The Ghost Man by Michael J. McCann

The Ghost Man
by Michael J. McCann
Saga Books, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-897512-21-0
Trade Paperback
286 pages
Supernatural Thriller

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After Simon Guthrie’s car crash kills his wife and leaves him seeing ghosts everywhere, he decides an isolated home in the country is the countermeasure his ruined life requires. But it’s not so easy to leave a high society life behind. And he’s about to learn that his new abilities are even more persistent. Eight days in October are going to prove to Simon, and everyone else within his sphere of influence, that not only do ghosts exist, but evil isn’t just a societal invention or a philosophical idea. A door to hell has opened, and no one is going to like what’s come out.

The Ghost Man opens with a scene right out of Poltergeist, and it keeps moving along at a nice pace. You’ll also recognize more than a nod to The Exorcist. Yet, Michael McCann’s novel is uniquely his own. His ghosts, for example, don’t play. They can be seen, if they want to be; will damage your home if you don’t pay attention; and kill you if you get in the way. And his demon? McCann creates a truly scary adversary who isn’t going to lose what he’s after without leaving a slew of casualties as he passes through Simon Guthrie’s life.

I liked the pace of The Ghost Man, and I ran into just one sentence that pulled me out of the story. McCann writes well. Dialogue is nicely balanced with well-honed descriptive passages. His characters are fully developed for the roles they play. And I also enjoyed the little bits of Canadiana he worked into the story.

There was only one thing I didn’t like about The Ghost Man: it was the inclusion of the white wolves. While being unique props, the wolves are never explained in an adequate fashion, nor do they play a crucial role in the story. Did the author expect the reader to just accept them because one character says in an offhand manner that they are there to help? Writing doesn’t work this way: readers want all their questions answered by the time they get to the last page. If this doesn’t happen, they are often left with a nasty feeling that something was missing.

I don’t believe the above-mentioned error spoils the novel. As I’ve mentioned, I enjoyed the story. Just remember, Mr. McCann, readers are sometimes harder on an author than the critics. They are, after all, paying to be entertained.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009