Liviania’s review of Ghost of a Chance (Ghost Finders, Book 1) by Simon R. Green
Urban fantasy published by Ace 31 Aug 10
Simon R. Green began writing urban fantasy when the genre was still young. Thus, I’ve heard good things about his work for awhile. I bought one of his books before, only to discover it was the third in the series instead of the first. So I was very happy when I finally got the chance to read his work. Unfortunately, Ghost of a Chance is an unpleasant surprise.
JC Chance, Melody Chambers, and Happy Jack Palmer are a team working for the Carnacki Institute to exorcise bothersome ghosts. Melody, the only girl on the team, is the techno-geek. For most of the novel she has to leave her equipment behind, rendering her mostly useless. (The techno-geek working for the Crowley Project, their enemies, much more wisely carries a laptop.) JC is charming but gratingly arrogant. Happy Jack is the telepath on drugs to deal with his abilities. None of them really rise above their cookie-cutter roles.
The romance in the novel is central, which is kind of strange for a male-oriented urban fantasy. When exorcising the Oxford Circus Tube Station, JC falls for the recently murdered Kim, who might hold the key to defeating the evil in the subway station. Through the rest of the novel, JC and Kim are motivated by their instant true love. (Kim, apparently, never notices that one of JC’s defining attributes is “annoying.”) I could believe in the love at first sight if the relationship had ups and downs while forming, but it’s smooth sailing. The only danger to the relationship is external. JC manages to survive by deus ex machina halfway through the novel, which is very fortunate since that same deus ex machina saves the characters several times.
The human enemies are the best part of the novel. Erik Grossman is a thug who uses cybernetic technology. (Okay, he’s fairly flat too. But you know what kind of flat character everyone is since they’re all introduced with two or more paragraphs of exposition.) Natasha Chang is the gorgeous telepath with a suspiciously high number of ex-husbands. She kind of admires JC and develops an interesting rapport with Happy Jack while trying to survive the horror in the tube station.
There’s a creepy horror story somewhere in Ghost of a Chance. And flat characters wouldn’t hamper a horror story all that much. But what actually happens is a bloodless adventure centered around a sugary sweet forbidden romance. (Humans aren’t supposed to date ghosts, so JC will probably face fallout for that in the next book.) Ghost of a Chance is more lame than terrible. It feels like an amateur’s effort, rather than the newest release of a respected author.
Grade: D
Summary:
The Carnacki institute exists to Do Something About Ghosts. Lay them to rest, send them packing, or kick their nasty ectoplasmic arses with extreme prejudice.
The institute’s operatives are the best of the best. JC Chance: sharp, brave, charming, and almost unbearably arrogant; Melody Chambers: science geek, techno-wizard extraordinaire who keeps the antisupernatual equipment running smoothly; and Happy Jack Palmer: the telepath with the gloomy disposition, the last person anyone would want navigating through their head.
No excerpt found.
I liked and hated this book. Weird or not, I appreciated that once in a while it was gory/disgusting (I like that in my urban fantasy/horror). Granted, all that stuff was happening to other people who had no connections to the three lead characters, but props to the author for writing it. Everything else about this book was…frustrating. I always wondered how Melody had such an active “love” life (according to her; I never saw evidence of it) when she really didn’t seem to care for anything but her equipment. Small point maybe, but I thought it just didn’t fit with the way her personality was described. The “instant love” idea made me want to throw the book against the nearest wall. If this book was labeled paranormal romance or advertised as a romantic urban fantasy I would’ve shrugged off that surprise, but there was still little development of this relationship. Which is unfortunate, because I would’ve loved to see why a ghost couldn’t love a human beyond physical limitations and if that was the only thing stopping them, how they would work around it. Finally, and the thing that bothered me most, was the prologue to the book said something about the most dangerous ghosts were the ones trapped between life and death. Love it, but when was that concept ever explored in this book? In short, I wanted to read the book described in the synopsis and the prologue and didn’t see enough of that.