A fast, strange ghost thriller with a terrible cover, a brilliant premise, and just enough chaos to make it work. 

What’s the plot?

3 women die under mysterious circumstances and find themselves trapped together as ghosts, despite coming from completely different time periods and lives. As they try to understand what happened to them, they realise their deaths are connected to a killer still operating among the living. The story follows the ghosts working together to uncover the truth behind the murders while also confronting the unfinished parts of their own lives. 

a solid story

This is a solid indie ghost story with thriller elements, and once it gets moving, it really does move. The premise is the strongest part: ghosts from different time periods being forced to work together to discover their killer. That alone had me in. The 1990s hanging out with ipod using 2000s? Brilliant. It gives the story a fun, slightly chaotic energy, and I liked the way the female characters bounced off each other.

It also has that quick horror/thriller film feeling. Not polished prestige horror. More pulp fiction. Fast, dramatic, a bit ridiculous in places, but genuinely entertaining. 

My favorite character was Jane Doer. Firstly, a brilliant name for a dead woman. Secondly, she was a brilliantly written nurse. Organised, compassionate, constantly on the go; Jane typifies the skills needed to be a nurse, making her a very easy to root for character. 

That Cover Tho…

I mean this next section with nothing but love. The cover is awful. Truly, painfully indie. But weirdly? It suits the book. Bring back ugly pulp covers! In a world of samey, AI generated slop online, I stan this cover!

the drawbacks

Now despite my 4 stars, I have to be honest. The opening is a slog. The first three chapters take some digging through, and I did have a moment where I wondered if I was going to get into it at all. Each of the characters has their own set up, but unfortunately this feels very cut and paste. You need to really fight to get through the set up, but once the story finds its pace, it improves massively, but you do need to push through that set-up.

The speed is both the book’s strength and weakness. It makes it readable and fun, but it also means some things are accepted a bit too easily. For example, students stumble across a room of ghosts moving things and don’t automatically bolt. There are moments where characters adapt to the bizarre circumstances in ways that don’t feel entirely realistic (as much as ghost stories can be). I could go with it because I was enjoying the ride, but I did notice it.

My biggest issue was the antagonist. I really disliked the “he’s messed up because of his mother” angle. It felt tired, and I wish the villain had been given a sharper or less familiar motivation.

overall

Still, I liked this far more than I expected to. It’s quick, strange, characterful and entertaining. A proper indie ghost thriller with pulp energy.

M.V. Jackson has other books on offer- the Land of the Living- which I’ll be adding to my summer read pile!

4 stars. A really fun quick read (and absolutely worth pushing through the opening chapters)

Author links:

website: https://www.authormvjackson.org/books
Instagram: @m.v.jackson.author

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