Book: Ghostbusters by Nancy Holder
Edition: Paperback
Description:
THEY AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS....
After Dr. Erin Gilbert is disgraced at a job interview for her belief in ghosts, she is roped by her former colleague Abby Yates and Abby's new co-worker, Jillian Holtzmann, into investigating a haunting. The three scientists soon discover that some specters do far more than go bump in the night.
MTA employee Patty Tolan finds that New York City's subway tunnels are becoming a hive of ghostly apparitions. She calls on Erin, Abby, and Jillian to investigate, revealing that paranormal activity across New York City is swiftly becoming a disaster of near biblical proportions.
Together these four would-be paranormal investigators are determined to find out what's going on, save their city, and maybe make a profit while they're at it. The team must stop a mysterious evil, known only as Rowan, from destroying the barrier between this life and the next and turning Manhattan into a literal hellscape.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Review:
As Dr. Erin Gilbert was anticipating getting tenure at Columbia University, she was brought back into a life and an old friendship she had turned her back on years ago when Ed Mulgrave contacted her about a haunting at the Aldridge Museum. And thanks to him, she also found out that a book she had co-written with her former best friend Dr. Abigail "Abby" Yates years ago was being sold and she knew that the book with it's focus on the science of ghost would make it impossible for her to secure tenure.
Hoping to get Abby to stop selling the book, Erin went to visit her former best friend at the Kenneth P. Higgins Institute. However, all she got from Abby was mocking hostility from this impromptu reunion. And she received an extra dose of mocking (though in a slight more jovial way) from Abby's colleague Dr. Jillian Holtzmann. Abby had no desire to stop selling the book but she was willing to take the book down after Erin told her about the encounter she had with Ed Mulgrave and the haunting of the Aldridge Museum.
Erin had no interest in going to check out the museum but if it would get Abby to stop selling the book she would join the two ghost enthusiast on this outing. The museum turned out to be frightening but an absolutely amazing experience because they had saw the ghost of Gertrude Aldridge. However, Abby's video of the incident posted online would soon bring about the end of Erin's academic career at Columbia University. The Dean no longer thought she was a good fit for the University. Erin was not the only one to lose her job so did Abby and Holtzmann but that was because the Dean at the Institute didn't even realize they were still working there and didn't want to continue funding their work on the paranormal.
Trying to turn a bad situation around, Abby, Holtzmann and a reluctant Erin decided to go into business researching ghost. With a new business name Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination and a new office/laboratory above a Chinese restaurant as well as a newly hired receptionist, the slightly dimwitted and incompetent Kevin, the ladies were ready to get started. And they got their chance to investigate when Patty Tolan, an MTA worker told them about a ghost she saw in the subway and a strange device that blew up.
The ghost in the subway was just as terrifying as the one at the museum and they almost captured it but they didn't have the right tech for it. From their experience with the subway ghost and finding pieces of the device they were able to gather some valuable information and it also inspired Holtzmann to create some tech that was a bit more portable. Patty was also added as the newest member of the group.
Their next ghost busting case lead them to the conclusion that someone was deliberately bringing ghosts into our world. Despite the success they were having, the media even referred to them as the "Ghostbusters", they found themselves on the radar of a well know skeptic. And despite knowing that the Ghostbusters were really tracking down ghosts, the New York City Mayor and Homeland Security were trying to discredit them because they didn't want the city in a panic over ghosts.
Thanks to the Mayor the Ghostbusters became a laughing stock and the humiliation was really getting to Erin especially since she had to endure something similar during her childhood. But when the city became overrun by ghosts, it was the Ghostbusters who were the only ones who could save the day.
This was a good read, it was just as interesting as the movie with the Ghostbusters trying to stop a ghost apocalypse from happening. I like this novelization, it wasn't just a rehashing of what happened in the movie, the author provided additional information about the characters such as Patty is a total bookworm as well as providing an extensive backstory for Dr. Erin Gilbert. In fact the book was very Erin centric as it detailed her first encounter with a ghost when she was a kid which unfortunately led to a her childhood being nothing short of torture as her ghostly experience was not believed by her parents and she made the mistake of telling a classmate which resulted in her being teased tremendously by her classmates gaining her the nickname "ghost girl'. The author also showed how Erin and Abby became friends and what led to the end of it.
As much as I like Erin, I do wish the story had given more backstory and attention to the other Ghostbusters and Kevin. She's a great character but so are they and I think Patty, Holtzmann, Abby and Kevin are fun, quirky characters who are happy being themselves and not worrying about what others think of them. Which is something that plagued Erin for some time and took her a while to realize she didn't need to worry about other people's opinions of her. It also felt like the ending was little rushed perhaps suffering due to the story focusing a tad too much on Erin.
This is a minor issue but I noticed a few grammatical errors such as missing and additional words with perhaps one misspelled word. Grammatical errors don't usually bother me especially when a story is so well-written and entertaining but I couldn't help noticing them as they sort of stood out. It just seems like something that should have been caught by an editor.
Regardless of the few issues that I had, this was a very good read and it left me wishing there was a sequel to both the book and the movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment