Book reviews
This review is spoiler-free, as any plot points discussed can be learned from reading the inside of the book jacket.
When Morgan Chalfant messaged me to ask if I would read a copy of his novel and write a review of it I almost threw my phone across the room. I knew that he had a couple of books published but I didn’t know much about them other than the genre. Urban fantasy. For reasons I can’t explain, the words “urban fantasy” did nothing for me. I assumed the book in question, Ghosts of Glory, would probably be a bunch of overly-buff god-like dudes running around with their shirts ripped open, fighting over girls with boobs too big to leave any room for personality. Don’t ask me why this was the picture my brain supplied in connection to urban fantasy. I don’t understand how my brain works. Because of this preconceived notion, I avoided answering him for a few days. In the meantime, I tried to find someone with a copy I could borrow. My plan was to read the book without telling him. That way, if it was terrible, I could tell him that I was too busy to read it and then I could anonymously write a scathing review, warning potential readers away from it. As usually happens, my plan didn’t work, so I finally just agreed to read the book. Morgan sent me a digital copy, I downloaded it onto my laptop, and then I ignored it. I let it just sit on my computer for probably three months before I decided to just suck it up and read the thing. This is the part where I confess to all of you that I am, in fact, an idiot. Let that sink for a moment. Got it? Great. Moving on. Ghosts of Glory does not fit into my ridiculous idea of urban fantasy. Well, in all fairness, there was some hunky shirtlessness, but I’m not one to complain about that. The plot follows Jersey “The Brawler” Romero as he struggles to restore the city of Glory to its former...well, glory. Unfortunately, darker forces are at work, thwarting Jersey’s every attempt to save the city and her people. Despite having the Spirit of Glory on his side, Jersey isn’t the man he once was and he is constantly plagued by doubts in his own ability to succeed in his mission. This book has so many of the things I love: creepy cult leaders, supernatural creatures, destroyed cities with seedy underbellies, backstabbing, betrayal, sex scenes that further the plot rather than serve as unnecessary filler between poorly-written drivel (come on, we all know what book I’m talking about), and mythology references. All of these are right in my wheelhouse (especially the creepy cult leader thing, which definitely doesn’t make me weird), and Ghosts of Glory masterfully weaves all of them throughout the novel. So, even though I’m a little upset that Morgan’s book caused me to be wrong about something for the first time ever, I’m still going to go ahead and recommend it. If you enjoy dark stories about anti-heroes in need of redemption they may not deserve, Ghosts of Glory by Morgan Chalfant is right up your alley. But, you know, it’s probably a dark alley, so take a flashlight. And maybe some mace.
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Jacinta M. CarterProfessional Book Nerd Archives
March 2017
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