Bryan Hall

The Girl is the second novella in a series called THE SOUTHERN HAUNTINGS SAGA by Bryan Hall, a young, relatively new writer. If it is any indication, this fellow has a great career ahead of him.
The protagonist of The Girl is Creighton Northgate — Crate — who is a sort of psychic, and a sort of private detective, and a sort of ghostbuster, though he rejects all three descriptors. What it amounts to is that he can see ghosts, and he can persuade them to move along to wherever it is ghosts show more go when they’ve finished their business in this world. He makes his living moving from one haunted person to another, relieving them of their ghosts when he can and debunking claims of ghosts where there are none.

As The Girl opens, Crate has just spent four months in the northeastern part of the United States, working as hard as he ever has. Now, though, he’s on his way back to the South, to “the red clay banks, deep woods, overabundance of roadkill and antique, mildewing mobile homes,” where he can breathe “a deep gulp of the sweet southern air, rich with decomposing leaves and pine and ozone and all the other faint odors that helped him feel at home.” He has a love-hate relationship with his native region, where people die hard and the ghosts were real far more often than in the North.

Crate’s first stop is near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in the Appalachian Mountains. Tom Lee, a construction worker, lives with his family in the wooded hills, and he’s haunted by the ghost of his 12-year-old daughter, Amy, who disappeared two years ago. Tom’s wife Margie thinks Tom’s lost his mind with grief, and his other daughter, Angie, is a teenager who keeps to herself.

Amy loved the woods that surrounded her family’s home, and was often out in the wild, sketching, walking, swimming. One day she went out into the woods and never came back. Margie thinks she ran off, but Tom knows she’s dead, because he sees her ghost regularly — almost every evening at dusk, at the edge of the woods. One of the most disturbing things about her appearances is that her head shakes or wobbles, almost as if she were drunk. Tom wants to help her move on, even as he longs to continue seeing her.

It’s a nice set-up, and Hall produces a gripping, deftly plotted and well-paced mystery. The best part of Hall’s writing, though, is that he gives us a fine sense of place and character, using vivid descriptions that make places visible right in front of us and authentic dialogue that makes his primary characters, Crate and Tom, seem like real people. Crate is an especially convincing series protagonist, terrible at small talk but managing to run his own business regardless; haunted by a ghost of his own; drinking in order to sleep. This novella left me interested in hunting down the two others Hall has already written in this series. I’m curious about how Hall is ultimately going to resolve Crate’s haunting, and I’m rather hoping he’ll do that in a full-fledged novel.

That said, The Girl is not a perfect story. The minor characters are mere sketches, which means ultimately that Crate is not able to hide the solution to the mystery of Amy’s disappearance for very long. The writing lacks polish in places, as evocative as it often is. But both Crate and his occupation are sufficiently interesting that I’m looking forward to reading more of Crate’s adventures.

I acquired this novella as part of the Arcane Bundle presently on offer. The Arcane Bundle is a collection of independent, small press and self-published e-books, offered on a “pay what you want” basis for five to ten works; this bundle contains six titles, with an extra two thrown in if you pay $7 or more. They are DRM-free and offered in multiple formats, something for each kind of e-reader. This particular bundle is available until July 18. The bundle’s website doesn’t specify, but as this bundle is identified as the “July bundle,” I’m guessing a new bundle is available each month. Because I’m a fan of independent and small presses, I’m curious about the other books in this bundle, and will look forward to seeing what’s offered next time around. It’s a brave new publishing world, and authors are doing some interesting things to get eyes on their books.

Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/horrible-monday-the-girl-by-bryan-hall/... show less

Review:

I usually love anything pertaining to zombies or the undead, but recently, the zombie genre has left me bored. All but a few zombie books I have read this year contain the same monotonous plot, "zombie apocalypse => RUN". Where the living characters seem to blur into the blood-soaked background of the brain-yearning masses. However, the premise of Containment Room 7, (a space zombie cult), somehow managed to re-spark my interest. I had never contemplated zombies in space - unless you show more count Jason X - so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was definitely compelled to read on after page one. The story starts abruptly, the scientists and engineers on the DARC12 research ship have found an odd meteor near a black hole and decide to bring it into the ship - where the fun begins. Each character has their own point-of-view about the strange rock, most of which are easy-to-follow, but there are a few that are more crazy than understandable. The POV and narration types vary from chapter to chapter, which can sometimes become confusing, however, I like the uncertainty it creates. I just wish that I could enjoy the characters more; I don't feel any emotion towards the living or dead, their lack of development hinders the overall plot - which happens to be the novel's "saving grace". The story-line is a refreshing take on the zombie genre, full of action, gore, skin-crawling descriptions, and well-placed scares, but the quickness of the pace does not allow readers to fully immerse themselves in the scenario. Halfway through the book I find that I only really know who two of the characters are, and I don't really care if they survive or not. I also dislike the repetition of the zombie attacks, (the descriptions mostly), because they seem so similar - how many times can a zombie "piggyback" someone? The ending is as abrupt as the beginning, but not nearly as fulfilling, leaving me with more questions about the "alien" than I would like. Twenty or so more pages may have fixed the problem. Overall, I really enjoy the author's intention, but feel that the book as a whole is too scarce in background information and character development. Still a decent addition to the zombie genre, but needs work. Recommended for fans of zombies and science fiction. Great cover art!

Rating: Bounty's Out (3/5)

*** I received this book from the author (Book Shots) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. show less

Review Copy

The Lurker is the third installment in the popular Southern Hauntings Saga from writer Bryan Hall.

It all started in May of 2012 with the publication of The Vagrant, a story which introduced us to Creighton Northgate, a man shrouded in mystery and on the run from a past he doesn't even fully understand. In August of 2012 he released The Girl. In both books, Crate, (after three books, I think I've earned the right to call him Crate). Anyway, in both of those stories Crate uses his show more ability to communicate with the dead to resolve problems for the people who have hired him to help. It's his gift and his curse.

In the third installment, I expected more of the same and that would have been OK, but instead, the author brings his protagonist to Sutton's Mill, North Carolina to help with their rather unique situation.

I found myself sliding into the world of Crate Northgate to be like putting on comfortable slippers after a hard day on my feet. I like Hall's way with words, he brings conversations to life with colorful language like, " I live in a little single-wide trailer. You can hear a squirrel farting in the trees outside through them walls they're so thin."

The writing gets getter with each new story, as well. In my opinion, The Lurker is the best so far and I loved the way the writer kept the series from becoming too predictable.

Although The Lurker can be read as a stand alone work I recommend reading The Vagrant and The Girl and I have no doubt there will be more books in the Southern Hauntings Saga, including a trip back home in Crate's future, where I have a feeling all Hell could break loose.

This book is highly recommended and keep 'em coming Bryan Hall. show less

Creighton "Crate" Northgate has been seeing ghosts for some time. He moves around a lot, helping folks with their ghost problems, although Crate hints that there's more to it than that.

As Crate says, "...a lot of spirits seemed to want something, or need a little help moving on to the next plane, and he had...talents in that department."

The Girl is Amy, daughter of Tom Lee and his wife Margie and sister of Angie. She's been gone for two years and Tom see's his daughter frequently. Mostly out show more by the woods. Margie has never seen her and Angie isn't saying anything on the subject.

The premise for these stories is rather simple and yet Hall is skilled at moving his characters through each step in the discovery process. Much like a good police procedural, there are false leads and the reader is kept guessing to the end.

The scene with the big discovery is rich with description, leaving just enough to our imagination, but the discovery just leads to more questions. In addition to helping his clients get answers and hopefully helping the occasional ghost move on, Crate remains haunted by his own brother, Martin, who had died 15 years ago.

Given the subject matter, I still find it easy to suspend my disbelief. These tales in The Southern Hauntings Saga have a ring of truth to them, making them that much more enjoyable.

The Girl is a beautiful, self-contained, ghost story, but is just a part of Southern Hauntings Saga which started with The Vagrant. Each story works well on it's own and both are available now from Angelic Knight Press through Amazon.com. For more on Bryan Hall you can visit his website at www.bryanhallfiction.com. show less