Listen. Queue in The Everly Brothers… ‘Bye, bye love. Bye, bye sweet caress. Bye, bye loneliness, I wish that I could diiiee…’. Very apt song for this story.
So, the beginning of this story starts with two goth teens sitting in the cemetery on some gravestones, chattering away attending a funeral, and wearing vintage clothing. This scene does a fantastic job of setting up the mood for the rest of the story. I found myself immediately pulled into these teen’s attitudes, the narrator’s thoughts and words, all brought to life by listening to Jason Frazier. Everything is from the 17-yr-old main character’s POV, and I don’t even recall his name, but you definitely got a feeling for the events through his eyes, almost as if they were happening to you.
His friend Trace comes up with a theory…due to his own previous attempt at suicide, he now has ‘the sight’, and this is why he can see the dead everywhere.. He becomes a participant in Possession or channeling. Are ghosts actually inhabiting his body?
There is some very gruesome imagery, but also some melancholy, including an interesting view of family. A family he has made his own since he has left home via bus before being thrown out after coming out and being told he is shameful, and that he wasn’t welcome at home anymore.
He gets on a bus out of town and rides to his aunt’s in New Jersey. He asks if he can stay with her questions unasked. He doesn’t attend school, hasn’t graduated, and she mentions a curfew and that he get his GED. She can’t cook and burns pop tarts when she makes breakfast in guise of wanting to talk with him. I love the way she interacts with him.
His best friend Trace (short for Tracey) has a different family. Her 15-yr-old brother’s name is 2nd Mike. 2nd Mike was named after their older brother who had disappeared, thought maybe dead. And they have a mother who has been committed. All makes for interesting supporting characters. And their dad is distant, always tired, works as a mechanic.
The MC becomes obsessed with ‘Josh’, a young man who walks the New Jersey highway after having been run down 40 years before on a lone stretch of highway. For the first time in his life, someone wants him. A boy. Makes him feel all this confusing and wonderful things.
Spooky story about ‘Josh’. In 1957 a lone high school student, star athlete is run down on Highway 47. And he just keeps walking until he disappears, everyday, until, that is, our MC interacts with him.
The MC’s love of everything vintage gives him the first opportunity and courage to talk to this young man walking down the road in some perfect vintage clothing. Only as he wakes up the next morning and thought about the way he disappeared when he turned back to talk to him did he actually think he may have seen a ghost.
He works at this vintage clothing store for an alcoholic gentlemen that is always asking about his ‘girlfriend’, the girl he borrowed clothing for and dressed to impress, was Trace, but the old man assumes he’s trying to impress his best friend. He dare not tell the old man he is gay, afraid of what his generation might think, and doesn’t want to lose his job.
This story is at times dark and sad with the young teen’s need to feel desired and wanted by another boy. And it seems as if someone just may have ulterior motives..
Some of the visions and a strange interaction with a haunted doll is really creepy, and an image of a WWII soldier who is missing his nose is rather disturbing. There is some awful stuff in this story, very vivid, but each in their own way adding to the whole atmosphere of horror and suspense..
Possession and strange things that happen when you get what you think you want. Makes you wonder..?
The story also includes a lesbian dance club, drugs, glowsticks, underage drinking, and even acting as a beard for a friend. Ouija boards and hanging men. He begins to question himself…Are all the people in town actually ghosts or are they real?
Two long ago mysteries,and a bit of a surprise conclusion. How do you know the difference between love and infatuation? What if you fall for the wrong person while the right one is underfoot?
So many elements in this story kept it moving rather quickly, which, especially for a young adult audience, keeps the listener/reader engaged. I could see young and adult alike enjoying this suspenseful ghost story, and the mysteries are resolved by the conclusion.
Jason Frazier does an awesome job with this at times creepy but also enlightening young adult story of first love, ghosts, drugs, and goth. The audio effects, Jason’s fantastic sense of timing as well as his various voices and audio effects add even more to this ghost story. As always, Jason Frazier’s narration is tops. He’s so good at emoting, and makes listening very enjoyable. One little thing that would’ve helped the narration, though, would be a breath or space of time where it was an obvious break in time, as sometimes I did get lost. But overall, fantastic story.
Highly recommended to readers young and old that enjoy historical elements in current day, a mystery and ghosts.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
S. Duncan
and I am really glad I did
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 8, 2015Froschkönigin
Dieses Buch bleibt im Gedächtnis
Reviewed in Germany on August 19, 2014