Book Review: Ghosts of Gotham by Craig Schaefer

About:

Ghosts of Gotham by Craig Schaefer is a novel taking place in present day New York City, involving a search for a missing manuscript by Edgar Allen Poe in a hidden world of magic and magical creatures. Mr. Schaefer has wrote several books which deal with the supernatural and the occult.

• 445 pages
• Publisher: 47North
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1542043999

 

My rating for Ghosts of Gotham – 4
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Thoughts:

Reading the description for this book it seems to be right up my alley including books about books (who doesn’t love those?), magic, and an interesting premise. With these high hopes, I was glad that Ghosts of Gotham by Craig Schaefer actually did deliver.

While the manuscript is a small part of the story, simply meant to drive the plot forward and an excuse to join up some characters, it was still a worthy idea and well executed. New York City, written in a way which reminds me of the grim noir novels, is a perfect setting for the dark forces at work, as well as the personal trauma the protagonists of this story go through. While I read better books that deal with the magical aspect of their respective worlds, I thought that the characters were written very well and helped tremendously to drive the plot forward and tell the story.

How Lionel Page, a public figure, managed to stay hidden all these years after what has happened to him as a child, becoming a minor macabre celebrity was the biggest plot hole for me, but didn’t really take away much of the enjoyment from the book. The magical / witching aspect was a fun side, but even without it the book would have been a wonderful mystery, even if it just followed Edgar Allan Poe’s strange manuscript.

This novel was a lot of fun to read, a tongue-in-cheek madness with fun characters and narrative. The climax is predictable, but did not detract from my enjoyment.

Synopsis:

Lionel Page, a journalist, is making a name for himself exposing con men, specializing in those promising miracles, through G-d or otherwise, as well as psychics. Lionel is hired by an elderly, and very wealthy, woman to track down a valuable manuscript by Edgar Allen Poe.

Finding himself in New York City, Lionel meets Maddie, another lost soul trying to get away from her past. Together Lionel and Maddie team up to an adventure which changes Lionel’s perspective on the world as he knows it, as well as his own life.

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More Books by Craig Schaefer *

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account