Ghost - Rambo Meets "This Present Darkness"

There is nothing in the literary world quite like an edgy thriller, a story with a kick-butt protagonist and a manic, twisted killer - and if it comes with a strong spiritual backbone – bonus!

Wayne Thomas Batson’s foray into adult fiction, Ghost, has all of the above and then some.

Batson, better known for his young adult fiction (The Door Within Trilogy), has penned a page-turner (or screen-tapper for you Kindle users) that definitely isn’t for the kiddies. It’s an adult novel that delivers an intriguing, action-driven plot with a Christian worldview that isn’t the least bit preachy.

“Ghost” is John Spector, a mysterious investigator who shows up in the middle of desperate situations and administers a kind of justice that could be considered on the divine side.

In Ghost, Spector finds himself assigned to check out a string of grisly murders involving young women.  The killer, known as Smiling Jack, finds delight in photographing the girls getting their throats cut and downloading the murders on the Internet.  The FBI, several years earlier, claimed the photos a hoax.  But Spector and FBI Special Agent Deanna Rezvani believe otherwise.

In the land of corpse-strewn detective novels, Ghost follows protocol.  Bad Guy does really bad things and Good Guy chases bad guy down and is beaten up a couple times along the way.  But what makes Ghost such a great read is the supernatural theme.  Without giving too much away, let me say that John Spector isn’t your average Joe – for him, delving into the otherworldly is commonplace. There is a strong Christian motif here with no apologies.  Think of Ghost as “Rambo meets This Present Darkness.”

Ghost is an adrenaline-generating read, teasing us with clues to Spector’s identity until the final pages.

Tightly written and populated with intense characters, Batson’s latest delivers earthly action with unearthly thrills.  

This is one Ghost you’ll want haunting your bookshelf.