Home » Posts tagged "ghosts" (Page 5)

Graphic Novel Review: Spectre Deep 6 by Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera

Spectre Deep 6 by Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera

Turner, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781684424139

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition ( Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Spectre Deep 6 tells the story of a diverse team of black ops called “Spectres”, an elite squad of soldiers who died in the line of duty and were reanimated by military scientists as ghosts. Their mission is to carry out various illegal or secret missions for the United States government in exchange for day passes to “haunt” their previous lives. When the team takes care of a target, the victim simply appears to have had a stroke, heart attack, or other naturally caused death. Unfortunately, these missions also exhaust the powers of the Spectre team, rendering them needing “recharge”. The spirits are locked in containment, located in a secret military bunker under Area 51 ((of course) when they are not on duty.

Brody and Rivera include a diverse cast of characters for Spectre Deep 6. Captain Bianca Vasquez was an undercover agent who died as she was searching for her missing husband. Now she is a member of the six-person Spectre squad, and during her day-pass time, haunts her daughter, who is in a foster home as a result of both of her parents being missing or dead. John Song is a sarcastic Asian-American soldier with a volatile temper. The cat-loving Kim Masters is a Black agent who takes no crap. Bart Bartholomew, who was a surfer in his former life, loves video games and deeply misses his best friend… and the feeling is mutual. Kacey Flame is a beautiful pink-haired transgender woman who haunts her old place to keep those who she cared most for out of her old space, in case they can’t accept her for who she wanted to be in life. James Sparks is a Black former aircraft engineer who discovered some nasty secrets his boss was keeping, and which resulted in his death. At times, the teammates most definitely do not get along, as their personalities clash over personal ethics and codes of honor, but they always manage to get the job done. Once Bianca’s missing husband Zane enters the picture, things get more complicated.

The story was a bit slow going at first, but after the first chapter the pace picked up considerably. I would recommend this for readers who enjoy a good sci-fi ghost story. The characters are well-developed in such a short time, and Brody and Rivera devote plenty of space for readers to get a handle on the characters and their motivations. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: Spectre Deep 6 is a nominee on this year’s final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel. 

Posted on May 4, 2021 by , Reply

Book Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

cover art for Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas ( Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com )

Swoon Reads, 2020

ISBN-13 : 978-1250250469

Available:  Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Yadriel is a Latinx trans boy whose community lives in the cemetery and serves Lady Death. When they are fifteen, boys are presented to Lady Death for a blessing to become a brujo and receive a portaje, a dagger that allows them to draw blood to direct their magic so they can cut the ties between spirits and this world to send them to the afterlife before they become malevolent. At the same age, girls who go through the ceremony and receive the blessing become brujas and are presented with a rosary as their portaje, that allows them to heal using blood.  As a trans boy, Yadriel did not go through the girls’ ceremony as he was expected to do, but was not allowed to go through the boys’ ceremony to become a brujo because the community does not accept that he is a boy. Impatient to prove himself, Yadriel secretly goes through the ceremony to become a brujo.

When his cousin Miguel goes missing and is suspected dead, Yadriel searches for him in an old church on the cemetery property. Finding a necklace with a medallion, Yadriel makes a guess that it might be a way to summon Miguel’s spirit. Instead, he accidentally summons a teenage troublemaker from his high school, Julian, who refuses to move on to the afterlife until he knows if his friends are okay. Yadriel has to resolve things quickly and quietly, before his father finds out and Dia de los Muertos begins. There is something much more sinister and terrifying going on than the limited blood magic practiced by the brujx community.

Thomas interweaves issues and messages related to and positive representations of trans, gay, and lesbian characters in general and specifically in Latinx communities. Lady Death and the mythology of Yadriel’s community is not limited to one nationality– immigrants from many countries in the Latinx diaspora participate, and issues related to immigration (like whether the individuals are documented) curtail the options of the members in seeking help from the police, and this is all well-integrated into a unique storyline. There’s also a sweet love story of the kind that LGBTQ+ teens deserve to see more of. The only disorienting moment is near the end when there is a sudden switch in point of view from Yadriel to Julian, but that’s a minor quibble in a high-quality story that can sweep you out of the everyday with its magic. Highly recommended.

 

Contains: Violence, blood, attempted murder

 

Posted on November 29, 2020 by , Reply

Book Review: The Perfectly Fine House by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young

cover image for The Perfectly Fine House by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young

The Perfectly Fine House by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young (  Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com )

Grindhouse Press, 2020

ISBN: 13:978-1-9419-18-63-0

Available: Kindle, paperback

 

The “breathers” depicted in The Perfectly Fine House do the usual: work, shop, have kids. The ghosts are busy, too. Sometimes, they help out with the great-grandkids, travel to exotic locations or hang out with their friends. They go to their local bar, smoke sage to get high, and maybe meet up with a young Unenlightened person who likes to date dead people.

But being dead isn’t all fun and games. There are those who disrespectfully walk straight through you, and you risk being arrested for any “unsanctioned possessions.” It’s also really disturbing to find a friend or relative “relapsing” because you can actually see the wounds that killed him. For the ghosts in this book, things get even worse than that when they realize their community is disappearing from Earth.

Stephen Koseniewski and Wile E. Young have written a clever and frequently amusing tale that blends ghostly and human lifestyles with appealing characters. Donna, a “surrogate” who makes love matches between the dead and the living, and her brother Kyle, killed in a motorcycle accident, struggle to find out what is causing the holes all over the world into which ghosts are vanishing. Characters include an exorcist love interest for Donna, a friend of Kyle’s who died “trying to flash fry a turkey in gasoline,” and a poet who comes up with a way to execute ghosts. Will Bonnie, the first to witness a disappearance, be able to apply her scientific savvy in time to stop the destruction? Will Donna lose her brother forever? At a time when having no “ghostsense” is a disability, you need to be careful to avoid provoking the dead “to go all poltergeist on you.” Good luck with that. Recommended.

Contains: adult situations and language

 

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Posted on November 9, 2020 by , Reply
First « 34567 » Last