters are now ghosts, so readers aren’t sure what to expect when he meets them. Dangers await at every turn as Viker seems to pop up every time Gabe and his friends make progress. My greatest anticipation is with Rebecca’s character. Gabe is able to see and hear her when she clasps his hand, but that act transfers some of his energy to her. Will this become a problem in the long run? Gabe starts to view Rebecca as a girlfriend, but he’s shocked at times when she reveals a wave of anger from within. Is she a sincere ghost trying to stop Viker, or is there a malevolent spirit inside her waiting to erupt? Several times, the plot appears to build to a climax only to take unexpected turns. Rest assured, the story finally reaches an exciting, suspenseful conclusion that leaves the door open for a possible sequel.
What didn’t work as well:
The trail of clues is unrealistic at times. The ghostlight is originally lost on a beach, and its ownership passes to random people over the course of decades. Somehow, the teens are able to research in their spare time to find names, articles, and locations to follow the history of the lens’s past. Finding clues seems unusually easy when you consider what the characters are actually doing. However, ignore any concerns and simply enjoy the exciting adventure created by the author.
The Final Verdict:
Using the ghostlight to bring peace to lost souls. Obviously, this book tells a ghost story, but it’s more about the perilous exploits of the characters than creating a spooky, eerie atmosphere. Overall, it’s a highly entertaining adventure, and I highly recommend you give it a shot.