Gateways and Ghost Hunters

This book is not what you think it is when you see this cover. I was pleasantly and slightly horrifically surprised to find this book is all about the dearly departed..or the dearly not so departed. Jessica Ballard is the main character of this trilogy and in this first book the author E.E. Holmes grabs you from page one and literally drags you through to the last sentence on the last page hoping that what you're reading isn't actually about to happen! 

Jessica or Jess as she likes to be called wakes from a disorienting nightmare into a terrible tragedy. Jess's life hasn't exactly been easy as she's spent her childhood on the road with her alcoholic mother cleaning up her mom's messes. Jess both loves and resents her mother and yet when her mom turns up dead under mysterious circumstances Jess realizes just how much she loved her mother. Jess goes to live with estranged relatives she's never met while waiting to attend St. Matthews University. It's at St. Matt's that Jess realizes there's something strange about some of the classmates she's been meeting..namely the fact that their dead. Yeah I wasn't exactly happy to find that out myself as some of those characters were really awesome. Jess knows somethings up and while she's flailing around trying to figure out how she can see and interact with dead people she's aided by her neurotic college roomate Tia, and Dr. David Pierce a ghost hunting professor. Yes there's a paranormal class being taught at St. Matt's!!! 

What makes these books so engaging is the attention to detail. The scenes are so vibrant and creepy you almost feel more like you're watching a thriller movie than reading a book. I had that thought a lot while reading this trilogy. These would make awesome horror movies. If ghost's aren't your thing that's ok there's still the mystery of who Jess is and how she's able to see and interact with these ghosts. The mystery coupled with the vivid details of the ghosts she encounters makes this a 4 star trilogy for me. The only reason it didn't get the 5 star treatment was because the last book in the trilogy pulled an Alfred Hitchcock on me. You know where it ends without really ending. I know some of you readers love that but I am not a fan. I want closure at the end of the story not an open ended interpretation. If you happen to love those kinds of ending this will be a 5 star trilogy for you.

I love how each book feeds into the next building on the story line until the epic conclusion in book three. The good news is all three books are out and you can get them in print or digitally through online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

All in all this was an overall win for me and I'm the first to admit that most ghost stories just don't do it for me. When it comes to fiction I would say I'm a hard sell on this particular story trope so if you already lean toward liking these types of books then you are going to LOVE this trilogy.