Official Review: Conversations With A Ghost

[Tanaya]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Conversations With A Ghost" by James Hart, David Hart (Editor).]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Conversations with a Ghost is a novel by James Hart with David Hart. The story centers on Michael Lane. He’s a few years shy of being fifty and has yet to get his life in order. He dreams about being a famous pianist via his alter ego, Johnny Jones. In reality, he works as a piano tuner at Cory & Sons Pianos and Organs. He’s constantly on the verge of being fired. As a twist of fate, he is presented with the rare opportunity to meet Alonso Gillonti, a world-renowned pianist. After hearing Mike play the piano, Alonso encourages Mike to practice more and refine his skills. As for the title of the book, Mike starts to hear a voice whispering in his ear. He believes the voice is his guardian angel. The story follows Mike as he forms new friendships and attempts to turn his life around.

There are several dream sequences throughout the story that are well crafted. There are also many references to Mike’s past. All of these moments add meaning to the story and Mike’s character. Told in the third person, the story mostly follows Mike’s perspective. However, Mike is not present in all of the scenes, such as when there is a phone call between two other characters. Because of Mike’s dreams and his guardian angel, there is a very psychological nature to the story that many readers would enjoy.

Mike’s characterization is complex and develops gradually throughout the story. He loved his mother dearly, and she inspired his love of music. Unfortunately, she died when he was thirteen, leaving his father to take care of him. Mike has hated his father ever since. For thirty-four years, Mike has been wasting his life and not taking his love for music seriously enough. He resents his job and lacks the proper motivation to succeed. He has to decide to live, not simply exist. The minor characters also have distinguishable personalities. Alice, the receptionist at Cory & Sons, is known as a goody two shoes. At the same time, she’s not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself. Like Mike, most of the characters have complicated family situations.

A critical issue with the book is the many grammatical errors. Sometimes Mike’s name is not capitalized. The word “than” is often used when it should be “then.” In many cases, a comma is placed where it doesn’t belong, creating unnecessary pauses. The book would benefit from careful editing to correct such errors. They seemed minor at first but eventually became distracting.

Besides the issue of grammar, there were certain aspects of the story that just didn’t work well. For instance, there was a love-at-first-sight storyline dropped into the plot that wasn’t as compelling as it was intended to be. The romance develops far too quickly without believable substance. The beginning of the book was strong and created a lot of high expectations. There were many paths the plot could have taken. Some choices that were made as the story progressed were disappointing.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. As mentioned, the book needs careful editing. I also don’t think the story went in the best possible direction. Even so, the story had great messages about the power of forgiveness and following your dreams. The in-depth exploration of these themes was the best aspect of the book. If ghosts and spirits aren’t your thing, then this isn’t the book for you. I’d recommend this book to those who enjoy stories that mix the supernatural with the everyday.

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Conversations With A Ghost
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[gali]

Sounds good! Thank you for the lovely review.

[Ironhart]

Hello, this is David Hart. Just wanted to thank you for your 3 star review and to apologize for the grammatical errors you experienced. After I first submitted the book for review months ago I noticed several grammatical errors that still needed to be fixed. After re-editing it several other issues arose, one of those issues being the death of my uncle and author, James Hart. Last month, once things settled down again I tried to make sure that I uploaded the latest re-edited version but now I am not so sure it got through.

I just went through my final version of the book looking for the Capitalization of the main characters name, Michael, and did not find any instances of his name not Capitalized. Again, my apologizes for you apparently not receiving the re-edited version. I will look through the book this weekend for possible changes to the usage of than/then that may have been missed and maybe see about getting it reviewed again.

Thank you again for the 3 star review.

David Hart

[Ursula_Minor]

Neat. Does the reader also believe that the voice is Mike's guardian angel? Just from reading your review it seems like two alternate readings are immediately possible: the voice is someone/thing else (eg: a ghost), which would be very creepy; the voice is a sign of schizophrenia, or another mental illness (which would be complicated, and possibly very sad). What was your impression?

[Kappy]

Excellent review. And kudos to the author for graciously accepting constructive criticism.

[Tanaya]

@Ursula_Minor Great question! It does become clear eventually who the voice belongs to. The reader figures it out long before the protagonist does, which was an interesting way to go with it. But he doesn't have a mental illness. The other characters also believe it's his guardian angel. Everyone in the book is really accepting of the idea. It's a bit more complicated than simply being a guardian angel, however, but that is what they believe it to be for the most part.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Hey, I believe in angels.

Great review! Mr. Hart, you should hang out on the writer's forum to figure out easy solutions for then/than and capitalization search & find functions. Sorry, I'm falling asleep now. I love your concepts of angels and dream sequences.

[bluemel4]

Wonderful review and critique! The book sounds like it has a lot of promise. Great job.

[Tanaya]

Thanks, everyone and good luck to the editor. While I didn't agree with all the choices made in the middle of the book, the beginning and ending were both so very strong and I loved the themes that the story explores. When the book is a bit more polished, it'll be even better than it already is.

[LivreAmour217]

Thanks for a well-written review! The story sounds interesting, but it's a shame about the grammatical errors. Editing is so important!

[Tanaya]

I've noticed that even with books on here that have editors credited to them, I still end up finding errors in the book. My eye has become so trained to spot them.

[LivreAmour217]

I've noticed that even with books on here that have editors credited to them, I still end up finding errors in the book. My eye has become so trained to spot them.

Yes, I've noticed that too! Makes me wonder if they are professional editors or frauds taking advantage of new authors. I've also wondered if some authors have a friend look the book over and then credit him/her as the editor.

[Tanaya]

Ooh...I hadn't considered those last two possibilities. I just gave them the benefit of the doubt and figured everyone makes mistakes. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if your theories were true.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

This book sounds like something right up my alley. Thanks for a very enjoyable review Tanaya!

[Tanaya]

Glad to hear it!