Sparrow Hill Road

Ghost Stories, Book 1

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross - a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn't ask Rose what she thought of the idea.

It's been more than sixty years since that night, and she's still sixteen, and she's still running.

They have names for her all over the country: The Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by "Rose", a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what's his. She's the angel of the overpass, she's the darling of the truck stops, and she's going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it's not like it can kill her.

You can't kill what's already dead.

©2014 Seanan McGuire (P)2014 Tantor

A Series of Interconnected Stories

The central character of this book is Rose Marshall. She's also known as the phantom prom date. She was killed in an accident in 1952 and since then has wandered the roads of this world and the spaces between. Sometimes she is helpful, sometimes she is not. But her world and the characters who inhabit her world paint and interesting picture of ghosts in America. While she does at time mention older creatures such as the Black Dog or Hellhound, most of the stories center around the American love of motor driven vehicles and the lore of the road.

Interesting book that should appeal to those who love urban fantasy. Probably wouldn't particularly appeal to hard core paranormal romance fans though. If you have to have a HEA tread carefully, although there isn't a cliff hanger at the end of this book. It appears to be the first in a series.

Narrator by Amy Landon. This is the first book by her I have listened to. She doesn't have the verve of Mary Robinette Kowal who reads the October Daye books, but she did keep me interested and entertained with no annoying mispronunciations or verbal tics.

Compelling

The Ghostly Hitchhiker is one of the most classic ghost stories of all time. It's certainly one of the first I heard as a kid. There's a lonely romance to the concept. Even though the story has seemingly endless variations, ultimately it stays the same, fixed as though trapped in amber. I'm never quite sure what brings me back to this kind of story, but whatever that unknown ingredient is, Seanan McGuire has tapped into it in a way that seems effortless. Following our Ghostly Hitchhiker, Rose, and her experiences on the ghost roads, this story is deceptively simple, beautifully written, and creeps into your heart and mind in a way that won't let go. There's an evanescence about it that haunts you, if you'll excuse the unintentional pun. At least, that's the effect it had on me. It's written as a series of encounters, like short stories, but similar to the interconnected webs of ghostly highway she walks, Rose's story becomes something far larger and more compelling than the sum of the parts.

This book is not a horror story. It's neither gory nor gratuitous. If you're looking for that, shoot for Clive Barker. This is the other end of the ghostly spectrum that addresses the human side of things. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would be sappy and probably turned into some cheesy teen movie. Some still might think it so, but I found it endearing and satisfying.

This is my first book from McGuire, and if it's anything to judge by, it won't be my last. Her writing style is lyrical without being excessive, the kind of thing that either comes naturally or not at all.

A narrative that floats freely as would a ghost

I was underwhelmed by this book. I am a huge fan of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series and the Newsflesh series she writes under the Mira Grant pseudonym, so I had high expectations. However, true to any good author, this book is stylistically very different from her other works. Unfortunately, it was not what I was hoping to find.

Don't get me wrong, the book is not a bad book at all. I am just really a fan of her action and intrigue based writing. This is definitely not that type of story. It is a bittersweet ghost stories that meanders and floats in a manner that is eerily evocative of a haunting.

I suspect some readers might have issue with the nonlinear narrative. I actually thought this was very clever and appropriate for a tale about ghost girl. I just wish there had been more action. A nice ghost tale here and there would have been nice, but it felt like the snippets got a tad old as I waited for the story to circle back to the point. Instead, things slowly swirled into a standstill with tendrils showing where things could go in another book.

As always with Ms. McGuire, the world was richly built, with a lot of thought and detail. Seriously, this woman is gifted in her fantasy imagination and the results always seem so vivid and real. This, more than anything else will probably see my return for the next book in the series.

Ate this up and it left me hungry for more

Where does Sparrow Hill Road rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This ranks among the top tier books I have listened to with audiobooks. I don't mentally rate things as "Top place" because each book has different top points, but this is darn near the top of most lists.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rose is my favorite character because she is wonderfully portrayed as a petulant teenager that has had a couple hard knocks, but still is swinging. Just don't get her started on food.

Which character – as performed by Amy Landon – was your favorite?

I can't pick a single character. Amy worked really hard to vocalize all of the characters to the point where you could 'feel' them.

If you could take any character from Sparrow Hill Road out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Rose...If nothing else to talk about food, and maybe about her traveling a bit. She might be caught at sixteen, but she's got a lot more wisdom that she's accumulated.

Any additional comments?

The only thing I can recommend is not to read this while hungry. This book will make it worse as Rose delves into how amazing cheeseburgers are.

Seanan McGuire now an autobuy

Any additional comments?

At this point I've found something enjoyable about every single book she has put out.
This one is no exception, I love Rose Marshall and she's up against a genuinely terrifying villain.

Best book ever!

You MUST get this book! OMG it was amazing! I LOVE it and you will too!

A true American ghost story.

Good narrator. Wonderful stories. I would like to hear more. The worldbuilding is breathtaking. Worth the listen. Perfect for road trips.

A Love Letter To The Highway (in a good way)

Would you consider the audio edition of Sparrow Hill Road to be better than the print version?

I could *not* get into this book in print, but the audio version transformed it into easily one of my favorite audiobooks of all time (out of about 160 I've listened to).

What did you like best about this story?

There's a beautiful romanticized nostalgia for an America never really existed, but we like to pretend that it did, underpinning the whole book. Seanan's writing and Amy Landon's narration transports the listener to a different world. A shadow world that rests just beneath the one we live in, and that stays with you long after you're done listening.

Which character – as performed by Amy Landon – was your favorite?

Easily Rose. The book is written in the first person, and Ms. Landon brings Rose to life in a way that made me feel like Rose was talking to ME personally, not just the faceless audience.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily, no. The book is really a collection of connected shot stories, and I loved that I could listen to as many or as few as I like, and pick things up again with ease.

That said, I pretty much did. Listening to it over the course of one day.

Great series of ghost stories compiled as a novel.

Is there anything that Seanan McGuire can't write, and write well? <em>Sparrow Hill Road</em> begins McGuire's take on ghosts.

There are legends of ghosts all over the country: The Girl in the Diner; The Phantom Prom Date; The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Though the stories have deviated and changed from the original tellings, they are all based on one story, one legend, one myth ... except that she isn't a myth. She's Rose Marshall and she died in 1952 in Michigan, at the sweet age of sixteen. She was killed by Bobby Cross - a former movie star who sold his soul to stay young forever. The catch is that he has to take life from the living in order to do it.

Rose escaped Bobby's clutches and now Bobby is trying to finish the job. It's been sixty years since Rose died and became a Road Ghost and she's determined not to let Bobby terminate her completely.

As with just about everything I've read from McGuire, she's a master at creating worlds with their own rules and sharing that world with the reader. Here we're in a shadow of our own world, traveling through time. This spirit world ... <em>these</em> spirit worlds ... have an incredible set of rules and McGuire helps us navigate those rules the way Bobby Cross navigates the roads.

In addition to her world-building, McGuire is just a great story-teller. Her characters (even her dead ones) seem so real; they feel like people you know (or want to know). Her stories build naturally and her way with words keeps you reading.

In her Special Edition Introduction, McGuire relates the story of how these Rose Marshall tales came to be. In essence this book is a collection of short stories that have been tied together to make it a novel. However, it still reads like a series of short stories despite the 'fix-up.' Still, I'd rather read a Seanan McGuire fix-up novel than most anyone else's work.

Narrator Amy Landon does a mostly fine job. Unfortunately her male characters all come across as Lenny-from-Of-Mice-and-Men stupid. At first I thought this was intentional character analysis but I later realized that when she tries to drop her voice to sound more masculine she tends to drag the dialog along, making her sound slow and dumb.

Looking for a good book? <em>Sparrow Hill Road</em> is a ghost novel by Seanan McGuire. By Seanan McGuire I said. That means it will surprise you and entertain you and you will be glad to have read it.

Good - not fabulous but definitely not terrible

I love love love Seanan McGuire! This book ended up being a good story but it took a while for me to get the groove. I totally get what the author was doing but, for me, the lead in was a bit long.