by K.M. Montemayor

 

This story starts right in the heat of the action. A paranormal investigator team enter a property that has had no human residents for a long time but is infested with spirit entities, including a demon. The group leader pushes things because they have a television program and they are recording for the season finale, and naturally things go wrong. His best friend, the group psychic, becomes possessed by the demon.

 

The team includes a priest and holy water helps extricate the demon, but not without collateral damage. The friendship suffers turmoil and the psychic refuses to return to work with the team, though he promises to help vet a replacement.

 

The action in the beginning is fast and the characters are well fleshed out. This one grabbed my interest and held it at the start. It even got diversity in early, in the form of the psychic's over protective gay boyfriend. However, the following couple of chapters had me wondering if I had made a mistake.

 

Our introduction to the female replacement psychic started out with some misogynist antagonism followed by a lot of emphasis on ripped guys, including a big red flag, the word 'hawt' spelled that way. I became concerned that an exciting ghost hunting story was about to turn into a Harlequin Romance novel.

 

It also pushed believability on a few points, most notably that the first psychic suffers from clinical depression, followed by learning the group leader has a strict health regime because encountering sometimes malevolent spirits, including demons, requires extreme physical and mental discipline. A depressive would be an easy target for a demon, so what could they be thinking?

 

Apart from that, the gay character angle was pushed too far to fit into the story organically and soon began to look like an agenda. I'm all for diversity in characters but it needs to flow naturally.

 

As the story progressed, it became clear that the central plot was about the relationship between the new psychic and the group leader. Romance readers might like it for that very reason, but I had plucked it out of the Horror section with different expectations. The haunted house encounters also started to lose believability from the second one, which had too much 'hero wins all despite odds' to it.

 

The writing itself was generally good, but a little too dragged out. Repetitions about the leader's health routine and what he ate along with the psychic's continual unfavorable comparisons of her body type against the prettier women who were always around the group leader got too whiney for me to like her and Austin was too much of a control freak for me to like him much.

 

As I said, a Romance reader might enjoy this as the setting is more interesting than the usual cowboy/highlander/construction worker stuff, but it just wasn't for me. Giving it 3 stars because that first chapter told me the author can write. She just didn't write what I wanted to read.

Melancholy Ghost - Kat Mayor,K.M. Montem... Melancholy Ghost is a unique follow-up to one of the best paranormal fantasy books I've read. Spirit Chaser twisted my insides all to raggedy nothingness and I loved every minute of it. I wasn't sure what to expect when I heard that Kat Mayor was releasing a sequel. I knew Spirit Chaser would be a hard act to follow. At the same time, I was ridiculously curious to see how she'd deal with the end of the first book. So I gave it a go. I wasn't displeased.

While Melancholy Ghost immediately sucked me in, I don't feel it was as well-written as Spirit Chaser. There were areas where the writing was definitely weaker than I'd expect from the author, given my previous experience with her. This was evident in a few areas throughout the book, unfortunately mostly near the end. The writing just wasn't as sound as it could have been. Spindly foundations were laid for things we were supposed to accept later on. Some of the happenings in the book were just hard to believe. For a sequel, which always seems to be the weakest book in a trilogy (which looks like what this is shaping up to be), the weakness is not an uncommon occurrence.

But regardless of my quibbles, I enjoyed it. Moreso than I normally enjoy sequels. I loved seeing Thai, Josie, Bob, and Luis again. I worried that they wouldn't be able to support a book without Casey and Austin drawing all of our attention. I was wrong to worry about it. Though the situation with Austin is definitely the center-point of the book, Thai and the rest of the Spirit Chasers easily hold Melancholy Ghost aloft. Especially getting to see them through their grieving process over Austin's death, and the struggle as the crew learns the new twist in things.

Kat Mayor has something special in The Spirit Chaser series. The lady also knows how to tie up a book in way that will leave you needing more. The first book is one that I still think about. Melancholy Ghost's isn't quite as huge but still made me sit up and pay attention. I can't wait to see what she comes out with next in this series. I'm officially hooked.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.

Melancholy Ghost - Kat Mayor,K.M. Montem... If you read my review of The Spirit Chaser you can see I love this series. I was absolutely thrilled to see this 2nd book. I dove right in and did not climb out until the last page then I pouted because it was over. I cannot wait for the next book to come out.

In this book, Austin is back. He is not aware that he is dead and his thinking process is scrambled and no memory of being dead or how he got there. Prudence a ghost from the first book is back as well. She is the one who found Austin and brought him to Casey.

The team has agreed that until Austin is more ready mentally to know he is dead they should act like he is still alive and not tell him. This actually goes on for far to long. As memories start to slowly return Austin becomes more and more suspicious and finally he runs across the film of his death at SCI and everything comes crashes in on him, and what he believes is the betrayal of his friend and love of his life for not telling him. In a fit of rage he takes off, luckily Prudence follows him and gives him a pep talk and also helps him learn how to manage his afterlife.

I'm stopping there with the story review I don't want to go into any more detail and ruin the whole book. This is a must read as a series. The 2nd books picked up right where the 1st left off. The ending of this book leaves the story to continue in the next book. I cannot personally wait for book 3. This is one of most interesting series I have read. Usually when I read a series unless I have all the books I don't usually pick the series back up later unless I just happen across the next book. This series I have had this 2nd book on my TBR list since finishing the first a while back. I will be adding the next book as soon as I know the name of it. I also have the author on Good Reads and subscribe to her email so I can keep track.

I love how this series if full of detail but not overwhelming. The details are pretty much important. Some books pack in details and you can skip over them but with this book you pretty much need the details which are more like clues, almost like a mystery. I still love how Kat Mayor makes everyone a star of her books, everyone has a staring roll in the books. They each play a key part in making this series as great as I feel it is. This book didn't have as much of a scare factor to me as the 1st book but it was pretty much about Austin. Not to say that there were not plenty of investigations by the crew during the book, and not to say that there was no scare factor. One investigation in this book did have a really creepy scare factor to it more then the others, you will have to read the book for that though..

Hurry up Kat and get book 3 out to me!!!

Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

It started out really interesting. A team of ghost hunters go to different haunted sites and film for their TV series SPIRIT CHASER INVESTIGATIONS. Throw in some romance and sex, and this should have been a sure hit with me. Alas, it was DEAD boring. I didn't particularly like Casey OR Austin. Both came across as selfish narcissists. The secondary characters were better, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. Not to mention I HATED the ending with the white hot passion of a thousand suns...

Some places are too evil. Some places should be left alone.
Austin Cole has it made. Star of the hit television show Spirit Chaser Investigations, he has become the world’s most famous paranormal investigator. Although hard work, a talented investigation team, and favorable genetics have something to do with it, it’s his lack of fear and willingness to take risks no one else will that make Spirit Chaser Investigations cable’s number-one show. When a ghost-hunt-gone-wrong seriously injures his best friend and lead psychic, Austin is forced to find a replacement for a team member he considers irreplaceable.
Casey Lawson can’t catch a break. She’s been on her own since she turned eighteen and is scraping by as a part-time psychic and cashier at a New Age store. When a desperate Austin Cole calls her up and offers her a position on his team, has her fortune finally changed?
He’s a control freak; she’s stubborn and opinionated. It takes time, but when they finally realize they’re working on the same side, everything clicks, both on and off screen.
Just when things are looking up, a new threat emerges. Over the years, Austin has angered plenty of demons, and one of them has set her sights on him. Now he’s the one in danger, and it’s up to the team to rescue him from the riskiest investigation of their lives.

 

I've got this book through the NettGalley in exchange of an honest review.

So.... Where do I begin ? I didn't like it. Actually, the first part of the book was a real torture. Second part of this book, more like the very last part, was a bit better, however the very ending, the last few pages, were totally ridiculous ( but I won't talk about that, because I don't want to spoil the book, for those who didn't read it yet).
"The Spirit Chaser" was like a badly made Zack Bagans and his Ghost Adventures crew fanfiction, mixed with a sprinkle of "Fifty Shades of Grey".
I thought, that this book will be heavy packed with ghost hunting and will be spooky. But it was more like a chick-lit book, or a reality TV show in a book form. I read it at night and never have I felt any type of unease or fear, just frustration and disappointment.
Austin (the main male character) was aggravating and a control freak, with a huge attitude. I hated him for almost all book, except in the second half I was a little bit sorry for him. He acted like a king of a world, and like he was immortal and invincible. He risked not only his life, but also the well being of his friends.
Casey ( the main female character) was stubborn, sometimes acted like a teenager, but over all was "ok", nothing interesting about her.

Do I recommend this book ? No.