Ghost Music (Severn House Large Print) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Graham Masterton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010 | Series: Severn House Large Print

The dead can’t seek justice – can they? - Gideon Lake, a successful composer, is immediately smitten by Kate Solway, who lives below him. They begin a passionate affair, and Kate invites him to Europe so that they can be together without her husband finding out. But when Gideon witnesses all kinds of strange and terrifying events, he soon realizes that nothing in Kate’s world is what it seems. Gideon must work out who, and what, Kate really is, and what she wants from him . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Masterton is a horror veteran with the ability to make his readers feel seriously creeped out. But this novel is distressingly bland. Gideon Lake, a film composer, begins an affair with a married woman, Kate. She invites him on a trip to Sweden, where Gideon encounters a lot of weird stuff, including an eerie pair of young girls. Turns out he has an unusual sensitivity to ghosts, and soon he has to balance his love for Kate with his trepidations about who she really is. In some ways the book feels like a hurried rewrite of Douglas Kennedy’s The Woman in the Fifth (2007). There are also some uncharacteristic moments of sloppiness, as when Gideon says his nickname is Lalo, after Lalo Schifrin, composer of the theme music for Jaws. But John Williams composed the Jaws music, and Schifrin reworked Williams’ theme on a later album. Still, even with all its flaws, the novel moves at a good pace, and Gideon is a likable narrator whose personality and general air of spooked-out confusion propel us through the story. Masterton’s fans may give this one a thumbs-up, but it’s not his best work. --David Pitt --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

"A masterly plotter who evokes both terror and suspense.” —Library Journal

“The living inheritor to the realm of Edgar Allan Poe.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“A mesmerizing storyteller!” —Publishers Weekly

“Possibly horror’s most consistent provider of chills.” —Masters of Terror

“A horror veteran with the ability to make his readers feel seriously creeped out.” —Booklist

“A master of the genre.” —Rocky Mountain News

 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers; Large type / large print edition (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727878395
• ISBN-13: 978-0727878397
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,189,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hauntingly Good, January 23, 2012

By 

April Ricchuito (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost Music (Hardcover)

Like the Ghost Music that Gideon plays, this book moves along melodically, leaving you haunted, but satiated at the end. This book is a psychological thriller that will leave you with chills down your spine, and a must read for anyone who has ever wondered what it's like to have sex with a ghost. I couldn't put it down.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, Solid Ghost Story, January 7, 2012

By 

Kat from The Aussie Zombie (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghost Music (Hardcover)

Moving into a new and very expensive apartment, Gideon Lake (known as Lalo), glimpses his neighbor leaving the building with her husband and is immediately smitten. Upon meeting her face to face he invites her to lunch in his apartment and their affair begins, quickly moving onto a trip to Europe together. And this is where it all started to get a bit unreal for me. I'm sure there are some fools in the world that would just jaunt off to Europe (alone, they don't travel together) and go straight to a random address and let themselves in, but most of us just wouldn't.

Whether it is the author's intention or not, right from the beginning I knew what Gideon didn't - and it made me want to reach through the pages and throttle him. And when he finally `got it' in the middle section of the book, he didn't exactly react in the way I thought he should.

That said, Ghost Music is a well written book - Gideon as a character is well-drawn even if he is a little slow on the uptake and the events that Gideon sees are spooky and more than a little disturbing. The dialogue is convincing and the story kept my attention the whole way through the book.

The ending of Ghost Music may not be to everyone's tastes, it is quite quick and may feel a little rushed to some readers but if you've already guessed all the twists and how it's going to end there's no need to have it drawn out further, so perhaps that was the author's intention all along. A good, solid read.

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Spooky!!, December 19, 2011

By 

K. Sowa (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghost Music (Hardcover)

Ghost Music has a certain Gatsbyesque quality to it, at first; the delicate woman who is married to the violent and boorish man and the thoughtfully quiet man who loves her from a distance. You soon find out that the book is much more than just a love story. Gideon is drawn to Kate in a way that confuses him and their bond is strong. However, things in his new building get stranger and stranger until it become apparent that something odd, even ghostly is going on. As Gideon's affair with Kate progresses, their trip to Europe makes things even more bizarre and horrific. It is then that you slowly learn what is really happening.

I don't usually read horror, but I must say that I really enjoyed this book. It is perhaps not as traditional as most horror books because there is not a lot of gore, but it is creepy and the horror itself is much more psychological. I noticed that those more practiced in this genre commented that Graham Masterton's books are usually filled with a lot more blood and guts, but that's what made this book much more appealing, in my opinion. There doesn't have to be stomach turning gore for it to be scary. Masterton takes his time setting up the mystery and when the last half of the book arrives, you are trying desperately to figure out what could be happening. I thought the story was spooky and emotional with just the right amount of action, blood and plot twists that keep you guessing. I really enjoyed it and would reccomend it for horror fans and non-horror fans alike.