I thought this started out really well, but fizzled out around 30% in. This was when the first indication came that this *might* be a sci-fi/fantasy novel and not a comedic dating novel? Kinda odd.

I had such high hopes for this one but it just felt like a jumbled mess for me.
The MC was extremely unlikable and erratic honestly.
I just couldn't get into the story fully, I didn't enjoy it at all.

I will not be finishing this book, or writing a review anywhere for it. While I loved The Last Days of Jack Sparks, this did not work for me. The protagonist is not terribly likable, which I can live with as long as the storyline is believable. It stopped being that for me with the introduction of his mother. If that's even who she is, and not just another plot twist. The mother not finding it strange that there are no furnishings, or power, in the house, combined with the way the protagonist acts toward her....sorry, just not buying it. At that point, I was only 25% into the book and finding it a struggle to pick it back up.

Kate Collins has been ghosted. She was set to move in with her new boyfriend Scott, but all she finds when she relocates to Brighton is an empty apartment. Scott has completely vanished. Every one of his possessions has disappeared, except for his mobile phone. Kate knows that she shouldn't hack into his phone and that she shouldn't look into his social media and dating apps. But she just can't help herself. This is when the trouble starts. Weird phone calls and scratch marks on the wall that she can't explain. She constantly feels as if she's being watched. Kate refuses to leave the apartment until she finds out what happened to Scott. The deeper she dives into Scott phone, the more she realizes she may have never known Scott at all.

Wow. Just wow. This book was full of twists and turns. An original storyline and really on topic for the modern day. Phone addiction is a real problem and this book was all about it. I liked Kate's snarky attitude, but I don't know that I liked her obsession with what happened with Scott. I don't think that I would have gone to the lengths that she did to find out what happened to Scott. This story is an interesting combination of thriller and horror. There were moments that had me on edge and turning the pages quickly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing my with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The synopsis for Ghoster promised an interesting mix between horror and social media technology, so that it was too appealing a premise to let such a story slide by: it’s impossible not to notice how many people are absorbed, compulsively so, by their phones’ screens – on public transport, on sidewalks, even in restaurants where interaction with other tablemates has been replaced by fixed stares at those screens – and I was curious to see how the horror element would dovetail with this widespread phenomenon.

Kate Collins is a senior paramedic and she’s addicted to social media – or rather was: after her manic absorption caused her work partner some grievous damage, she decided that the best cure for her obsession would be to revert back to a basic model of phone, one where actual calls and text messaging are the only way to connect with the rest of the world. While participating in a “techno detox” retreat, Kate meets Scott Palmer, who quickly turns out to be the man of her dreams: after less than three months, Scott asks her to move in with him, and Kate leaves her job and life in Leeds behind to relocate with Scott in Brighton. When the day for the big move comes, however, Kate discovers that Scott’s flat is completely empty, the man does not answer her increasingly frantic messages and the only thing he left behind is his smartphone.

Needing to know what happened, Kate finds the way to unlock Scott’s phone and discovers the man seems to have built their relationship – such as it was – on a mountain of lies and things left unsaid: the Scott that comes out of his phone bears little resemblance to the one Kate fell in love with, and what’s worse, the empty apartment, where power has been disconnected, is haunted by ghostly presences that leave mysterious and disturbing scratches on the inner surface of the front door. Kate’s downward spiral, compounded by the return of her addiction to social media, is unstoppable and each new discovery drags her deeper and deeper into what looks like a descent into madness.

Ghoster turned out to be a book whose two components – the story and the characterization – seem to be at odds with each other: while the first works well, because the need to understand what really happened remains a constant drive, the latter did not work well for me, mainly because I could not connect with Kate and found her increasingly vexing if not downright stupid. At some point we learn that Kate has been working as a paramedic for fifteen years, so postulating that she started as early as eighteen, she must be thirty-three years old at least: however, the person we get to know in the book thinks and acts more like a thirteen year old – and I’m certain there are far more mature and responsible thirteen year olds in the world than this woman.

Kate is selfish and self-absorbed, an adult displaying all the worst traits to be found in those paint-by-the-numbers teenage characters giving YA fiction its bad reputation. Constantly complaining about the unfairness of life in general, she often looks prone to lay the blame on others, and when she admits her own failings she does so in a superficial, semi-serious way that belies the earnestness of the acknowledgment. This frivolous approach represents one of my main contentions with Kate as a character: even in the most grim of situations, she always resorts to some pun, or pop-culture reference that has no place in that context and often made me wonder about the real “mood” the author wanted to impart to the story. If Kate Collins was to be the embodiment of addiction to technology (or addiction at large), she does indeed display many of the symptoms – as denial of the problem, distance from the people wanting to help her, out-of-proportion reactions when faced with the naked truth – but in the end that offhand attitude, the false self-deprecatory jokes, spoil the desired effect and turn Kate into a caricature rather than a character we can believe in or relate to.

On the other hand, the story itself fares much better, because there is such a weirdly terrifying escalation in the discoveries Kate makes through the contents of Scott’s phone – not only the fact that he’s not the man she believed him to be, or that he seemed to entertain other relationships while they were dating and getting more serious, but the disturbing pictures and videos stored on the device. And of course there are the ghosts appearing in the empty flat, which are frightening on their own and even more so when Kate finds their living pictures in the phone’s memory bank, or the weird scratches on the front door, or the definite sensation of being watched. The build-up, through false leads and shocking discoveries, takes us toward a surprise revelation that is unexpected and at the same time makes a chilling sort of sense, the kind of scenario whose deepest horror lies in its surface appearance of normality.

Sadly, the reveal takes what feels like a long time to get there – what with having to wade through the quagmire of Kate’s constant whining, foolish antics and outlandish theories – and when it happens, its intended impact has been dulled by this improbable heroine and her preposterous behavior. Once I reached that final chapter I had the definite impression that the novel’s core concept might have started its life as a short story – a compact, imaginative, delightfully scary story on the dangers of technology addiction – and that it was later padded, quite unnecessarily in my opinion, with Kate Collins’ journey of discovery. Which on hindsight looks somewhat wasteful…

I could see some people loving this, but it just wasn't for me. I never felt connected to the characters, and that lack of connection pulled me out of the story.

What would you do if the person you loved disappeared without a trace? You would want answers at all costs. Sometimes what you find may shock you. This was a riveting book. You don't want to miss this. Thank you NetGalley for another wild ride.

Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of Ghoster.

I wasn't sure what to expect but the blurb was intriguing and I was excited my request was approved.

Kate is an EMT and is looking forward to moving in with her boyfriend, Scott, but in the days leading up to her move-in, he's off the grid.

By the time she does move in, its to discover his apartment is deserted. And Scott is nowhere to be found. All he's left is his cell phone.

So, Kate does what anyone would do, she probes into Scott's life via his social media platforms, texts and emails and what she finds may endanger her life.

I was expecting a formulaic missing persons story, a douche ghosts his girlfriend and leaves for greener pastures and she pursues him to enact justice.

But, Ghoster is not that at all.

It's a jab at how society is dependent on technology, namely our cell phones.

How did we ever survive without them?

Our lives are in our phones. Our lives are our phones, in a way. We depend on them, not just as a lifeline if there's an emergency but for support, for validation, to be recognized, to be liked, to be known.

The plot is a sci-fi ghost story, which I didn't anticipate so when the strangeness started, the vibe felt off.

First, I would have liked more ghosts and sci-fi, and less Kate rambling to her best friend, Izzy, and summary recaps of the past.

Second, Kate is a decent character, but I didn't like her. At times, I found it hard to believe she was a dedicated EMT professional; she acted and sounded like someone half her age.

I also found her desperation to find someone, ignoring the warning signs Scott gave, as troubling and stereotypical of a man writing a female character.

I'm not saying her fear of not wanting to be alone in life isn't unwarranted; I get it, but sometimes she gave off a whiff as a desperate Debbie.

The writing is good but after many scenes of Kate checking Scott's phone and reviewing the contents, it became tedious. This could have used a good edit by 50-100 pages.

I appreciated what the author is trying to say, we are slaves to our cell phones and technology, but I think the message was bogged down with long, unnecessary descriptions, unlikable characters, including minor characters that lacked any impact or added anything to the story.

Kate Collins met the man of her dreams and soulmate Scott at a tech-free getaway. After a quick romance, Kate and Scott plan to live together. Kate gives up her life and job to move into Scott's flat, but when the time comes to move, Scott is nowhere to be found. Kate has been ghosted. All of Scott's possessions are gone, except for his phone. Kate knows she shouldn't hack into Scott's phone but she cannot stop herself. Kate refuses to leave his apartment until she finds out the truth. Not only about Scott's disappearance but also what the strange scratch marks on the door are from, the creepy blue light she sees, and where the strange, whispering phone calls and creepy videos are coming from.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.

Last Days of Jack Sparks, Arnopp’s debut novel, was one of my favorite books of the year it came out. Considering that I average about 350some books a year that says a lot. It was just that good, that fun, that original of a book. Needless to say, when Arnopp’s next one came up on the Netgalley, I requested it right away. Who cared about plot summaries or page counts. It had to be good, didn’t it. And, well, it was, it was good, it just wasn’t as good as its predecessor. In fact, it was inferior in every way. It was much longer, 496 to 336 pages, less exciting and less twisted. Even the cover art is less fun. Mind you, Arnopp’s set the bar really high and this book is being held up to a really high standard and it does still manage to be a perfectly good read, but…fair warning, lower your expectations, all ye fans of Jack Sparks. This is something of a sophomore slump. And no, I’m not ragging on this book, this was a thoroughly entertaining read and it had the same terrific energy and cute pop culture references and immense innate readability Arnopp can deliver, in fact it breezed by for such a hefty tome and never dropped the reader’s attention, but…it kinda leaves you wanting more. Possibly because you know the author’s got more to give. Let’s talk plot…once again Arnopp takes on a social evil of modern times, in Jack Sparks it was social media, here’s it’s the mobile phone culture. Which is rampant and out of control and someone really ought to satirize it in a diabolical way, especially since King dropped the ball so abysmally with The Cell. Seriously, I just watched the movie adaptation (which I understand isn’t the same, but apparently quite close to the book) and WTF was that. Possibly worst King story/movie ever. Outside of saying cell phones are terrible and turn people into mindless zombies, there’s nothing to it. But I digress…sorry, back to it…Ghoster actually does do it right. It tackles mobile phone addiction with the clever aplomb you’d expect from Arnopp and flirts with the supernatural to do so. It also speaks volumes to the challenges of modern dating. It’s like Kepnes’ You but with ghosts, impossible to put down, though you may not especially like the main characters (Izzy, friend extraordinaire be the exception here) and impossible to imagine written at any other time, because social connectivity is so central to the plot. So here our protagonist is Kate Collins, who meets a man of her dreams and, after a whirlwind romance, decides to move to upend all her life (yes, even leaving behind the friend extraordinaire Izzy) to move to another town to be with him. The day before the move, Scott (Kate’s dream man) goes uncharacteristically phone silent. Kate is alarmed but proceeds with the move, only to find out upon arrival that she has been ghosted. All the way ghosted. The apartment is cleaned out, Scott’s nowhere to be found and (the most terrifying thing of all) he’s left his phone behind, so now Kate knows something’s really wrong. Nevertheless she perseveres, as the t shirts say. She stays in the apartment and proceeds to try to figure out what’s going on and eventually her search gets rewarded, although she finds out entire too much about the man she thought she knew…and the world she thought she knew, for that matter. Kate’s quest is inextricably phone linked and it’s one of those situations where what she thinks of as her savior will prove her undoing in the end. She isn’t the only one hopelessly addicted to her phone, in fact addictions are kind of a theme here, phones are often mere tools to enable these addictions by making indulging them instantaneous, easily indulged, a click away. The book actually reads like a modern dating story gone wrong until there’s a clue at about 28% that things might have a supernatural tint to it. Most of the story is pretty consistently set within the realms of this world with occasional ghostly apparitions or (of course) phone calls to give it that certain Arnoppian extra something. And the ending…well, it’s a very fitting ending. It definitely all works very well as a morality tale. Though how effective, there’s no way of telling. Are you reading this review on your phone? Then probably not very effective. And phones are great, aren’t they. All the things they can do. So much more now than a mere communication tool. The danger, though, being that when you forget to use a tool as a tool, it becomes a crutch. Moderation, first and foremost, in all things and all that. And that’s the moral in this fun modern fable. It’s a fun ride, especially if you haven’t read Jack Sparks first. But also, if you haven’t, what are you waiting for. Read it now. And please, please, let your phone rest for a while. You never know what evil powers you might be appeasing by using it so often. Ok, that’s it for this review. Overall, yeah, good, I liked this book. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Enjoyable story, great idea. Would recommend to others. Was easy to read & drew me in toward the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit for this ARC! I read The Last Days of Jack Sparks last year and was struck by Jason's dark wit and true talent for the horror genre. It's really rare for me now to find scary novels that actually DO scare me, having grown up immersed in the world of spook. However, this book genuinely was hard for me to read at night because I got the heebie jeebies from its unique premise and tantalizing mystery. I was actually reminded of my own ghostly experience from when I was a kid; a moment where I saw a jerky, static-y figure looming in the hallway of my kitchen. The specters in this novel are quite similar, so I was on edge the entire novel.

Jason starts us off slow; introducing us to our protagonist, Kate. She has fallen in love with seemingly perfect guy, and is getting ready to move in with him. The only problem is, she only has days left before she makes the trek to his apartment, and he has gone completely silent. She can't reach him on his phone, and she has taken a devout vow against using social media because of an incident on the job that left her best friend unable to walk. She decides to go through with the move anyway, and is greeted by a gutted apartment with no Scott in sight. She is of course enraged, and when she finds his phone laying on the balcony of the apartment, she is sucked in to the mystery of cracking the code on Scott's disappearance. Did he trick her into the ultimate prank, or did something happen to the man she loved?

What follows is a roller coaster ride of a journey. Strange things start to happen; wood is gouged out of Scott's apartment door, blue apparitions appear in the bathroom, and Kate is brought back into the digital world that she tried so hard to stay out of. Scott's social media seems to be the key to unlocking the secrets that so elude her, and it consumes her every waking moment; leaving her job as a first responder and all other relationships or duties on the line. Once you think you have everything figured out, Jason throws a wrench in the gears with slow revelations that happen between snippets from Kate and Scott's budding relationship, Kate's present, messages between Kate and her best friend Izzy, and journal entries on a super secure diary app called TrooSelf. I loved the mixed media aspect, which Jason included in his debut novel as well, so I can only hope and pray that he brings a third book with the same feel, because I am head over heels for his style.

All in all, this was the perfect book to get me in the mood for Halloween. I had to sit down and finish it in the sunshine, as reading it in bed, in the dark was not working out for me. It's amazing how real and present Jason makes his novels feel; there are so many references to pop culture and the characters don't feel stilted or dated. It's all wonderfully raw and exciting, and maybe that's what drives the scare factor home is how honest it is. He also has a wonderful way of tying in real world issues with his works; this one being our obsession with our phones and the internet. I honestly can't wait to see what he tackles next.

Another fantastically creepy novel from Jason Arnopp! I really enjoyed this one. After reading The Last Days of Jack Sparks I knew this author was talented and this is shown within this novel. I am eagerly looking forward to every book Arnopp writes based on these two!

4.5 stars. Ghoster is much better than many early ARC reviews would suggest, but then again, some of those reviewers have openly admitted that they knew it wasn’t going to be their type of book from the beginning.

Who is this book for, you ask? The first thing you need to know is that this isn’t just a thriller/mystery. It’s also a horror story. In fact, the title has multiple meanings. Additionally, Ghoster was written with the modern technological world in mind. So, if you’re not the type to use a smartphone, post on social media, and use dating apps, a lot of the story’s impact may be lost on you. It will also help to have a good knowledge of music lyrics from the ‘80s and ‘90s, along with an appreciation of snarky sarcasm.

If you’re still with me, then you’ll probably love this allegorical tale about society’s obsession with smartphones and always remaining connected. Jason Arnopp clearly understands addiction, and he weaves it through every thread of his latest novel.

I was first introduced to Arnopp’s work via the short story A Sincere Warning About the Entity in Your Home. I enjoyed it, but felt it was lacking something. Fortunately, Arnopp got past that with Ghoster, which is solid from beginning to end.

I loved the frank depiction of female sexuality (that was thankfully free of the worst ‘male author writes about women’ tropes — so you don’t have to worry about reading ridiculous descriptions about the main character’s connection to her breasts). It’s always refreshing to encounter books that allow everyone to be sexual without a lot of female shaming.

I also loved the main character’s snarky comments. She drove me crazy sometimes with her obsession, but that’s pretty much the entire point. There were a few moments of genuine tension/fear that kept me quickly turning the pages, along with a couple of twists that made me literally hold my breath for a few seconds.

This isn’t the typical thriller, nor is it the typical horror story. Instead, it’s an interesting blend of the two that’s going to be appreciated by the right audience.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

My goodness, this premise sounded interesting. You've got a modern-day mystery/thriller with a touch of the supernatural to spice things up. On paper (no pun intended) this sounded pretty amazing and perfect for a fall spooky read.

So why am I having such a hard time putting a star rating on it?

I'm going to start with all the things that Jason Arnopp did right.

-The premise really had me hooked. The chapters were short and written in such a way that you could consume them like chips - just one more won't hurt. This always makes for the best kind of binge reading in my opinion.

-The mystery really did keep building on itself. It took a while, starting off slowly, adding creepier elements as time went on. Compounding mystery upon mystery. It kept me guessing to the end.

But then that's where I stagger. The end. It was so abrupt. Upon further contemplation, I think I liked it. I can see why it might throw some people, but I've always been a fan of that kind of "ha! Didn't see that coming, did you?" Kind of move.

Things I didn't like:

-Every. Single. Character. Seriously. Kate was the absolute WORST. So was Izzy, and Scott, and Travis and uugh. Literally every single character was a garbage human being, and I think that's why I found it so hard to really and truly care what happened to any of them.

-The mystery itself kind of petered out at the end. I felt like there was just so much that could have been elaborated on. The world could have been fleshed out a bit more. We got 8/10ths of a book building up to something that seemed rushed to get to the abrupt resolution. The author could have easily added another 100 pages and it wouldn't have felt bulky or bloated.

-I don't feel the mystery was explained enough. I guess this ties in with my prior point, but I just wanted more.

So that's where I am. I don't mind reading a book where I dislike the characters, and the fact that I have been left wanting more tells me there's been real interest sparked for me. Overall, I enjoyed this fun horror thriller and would recommend it to anyone for a fast read as spooky season approaches, but I wish there would have just been more of it.

Regardless, I can't wait to recommend this to others just so I can finally talk about it with them!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I requested this book simply because I am a fan of thrillers, or really any story, based around social media. Ghoster is unlike anything I've ever read before. I had no idea where this story was going to take me and definitely couldn't predict the ending. Every time I thought I figured out what was going on, a new twist came into play. Whatever you think this story is, it probably isn't.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! My only complaint is that it was a bit long and could have been condensed down a bit. Not all of the scenes were necessary for the overall ending. Great mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat and flipping the pages. 4.5 stars rounded down to a 4 due to length.

I was loving this book... until the end. The ending really ruined the whole experience for me. I won’t leave any spoilers, but I was really disappointed.

Ghoster is a razor-sharp thriller on the effects of social-media on individual's actions. An intriguing read!

I read Jason Arnopp’s previous novel The Last Days of Jack Sparks and liked it okay. It was fun and fairly creepy.

This? Idek what this is. From the start I despised the main character. Male authors absolutely love to write female characters as these sex craved cool girl Barbies and it is beyond cliche.

I honestly have no idea what was going on in the book. It was all over the place. A bunch of ghosting/Tinder nonsense. This wasn’t for me sadly.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC.

Kate and Izzy are BFF. They work together as paramedics in Leeds. At a "cell phone anonymous" retreat, Kate meets and REALLY likes Scott. Both of them (and most of those in this book) are cell phone junkies. This and the dating apps, etc. are familiar to me. (Yes, I am 68).

After a short romance - with just enough intimacy to start with - Scott asks Kate to move in with him and live in Brighton. Luckily, Kate is able to transfer as a paramedic to Brighton and Scott has a great place to move in to.

Sometimes Scott is a bit distant on dates and he does like his cell phone... It makes no difference to Kate - she is in love. Scott seems generally to be a nice guy.

When Kate moves to Scott's place, (moving van and all), she is in for a big surprise...

I sort of liked Kate but thought she pulled a few dumb moves. Izzy, Kate's BFF, was OK. I really got a kick out of Tyler - Kate's partner in Brighton

All in all, I enjoyed this story quite a lot. The characters were well depicted. The style of writing even led to a few chuckles along the way. RECOMMEND!

Many Thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for a very good read!