Ghostbusters: The Return [Mass Market Paperback]

Sholly Fisch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2004

The dauntless heroes from the popular Ghostbusters film are back in fine form, wreaking havoc on the spirit world, in an original novel about the trio of misfits who comes up with an unusual way to make a living--the exorcism of ghosts. Original.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Ghostbusters is] engagingly offbeat . . . Great fun all the way!"

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: I Books (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743479483
• ISBN-13: 978-0743479486
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,317,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Story, Bad Title, May 17, 2005

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghostbusters: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

Although titles THE RETURN, there is no real return in the plot. The Ghostbusters have been working hard since the events of the last movie and the current Mayor has been capitalizing upon their successes. This leads an independent political party to choose Dr. Peter Venkman to run for Mayor.

But as the campaign begins, it becomes clear that there is something big in the paranormal works. Ghosts are showing up in the form of urban legends; ghosts that shouldn't exist. There is also a mention of something called Xanthador (no, this is not the Piers Anthony demon nor is it the same name). Through it all we have Peter and Dana still defining their relationship, Ray and Egon are still deeply engrossed in the bizarre, and the humor flows like a river of slime.

The author does an excellent job of keeping the characters true to the movies. Almost from the first page when Louis is talking about a missing pen the reader can hear the voices and inflections. I have never been a fan of Slimer being a mascot but that is not the fault of this author. But the scenes with the villain seem more in keeping with the cartoon show than with the movies. One of the reasons the movies worked so well was that at the heart of the trouble there was a very real threat that was not fueled by comedy, something lacking in the cartoons. This book falls somewhere in-between the two in its handling of dark forces.

Still, if you liked the movies and the characters, you should enjoy this book as the characters are true to form. Check it out.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good story let down by a weak ending, September 5, 2005

By 

Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghostbusters: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

In this would-be threequel an ancient fear-demon called Xanthador/Zantador turns up in NYC and sets about scaring folks by bringing good, old urban legends to life. Such as hook-handed killer, psycho's in the attic, exploding pop rocks and microwaved dogs. Not taking kindly to demons repeating picking on New York the boys in grey set about taking him down. But getting in the way is Venkman's Mayoral campaign an old-fashion Ghostbuster privately hired by the city who may not be everything he claims to be.

Despite frequent grammatical errors (how did these slip by the editor?) Sholly Fisch manages to give us decent plot and nails the characters of Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore dead on. Although it's an obvious continuation of Ghostbusters II it does feel a bit like The Real Ghostbusters sometimes. The supernatural mythology just doesn't have enough weight behind it. And for such a long set-up the ending was incredibly tame.

Still, it's a great read and a must for Ghostbusters fans. I hope we can get more of these in the future.

PS

The as-of-yet unreleased book Ghostbusters: Urban Legends featured here on Amazon is not a new Ghostbusters novel. It's just a reprint of this one with a different title.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is kind of what I imagined Ghostbusters 3 to be like..., January 11, 2005

By 

M. Wilson "ghosthead" (El Campo, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghostbusters: The Return (Mass Market Paperback)

Set two-to-five years after the events of Ghostbusters 2, the team is faced with a demon that feeds off terror itself. Using familiar urban legends, Xanthador waits for the right time to assend from his personal Hell, while assuming the guise of the puritan exorcist that defeated him back in the late 1690's. All the while, a third-party is running Venkman and Zeddemore on their ticket to replace the current mayor.

I'd have to admit, when I first heard this book was being published for the Ghostbusters' 20th Anniversary (My, has it been that long?) I rushed to the first online bookstore that had it and ordered it. I've just finished about a week ago [from 1/11/2005] and, to say the least, I feel the same disappointment I've felt when I've played David Crain's "classic" computer game based on the truly immortal film. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, and I'd recommend it to any fellow ghosthead, but I feel only the truly devoted will enjoy this book.

To close this, I look forward to the next book in the series, if any, and I just have one question to ask, and I feel I know the answer.

Are GB: The Return, and GB: Urban Legends the same book? If so, then why doesn't Amazon close that page and keep the one with the more accurate title?