Ghost Hampton

I’ve never read a book like this one before.  Lyle Hall is a controversial Bridgehampton lawyer with a myriad of issues. While recovering from a serious auto accident and in retirement, he sees an apparition of a young girl at a soon-to-be-demolished falling down mansion in town. Lyle does not really know what to make of it, but the bigger problem for him is that this Victorian era girl also shows him a gravestone with his daughter’s name and date of birth and death on it. However, no one believes him. They only know that Lyle caused the car crash with the new ability to sense peoples’ suffering.  Though no one believes him in town, after filing paperwork to save the mansion from demolition, a media circus of interested paranormal enthusiasts flocks to the area, causing unbelievable confusion.  Lyle has become a media celebrity to those interested in the paranormal and to those interested in gawking at this once well-known town lawyer. One thing follows another.  Lyle ends up not really understanding thing and making a real mess of the situation. 

I found the book interesting but, unlike many other reviewers, whose reviews I read on-line, the book did not grab me and keep in suspense. I disliked Lyle and found few of the other characters also not very interesting or likable. Still, the characters were developed fairly well and the setting and descriptions are also good.  But, I did not particularly like the story pot.  I noticed a lot of hoopla on the Internet surrounding the story, but could not really understand it all and found it interesting that, weeks after the book came out, there were few reviews posted for what was supposed to be a fantastic book. Most of the reviews were flowing, though my take on the book led me to wonder why. I guess I prefer a different type of book, and this one did not “get to” me.  I had great difficulty getting into the book, and, once in, had difficulty staying with it, and probably only stayed because I got the book free to review, and wanted to keep my end of the bargain.  I have not read anything else by this author, so have nothing to which I can compare it. Before adding his name to my must-read list, I will have to think about it and how I felt about this book. I received this book from NetGalley to read and provide an honest review.

This book was better than good, but not quite great.  While I really did enjoy it, I found it very hard to stay involved and it seemed to take forever to finish.  I liked the characters but was a bit irritated that Lyle never defended himself for killing Elsie when she had veered into his lane.  Good book, but I think it had the potential to be better.