Apparition [Paperback]

Risteen Gates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2002

Two hundred years ago on a Maryland plantation, eight-year-old Winston, the son of slaves was killed by his master as punishment for his mothers escape. Unknown to the plantation owner, Winston had befriended an ancient entity; a powerful force of nature that avenged his death by flaying the master and his overseers and hanging the skinless bodies in the trees for the crows to eat.Two hundred years later, Adam Gilmore and long time friend and co-worker Jessica Szabo, journey to the Maryland plantation turned meeting facility for a corporate function. After returning from the conference to Chicago, Adam and Jessica discover the restless spirit has followed them home.Meanwhile, Adams wife Zenia, a beautiful Russian born woman ten years his junior is the first to discover the existence of Winstons ancient friend, a powerful elemental spirit, when it saves her from a serial rapist. When she realizes what it is that Winston and the entity desire, she must choose between revealing the secret that would destroy her life and set the tortured spirit free, or allowing a dangerous force of nature to remain Earthbound.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Risteen L. Gates majored in aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois. After college, he drifted from dreams of sending men into space to a management position in corporate America. From there, a conference in a haunted mansion told him it was time to follow his dream of becoming a writer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (November 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595250815
• ISBN-13: 978-0595250813
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,168,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a ghost story., May 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Apparition (Paperback)

Apparition starts out on a plantation 200 years ago with a young slave woman having to submit to the sexual desires of her master. When she can't take it anymore and escapes, she's forced to leave her eight-year-old son behind. The plantation owner then kills the boy as punishment for her family. What the plantation owner doesn't know is the boy has made friends with some ancient entity that kills the slave owner and his men in a manor that becomes local legend.

After the opening, the book skips forward to modern times. There's all kind of office politics and personal drama going on. Everything becomes more complex when the main characters discover the ghost of the eight-year-old boy as well as the entity have followed them back to Chicago from a conference held at the old plantation which is now a meeting facility.

I don't want to tell you how the book ends, but it was clever. Most ghost stories always feature the ghost wanting something in order to move on. If I'm ever a ghost, I think I'd want what this ghost did!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars We've Got Company, May 18, 2003

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apparition (Paperback)

Some people say that when a supernatural presence is near, they can feel it. Whether it be a shift in room temperature, an eerie feeling of being watched, or the hunch that something just doesn't feel right, there are several signs to look for when trying to determine if you have an otherworldly visitor.

Zenia, a Ukranian-born woman, knows all of these things from the teachings of her her late grandmother. When her husband Adam returns from a business trip in Maryland with the spirit of a young boy on his heels, Zenia soon realizes that they have company.

In 1783 a young slave named Winston was killed as punishment for his mother's midnight departure from her Maryland plantation. As reparation for his death, Winston's friend, an unknown ancient entity, skins his murderers and hangs them from trees. Two hundred years later, Winston's spirit is searching for something that only Adam can give him, and something only Zenia can help him achieve, in order to rest in peace.

This is an excellent idea for a story, and I like the way it all came together with suspense and intrigue. I do, however, think that the technical side of this book, namely the editing, represents only a ghost of what this book could really be. I encourage the author to pursue this novel further with the help of an eagle-eyed editor.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers