A Concert of Ghosts [Hardcover]

Campbell Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

Arrested for growing marijuana on his farm, Harry Tenant escapes from the cops and joins up with Alison Seagrove, a young woman coincidentally investigating the mysterious deaths of every one of Harry's former counterculture chums.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his sixth novel, a narrative that sounds notes both chilling and nostalgic, Armstrong ( Agents of Darkness ) evokes a paranoia that may strike familiar chords in survivors of the '60s counterculture. Ex-hippie Harry Tennant is busted in upstate New York for growing pot. While awaiting trial, he's approached by a young writer, Alison Seagrove, who is researching a piece about a photo of Harry and four others that became an icon of the hippie movement. But Harry doesn't remember either the picture or the others in it; were his memories erased by the drugs he was taking? Worried and puzzled, he decamps with Alison on a cross-country attempt to recover his memory. On their journey Harry talks about his father, a lawyer whose defense of an Army colonel charged with atrocities in Vietnam shamed Harry into estrangement. Gradually Harry finds his past growing more and more accessible and steadily more horrifying; meanwhile he and Alison suspect that they are being followed--and one night their suspicions are confirmed as a man is shot while trying to lob a grenade into their motel room. Armstrong steadily increases the suspense as he slowly reveals a far-reaching political conspiracy that is also a profound personal betrayal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060179465
• ISBN-13: 978-0060179465
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,991,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to the writing of Campbell Armstrong, March 21, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concert of Ghosts (Hardcover)

This is the first novel of Campbell Armstrong's that I have read & it will not be the last. It truly was a mystery that did not reveal itself until the last couple of chapters. Part of the intrigue is feeling the frustration of Harry Tennant (the main character of the story) as he tries desprately to claw away the cobwebs that envelop his memory. What appears to be a drug induced amnesia from Harry's alternative lifestyle in 60's San Francisco, gradually reveals itself to be more sinister. It should be mentioned that Harry had been living a recluse's lifestyle in upstate New York until his world collapses and a journalist, Alison Seagrove enters (following a human interest story), thrusting a photo containing him and four fellow hippies that he has no recollection of. What follows is a trek accross the USA that has significant ports of call throughout for Harry & Alison,with the former slowly but surely putting the puzzle of the photograph's relevance together. Reading passages a second time at the completion of the novel, I picked up hints that led to Harry's condition which were very well disguised. All in all a tremendous read.

1.0 out of 5 stars A response to a genre mystery, September 28, 2005

By 

brendan frost "sam" (baltimore, md) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concert of Ghosts (Hardcover)

I'm not a big "genre" reader--I picked this up for a dollar in Queenstown, Md. because of the hippie/CIA type blurb on the back. I tore through it with relish, but I won't be repeating this genre experience any time soon. I just wanted to quote a line from Ice-T that encapsulates a better path for today's writers:

Now I'm known and respected as creator of the crime rhyme
But my lyrics are deeper, because I'm
The one that makes you think before you make a move
I wrote "Pusher," "High-Rollers," and "Colors" just to prove
That I could kick game, and drop knowledge at the same time...

Armstrong, as far as I can tell, certainly kicks "mystery genre game," but he does not drop deeper knowledge about this very interesting subject.

3.0 out of 5 stars LUMINOUS SETTING, MURKY PLOT, March 16, 2002

By 

Waleed Eissa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Concert of Ghosts (Paperback)

Concert Of Ghosts is a well written psychologically complex, stunningly atmospheric page turner which starts with an absurd premise and gets even nuttier; a tense, tingling puzzler.