Book Review: Dead Air

Book: Dead Air (The Kat Sinclair Files book #1) by Michelle Schusterman

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Kat didn’t believe in ghosts—until she became a teenage ghostbuster. . .

When Kat Sinclair’s dad tells her his new job hosting the ghost-hunting TV show Passport to Paranormal means they’ll be living on the road and visiting the world’s most haunted places, Kat packs her bags without a second thought. But her new life as a ghostbuster isn’t as cool as Kat expected. The cast and crew don’t always get along, the producer’s annoying nephew has unexpectedly shown up, and Kat thinks the show—and her dad—might be cursed. Kat decides to start writing a blog with “a behind the scenes look at the creepiest show on TV.” But she soon discovers that going behind the scenes may just reveal more than she really wants to know.



Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Dead Air is a middle grade supernatural mystery that follows 13 years old Kat Sinclair and her father Jack as they embark on a supernatural adventure. Well, as supernatural as you expect a low budget ghost hunter TV series to be. When Jack Sinclair got cast as the latest host for the purported "most haunted show on TV", Passport to Paranormal, it turned out to be just what Kat (and her father) needed for a fresh start away from Ohio.

Whether Kat wanted to admit it or not, she was avoiding the issue of her mother who had took off for Cincinnati. That wasn't the first time her mother had abruptly left them but this was the first time she had been gone for several months. Although Kat was excited for the change, she was going to miss her horror movie loving grandmother Edie Mills (who is also a former horror movie actress) and her two best friends Trish and Mark.

With her bags packed including two gifts (a camera and a horror movie) from her grandmother and a suggestion to start a blog as a way to write about her new adventures, they were ready for their new life of chasing ghosts. They were flying out to the Netherlands to meet up with the Passport crew to film their next episode about haunted tunnels. Once there she found out she wasn't going to be the only kid traveling with the crew, the Producer Lidia Bettencourt's 13 years old nephew Oscar would be her new travel mate. The show's crew consisted of Sam Sumners (medium), Jess Capote (camera), Roland Yeske (parapsychologist) and Mi Jin (intern and Kat and Oscar's tutor).

The spooky stuff started early during pre-production with Kat finding a print out with a message or more like a warning printed from the crew's laptop, at first she figured it was Oscar playing a joke. But later on the crew's video camera temporarily malfunctioned and it also had a message but this one was indecipherable. She had doubts that Oscar did either one of the incidents because despite being good with technology and pranks these were too elaborate even for him to have pulled off.

There were a few other things that happened which was starting to make Kat wonder if there really was something supernatural going on with the show. But it wasn't until they started filming in the tunnels that even more strange things started to happen. Joining Kat and Oscar to sit behind the scenes of the tunnel shoot were Jaime and Hailey Cooper the children of Thomas Cooper, the Executive Vice President of Fright TV, who may or may not be there to cancel the show.

While Kat wrote about the show on her blog The Kat Sinclair Files, she along with Oscar, tried to figure what was going on. They had plenty to consider: was the show really being haunted by a ghost? And is there a Host Curse? With her father being the fourth host of the show's two seasons something was going on. Passport to Paranormal's ratings have not been good but the show does get a ratings boost whenever a new host appears. Is the Curse merely a publicity stunt or something more?

The crews' next shoot at a haunted prison in Brussels will be Kat's father's second and according to the curse last episode. Kat not ready to head back to Ohio and not wanting her father to lose his job set about trying to solve the mystery.

This was a hauntingly good story with the author not only focusing on the supernatural but also various family dynamics and problems. From Kat dealing with abandonment issues and her difficult relationship with her mother to Oscar dealing with the loss of his mother, the problem with his father's current residence and a mysterious secret centering on why he got kicked out of school. Even Jaime and Hailey were dealing with their parents not spending enough time with them. All in all, it feels like realistic family drama and personal issues that were handled well.

At first it was difficult for Kat and Oscar to get along but with them being so similar and both dealing with personal issues it seemed like they would have got along easily. However, they did eventually start to get along and become friends but it also came with a new understanding about themselves and each other.

I really like this book, it's very well-written and filled with humor, drama, suspense and plenty of ghostly activity. This was a fun read with a great mystery and a surprisingly diverse cast. I like all the characters they definitely add a little something different to the story. I enjoyed reading this so much that I already put the second book in my wishlist, I want to read more from this series.