Ghosts of Gotham

By: Craig Schaefer

Narrated by: Susannah Jones

Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Irresistibly drawn to mysteries, if only to debunk them, reporter Lionel Page exposes supernatural frauds, swindlers, and charlatans. His latest case is an obsession—at least for an ancient and wealthy heiress: verify the authenticity of a lost Edgar Allan Poe manuscript circulating through New York City’s literary underworld. But the shrewd Regina Dunkle offers more than money. It’s a pact. Fulfill her request, and Lionel’s own notorious buried past, one he’s been running from since he was a child, will remain hidden.

As Lionel’s quest begins, so do the warnings. And where rare books go, murder follows. It’s only when Lionel meets enigmatic stranger Madison Hannah, his personal usher into the city’s secret history, that he realizes he’s being guided by a force more powerful than logic…and that he isn’t just following a story. He is the story.

Now that the true purpose of his mission is revealing itself in the most terrifying ways, it may finally be time for Lionel to believe in the unbelievable.

©2019 Craig Schaefer. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“The writing is vivid and quick, and a romantic subplot sheds light on Lionel’s many dimensions as a protagonist, including his sharp wit. Dark fantasy readers, especially fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, will appreciate the complex world-building and layered mythologies. Schaefer is an author to watch for in this genre.”--Booklist

an unexpectedly good book!

I expected this to be some light distraction material but I ended up completely engaged with the story! it was fun with interesting things with great characters. I enjoyed it much more than I expected when I purchased it.

Over long and needlessly cryptic

“You’re either eating the steak or you are the steak.”
I loved the first third of this book, following Lionel the skeptic as he pursues a lost manuscript and finds a hidden world of magic and myth. But the tone and the pacing steadily wore me down.

The cover art and occult genre label had me expecting something along the lines of Constantine, but this felt like an adult version of Lightning Thief. There’s Greek mythology, which was mostly interesting. However, like many stories in that vein, there’s a lot of prophesies, hidden beings, and manipulation of characters for cryptic reasons. Why Lionel keeps putting himself in danger without understanding anything didn’t ring true.

“Do you routinely launch into lectures about the history of odd pieces of menswear?”
Then there’s the sweet, whispery narration. As much as I enjoyed the narrator for the author’s Harmony Black series, it felt wrong to have her narrate the male MC. Her fairy-soft voice also made this feel Great Gatsby-ish, like this should be set in the golden days of fedoras and molls, instead of in modern-day New York and Chicago, with guns and computers.

But what really kept this in good, but not great, territory for me was the pacing. It’s more than ten hours into the book before things start to come together. Even then, it’s not until the final hour when there’s a bunch of reveals and explanations that made the victory feel unearned. It was worth the sale purchase, but I’m not sure I’ll move on to book 2, which appears to be just as long, with the promise of more needlessly cryptic plots fomented by mercurial Greeks.

Very Interesting Book

My First Craig Schaefer book, and I enjoyed it. Lionel was very likable as well as Madison. Really hoping this continues as a series.
Narrator was very good, Will listen to this book again....soon

Good raed

Interesting lots of action and well read. Worth the time to listen to. Enjoyed it!

Good story great narrator

The story is fun but makes you question if Hecate is real then where is Zeus and the others. Best part the narrator. Her voice is smooth and pleasant. Enjoyable to listen too. Will be looking at other books she has done. Go with this one of you enjoy sci-fi. Fantasy or mythology this is a great series.

It was a surprising find

i usually am not a big fan of fantasy but this was a good find and I thoroughly enjoyed it. the voice was ok, but the story kept you gripped.

overall a very enjoyable book.

Good but the Narrator

The book was good, as usual, and there might be some interesting multiverse stuff CS is leading up to. A new take on his usual premise. but the main character is a guy and the narrator is a woman, and it hurts the immersion to be honest. The narrator has talent, but is not properly utilized in his recording I guess is what I'm saying.

One of my favorite books!

Ghosts of Gotham by Craig Schaefer and narrated by Susannah Jones is going in my favorite book of all time folder! I read the book and had to listen to the audible! Still awesome if not better!
It's just ...Wow, this book is extraordinary!
It is a cross of mythology, The Supernaturals, Alfred Hitchcock, and a mash of every horror show I've seen. So many twists and surprises that I gave up on trying to figure it out and just held on and rode this wild ride to the end! Nothing is as it seems! No one is who they say they are...
Ghouls, goddess, an old Poe manuscript, magic, cults, witches, and beings unknown. I loved every page! It is so tightly thought out. The characters are so real, so well developed. The suspense, the world building, the action, the mad genius of this novel is absolutely fabulous!
I don't want to tell anything about it, I would hate to give anything away. Just read it if you love a good fantasy with lots of magic, lots of mysteries, a touch of romance, and through it all, a happy ending!

Another that starts with with a bang but fizzles.

This was a weird one. It started out really strong and seemed like there was going to be good tension between the two main characters, as one is a myth buster and one is a "real witch." Instead the skeptic gets completely bowled over and acts as if the witch is the entire center of the universe in a really lack luster romantic relationship. The whole "evil witch boss" issue got really stale as the plot for that never went anywhere. I stopped with about 2 or 3 hours left and that still hadn't moved along.

Awesome twist.

This book starts a bit slow, but the ending is well worth reading to completion. The characters are down to earth and the overall experience is very immersive.