Bookworm Blurbs

Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre -- his collection includes sketches from infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, a trepanned skull from the 16th century, a used hangman's noose, Aleister Crowley's childhood chessboard, etc. -- so when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it.

The black, heart-shaped box that Coyne receives in the mail not only contains the suit of a dead man but also his vengeance-obsessed spirit. The ghost, it turns out, is the stepfather of a young groupie who committed suicide after the 54-year-old Coyne callously used her up and threw her away. Now, determined to kill Coyne and anyone who aids him, the merciless ghost of Craddock McDermott begins his assault on the rocker's sanity. (source)

Okay, so I actually haven't finished this book so maybe it's not 100% fair for me to review it, but I'm going to anyway, because what I did read, I really liked. I started this at the end of my winter break between semesters and when school started up again, I just didn't have time to finish it, and now it's 3 months later and I forget most of it. I'd like to revisit it when I have more time, but since I might only have "fun reading time" for a few weeks there are some other books that I'd like to get to first. 

Anyway, from what I remember, this is a great horror novel because it's creepy without being disturbing. It's the kind of book where if you read it before going to sleep at night, you might jump at the little noises from your house settling, but you won't be so horrified that you want to slam the book shut and put it down for good, like some of the other horror novels I've read. It's fairly fast-paced, and I also felt that the characters developed nicely. I didn't like any of them at first, but by the point where I stopped reading (about 3/4s through), the two main characters had definitely warmed up to me. 

Well, that's about all I have to say at this point, but like I said, I did like this book enough that 3 months after putting it down I do want to revisit it eventually, and I feel good in recommending it to those who want to read a good ghost story. Also, fun fact, this was written by Stephen King's son, and while I don't know that he'll ever be as legendary as his father, he's definitely got talent. This was a good one!