The Haunting Of James Hastings

Like an earlier reviewer I bought this book after reading a review in a news paper. It starts in classic haunted house tradition with a greiving widower trying to make sense of the loss of his wife in a hit and run accident in the lane outside their beautiful home a year ago. A new neighbour moves in and before long James Hastings finds himself attracted to her. But is this because he likes Annette for herself, or because he is increasingly reminded of his late wife Stacey, and sees echoes of her in his new would-be partner.There are eerie elements to this book which are superbly written, to the extent that you feel you are walking next to James as he tries to pin point the source of strange noises and incidents within his house.But sadly, IMO, the conclusion of the book is so confusing that, despite re reading the last chapters several times, I am still not entirely sure that I understand the full story. In fact, I became increasingly frustrated as I neared the end and, rather than 'eager to finish', I considered just putting the book aside.I am glad I finished it but readers in search of a good ghost story should take on board the opening sentences which state "this is not a Ghost story". It is a thriller with supernatural hints, but not the old fashioned ghost story that the earlier chapters promise and it ultimately owes much of its content to Stephen King's masterpiece 'Misery'.

James Hastings is the body double for a famous white rapper called Ghost. When his wife Stacy dies in a hit and run, Hastings quits his lucrative post luring away obsessive fans and the tabloid press to allow the real Ghost some post-concert space and safety.Alone in the house he shared with his wife he begins to hear, feel and see his ghostly wife around the house. Shortly afterwards his next-door neighbour dies and a woman moves in who reminds him of his late wife; but reminds him not just superficially. For his new neighbour looks, dresses and talks like his late wife too, and then appears to develop the same psychological problems as well. Hastings is hooked and begins an affair with her. But is Annette really manifesting the spirit of his dead wife trying to communicate with him, or does she have another agenda?It's an eerie premise and has the makings of a great tale, however as the book moves onwards it becomes somewhat incoherent. Just because the lead character and his new fling are both suffering from incoherent thoughts, there's no need for the actual book to be jumbled and chaotic as well, but this is unfortunately what happens. As James struggles to separate his own identity from Ghost's while also trying to separate Annette's from Stacy's, the later introduction of new characters and twists to the plot creates an unresolved tangle of options leaving the reader somewhat confused as to what's actually happened. Perhaps it's supposed to be like that - but for me the book got bogged down with a crisis of identity - both in terms of its own genre, and the characters within.

I absolutely loved this book. Ransom is a bit hit and miss, but he knocked this one out of the park. It had me guessing the whole way through, and the ending is extremely well done, leaving it down to the reader to decide for themselves exactly what was going on, but not in a way that cops out. It's creepy, well written and a blast to read.

Quite good but gets very confusing towards the end. Not one of his best

Tried to read this a few times but could not get more than a few chapters in .Hard to read boring & very disappointing havingread the people next door and loved it. save your money

really enjoyed this book although I had to re-read a few pages closer to the end, a real page turner

Brilliant read, can't wait for more, love the books by Christopher ransom

Great book