Tommy has come home from the city to visit his Dad for one last time. He is determined to get to the bottom of all of the secrets that his Dad has kept for hidden behind a smokescreen of storytelling and charm.
It turns out that some secrets are best left untold.
NOT JUST ANY OLD GHOST STORY is a quiet little story about coming home and ghosts that you can never escape and a love that never dies. It is a story that will take you to the very heart of storytelling itself.
“If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon.” – BOOKGASM
“Steve Vernon was born to write. He’s the real deal and we are lucky to have him.” – Richard Chizmar, CEMETERY DANCE
“This genre needs new blood and Steve Vernon is quite a transfusion.” – Edward Lee, author of THE GOON and HEADER
"It is absolutely entrancing, and a beautiful story told in a literary and haunting style. On the strength of this, Steve Vernon is a superb storyteller. "
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
If you buy this expecting ghosts, gore, and rubbish, you will be disappointed. This is a story about a ghost story, passed down over the years, retold over and over until it reaches the narrator's parents turn and in each person's retelling there is a shadow of their own life.
It is absolutely entrancing, and a beautiful story told in a literary and haunting style. The author's command of english paints a picture with each word. The first two chapters are more a character study than part of the main story, but they draw a reader in anyway and the arc within it is intriguing in its own right.
I turned the final page, reached the author's note and only then realised I had tears in my eyes. "Steve Vernon is a storyteller." goes the first line of the author's note, and I find that to be a grotesque understatement. On the strength of this, Steve Vernon is a superb storyteller. It is the best form of literary fiction, wistful, compelling, engrossing and somehow avoiding needless angst to be truly touching.
I've asked another reviewer to check my rating, but I'm giving it a five and top marks. Rating:5
Anytime you give me a story described as "entrancing" I think that you have my attention. These are the stories that I enjoy, and the title alone really sparks my interest. I am curious now about the haunting and literary style, and I cannot wait to find out a little more. I have never heard of the writer, but your recommendation is good to have.
It is a unique story about a story, and how stories mean different things depending on who tells it. There are so very few written like that. I adored it.
I love the title too. It makes you just want to pick the book up right now. I love stories about people's personal points of view or their different perspectives on the same things. I know this is right up my alley and thanks for sharing.
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