Thursday, July 4, 2013

Ghostly Summons by John A. Karr: Review + $25 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!


Lars Kelsen doesn’t believe in psychic phenomenon. To him, visions of murder victims are a form of mental illness. Once they begin, options are limited; he can try to ignore them or deal with them by exposing a killer. Only the latter provides any semblance of peace. Temporarily, anyway. Five years into his new life as a programmer, Kelsen—ex-crime beat reporter with a penance he can never fully satisfy—sees a victim.

In person. Upright. Staring.

Typical of such past "Visits" as he calls them, he doesn’t welcome this one. The nude form of a beautiful millionairess in his cubicle means murder has come to the vacation haven known as North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It means he’ll have to go places he'd rather avoid. See things he'll wish he hadn’t. Do things that don't come naturally, like in-your-face confrontation and bending the law. Actually, breaking the law ... but with good intent. It also means dealing with one very attractive county coroner, who pushes his buttons in a not entirely unwelcome way.

So begins Kelsen's return to investigative reporting—complete with attempts on his life, fights, deception, and all the technological tricks, such as GPS and computer hacking, at his disposal. And maybe even finding a new love interest.


Format: eBook and paperback
eBook Price: $3.99
Pages: 312
Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing
Release: March 14, 2013
 
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John A. Karr believes fiction writing each day helps keep the demons at bay. Ghostly Summons is his first full-length novel for Dark Continents Publishing. DCP has also published his Weird West novella, Ujahwek. He is the author of a handful of other novels: Death Clause, Hippocrates Shattered (scheduled for reprint by World Castle Publications as Shattered), Rhone, and Van Gogh, Encore. His short stories have appeared on webzines Allegory, The Absent Willow Review, and Danse Macabre. More works are in progress and in the marketing queue.

Karr is an ardent believer in the quote by Carl Van Doren (1885-1950), U.S. man of letters: Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to.




John A. Karr is one of those hidden gems that stayed of my raider until I started my review blog. He is one of the - relatively few -  authors that are worth promoting to a larger crowd. That need promoting. 

Ghostly Summons is well written. There's a lot of stories out there with clever concepts and poor delivery (or vice-verse). It's hard  to find authors that are both talented and write well-developed, interesting books. Especially in a society where people like Snooki make it as a bestselling author (shame on anyone who supported this). 

The concept of six-sense with the character development akin to Stephen King. His characters are gritty, realistic, and seat-gripping. His plot is well-paced, well-informed, and worth the several hours you take to enter his fictional world. 

I read this book over the space of two-days. I found it haunting, gritty, and wonderful.

I will tell you readers, that John A. Karr is ending up in my library. 

As for you, when it comes to Ghostly Summons?

Buy It | Read It | Borrow It | Toss It | Burn It


Good luck!

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2 comments:

  1. Tribute BooksJuly 4, 2013 at 11:04 AM

    Cherene, thanks for such powerful words of encouragement for John's work. You rock! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJuly 4, 2013 at 1:15 PM

    Hi Cherene,

    Thanks so much for the kind words! It's great to get a thumbs-up from such a well-read blogger. You read it in two days, even. You're a faster reader than I am.

    In appreciation,

    John

    ReplyDelete

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