Customer Reviews

Gray Ghost

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Stoney Calhoun's second appearance (after "Bitch Creek") finds the laconic Maine fishing guide still in love with his business partner, bait shack owner Kate Balaban, and still finding himself - literally.

Calhoun was struck by lightning seven years ago - or so he's been told. His previous life is a blank, but he keeps discovering talents, such as fly-fishing, and French. And more sinister abilities too - a knack for weapons, including his bare hands, and an eye for dangerous detail. "The man in the suit," an occasional visitor, has hinted he shouldn't remember too much.

As the story opens Calhoun embarks on a pre-dawn fishing trip with a new and amiable client, a professor, which ends in the discovery of a charred body on an uninhabited island in Casco Bay.

Then the new client is murdered on Calhoun's front porch. He takes that personally and agrees to help his friend Sheriff Dickman investigate. The charred body is a missing child molester with a roster of people who wanted him dead. But who would want to kill the professor?

The mystery is nicely handled and well paced, but the real pleasure here is Calhoun's character and the Maine outdoors. Calhoun's laid-back stubbornness and relationship with Kate make him both likable and admirable and you can just about smell the crisp Maine air and feel the tug of the fish on your line.

New Hampshire writer Tapply, author of the long-running series featuring Boston lawyer Brady Coyne, has another winner.

We first met man-of-mystery and Maine fishing guide Stoney Calhoun in [...] CREEK. There we learned that Stoney didn't always live a slow, simple, and rustic life -- but exactly what he'd done before he was zapped by lightning, only the Man in the Suit knows, and he never reveals much during his occasional visits.

A Gray Ghost is a Maine salmon streamer, a fly that Stoney ties in the outdoor gear shop that he and Kate run. But Stoney also sees a few gray ghosts in human-like form in the area around Quarantine Island, where hundreds of people were once burned to death in a terrible hospital fire. When Stoney and one of his customers find a newly-burned body on that outcropping, they report it to Sheriff Dickman. The county sheriff admires Stoney's obvious investigative prowess so much that he offers to deputize the guide; and this time around, Stoney is glad to help. At first. But after that tourist is also murdered, and Stoney and Dickman find out that the first body belonged to a registered sex offender, our favorite fishing guide begins to have second thoughts about his new, albeit non-paying, duties. How are the two deaths related, anyway? And how can you be objective about the murder of somebody who probably deserved what he got?

And while Stoney steadily mulls over the investigation and who the possible suspects might be, he's also dealing with growing tension in his real job. Kate has toned down their personal relationship, and Stoney's finding it difficult to interact with her on a strictly-business basis. Will they ever get back to the way they were?

Told in a style that reflects not only Stoney's leisurely style of thinking, but also the pace of rural life in Maine ("The Way Life Should Be"), GRAY GHOST is an excellent stand-alone follow-up to [...] CREEK. In any event, you gotta admire someone who owns a Brittany spaniel named Ralph Waldo Emerson.

First Sentence: The alarm in Stoney Calhoun's head jangled at two fifty-five, five minutes before the redundant wind-up clock beside his bed was scheduled to go off. Calhoun's internal alarm hadn't failed him yet, but he still didn't quite trust it.

Stoney Calhoun remembers nothing prior to seven years ago when he was apparently struck by lightening. However, he is content with his life living in a cabin on a creek in Maine, partners in a fishing shop, in love with his married partner, and conducting fishing trips. Things turn grim when he guides a fishing trip and, when they take a break on an uninhabited island, find the corpse of a man burned beyond recognition. After the man who hired him is found dead on Stoney's porch, he is deputized to help find the killer.

I'll admit I'm a sucker for books set in Maine and I even enjoy the fishing theme. Stoney is an interesting character who is constantly discovering skills he didn't know he had. I do find it hard to believe that someone who'd lost their memory wouldn't want to know about their past.

As a plot device, the memory loss, the relationship with his married partner, and the character's constant use of the word "ain't" could become old if they go on too long. However, Tapply definitely knows how to create characters and sense of place. The story is well plotted and I couldn't anticipate where it was going.

I shall be interested to see where this series is going.

Seven years ago, Stonewall Jackson Calhoun (Stoney) took a direct hit of lightening and woke up in a hospital with no memory. Poof! It's gone and Stoney has no hope of recovering any of his memories.

Stoney currently co-owns a bait and tackle shop in Maine (Casco Bay). When he and a client find a burned corpse on a small uninhabited island, things change for Stoney. They change even more when the client is also killed.

The local sheriff needs Stoney's help (he has some interesting talents). Stoney agrees to investigate and suddenly the investigator becomes a suspect and perhaps a 'target.'

Gray Ghost sizzles. I love the outdoor settings, the hints about Stoney's past, everything! The plot is fascinating and the characters are rich and complex. It's a fast read and I was disappointed when it ended. I want more of Stoney Calhoun.

Armchair Interviews says: Check out Tapply's Bitch Creek.

Years ago lightning hit Stoney Calhoun wiping out his memory like an etch a sketch. After a hospital stay and a strange "payment" check he moved on with no hope of regaining all he lost though slithers seem to surface especially at needed moments. He thinks he may have been involved in some form of law enforcement as he occasionally shows such skills and then there the gray suit that speaks of government periodically coming to Maine. In Stoney's mind he believes the man comes to check up on him; perhaps to see if his memory returned. Still he ignores the suit as he currently is part owner of a Portland, Maine boat with bait and tackle shop on BITCH CREEK where he is an considered an expert on various local fishing spots

Stoney takes out a client fishing on a nearby island. However, their angling is interrupted when they stumble upon a burned corpse. Not planning to get involved except for answering police questions, Stoney soon wonders what is going on when his customer is soon afterward also murdered. Unable to stay out of the investigation and wondering if he could be next, Stoney begins inquiries into who the killer is.

Fans of William G. Tapply's Brady Coyne will enjoy this fresh protagonist whose skills remain latent until he needs them. The story line is action-packed as Stoney may be doing an amateur sleuth investigation, but in spite of his lost memory he is a pro. Readers will appreciate this exciting New England whodunit starring a fascinating hero and seek his previous appearance (see BITCH CREEK).

Harriet Klausner

William G. Tapply's second Stoney Calhoun novel is a well-written (as you'd expect from Tapply) novel that combines two mysteries, romantic intrigue between the main characters, and a whole gang of mutilated bodies. Stoney Calhoun is more 'hardcore' than Tapply's other character, the good-natured Brady Coyne, and far more willing to break necks, faces, and heads in order to save his friends, his dog, and his fragile existence. I especially liked the hints and allusions to Stoney's mysterious past. I hope that Tapply illuminates it more in further books.

I've enjoyed everything I've read by Tapply, including this book and his new book of fly-fishing adventure Trout Eyes. He's a very good writer, and each of his books is a great pleasure.

This is more than a good mystery yarn; it's a well-written novel. It's thoughtful; it has interesting, flawed, mature characters; it's often eloquent. Stoney Calhoun is a keeper. Let's hope for more of him from Tapply.

I've been a long time addict of William G. Tapply's mystery stories. I thoroughly enjoyed "Bitch Creek". "Gray Ghost" began with promise. Half way through the story I kept trying to detemine who was/were the actual killers. I was disappointed in how Tapply finally resolved the story. It just came out too pat and dry. A lot of time was spent tying fishing flies and drinking black coffee. Stoney is an interesting character. In many ways he reminds me of Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford. Both with past lives that allow them to play the protagonist in a James Bond role.