How to Seduce a Ghost
by Hope McIntyre
How to Seduce a Ghost is about ghostwriter Lee Bartholomew's encounter with a serial
killer who sets fires and burns up his victims. The first victim is one of Lee's neighbors
- which is scary enough, especially when you're a woman with as many neuroses as Lee,
but when the next victim dies right in Lee's yard...well, things get pretty stressful.
Booklist loved this book and I respect that - really, I do. They found Lee engaging. I
found her a teensy bit annoying, maybe because she sometimes hits a little close to home.
She's a very introverted writer who is more than a little self-absorbed - aren't we all?
She's terrible at relationships (which is too bad because every guy in the book fancies
her - um, this is not the part that reminds me of me). And she has a lot of relationships
to sort out in this book - will she marry her boyfriend? Will she survive her parents?
Will she successfully deal with the soap opera star and write her compelling autobiography?
Will she die a fiery death? - It is a mystery, after all.
The book does have a charming sense of humor. You cannot help but laugh at the convolutions
of the plot where more and more people are thrust upon this social-phobic writer. And the
book works very hard at being socially relevant with bits about alcoholism, the consequences
of infidelity, domestic violence and whether men really can do laundry. So - sometimes
I loved the book and sometimes I wanted to smack Lee upside the head. But I was never
bored. |
The Reviewer |
Jan Fields |
Reviewed 2005 |
NOTE: Reviewer Jan
Fields is the editor of Kid Magazine Writers emagazine and has written dozens of
stories and articles for the children's magazine market. |
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