The Spirit Chaser Review

Some places are too evil. Some places should be left alone.

Austin Cole has it made. Star of the hit television show Spirit Chaser Investigations, he has become the world’s most famous paranormal investigator. Although hard work, a talented investigation team, and favorable genetics have something to do with it, it’s his lack of fear and willingness to take risks no one else will that make Spirit Chaser Investigations cable’s number-one show. When a ghost-hunt-gone-wrong seriously injures his best friend and lead psychic, Austin is forced to find a replacement for a team member he considers irreplaceable.

Casey Lawson can’t catch a break. She’s been on her own since she turned eighteen and is scraping by as a part-time psychic and cashier at a New Age store. When a desperate Austin Cole calls her up and offers her a position on his team, has her fortune finally changed?

He’s a control freak; she’s stubborn and opinionated. It takes time, but when they finally realize they’re working on the same side, everything clicks, both on and off screen.

Just when things are looking up, a new threat emerges. Over the years, Austin has angered plenty of demons, and one of them has set her sights on him. Now he’s the one in danger, and it’s up to the team to rescue him from the riskiest investigation of their lives. – Goodreads Synopsis

–S&S–

The Spirit Chaser by Kat Mayor is an amazing book. I’m not sure if I can communicate how amazing it is through a review. So just know that as I type this, I’m bouncing in my chair, and I’ve already told three people in person about the book this morning before I even had a chance to sit down at my computer. When I first laid eyes on it, and read the blurb, I thought “Eh, horror romance…this basically never works out well.” But, still, I was in the mood for something ‘light’, so I decided to give it a try. Well, I absolutely adored the book, but ‘light’ is not something you can describe The Spirit Chaser as.

This book is a stay up half the night reading, cross yourself even if you’re an atheist (trust me, I know!), and doubt your sanity for continuing to read it so close to going to sleep. Then, after you’re done, you lay awake another hour longer, staring at the walls, thinking about the ending and very much not feeling tired at all because you’re too disturbed to go to sleep.

Austin Cole isn’t the typical fare for a demonic possession. First, he’s a dude. It seems like ninety percent of the time, possessions (in books and movies at least!) tend to happen to females or little kids. Second, he’s strongly religious. Again, most of the time it seems like it’s people who have no / little faith that become the targets of possession. Or their religious standing just isn’t mentioned at all. Finally, he’s a clean-eating, non-drinking good guy who hunts ghosts not simply because it’s interesting. Also because it gets good ratings which puts more money in his pocket. So, basically “Control” Cole is the absolute last person you would expect to be targeted for possession. His team includes a Buddhist, a Native American Shaman, an ex priest, and a psychic. His team is tight, and he’d do almost anything for any of them. Almost.

Kat Mayor plays with your head and your emotions in this book. She sets up an incredible group of people with strong relationships that you adore. She gives you creepy sequences in haunted house that have you totally in the book, rooting for the camera crew. She gives you a female lead that is so mouthy and fun that you want to be her, even if she does see dead people. The tension between her and Austin at first is amusing (if typical). However where things really get good is after she and Austin get together. The conversations after intercourse are hilarious. At one point, I put down the book and texted a friend with the words “Oh, my god. A romance book where the “adult interactions” aren’t mind-boggling good for both of them right off the bat!”

Then, when things go south, you feel yourself hurting for them. You can’t help it. As the book built to a climax, I got more and more disturbed. To the point that I actually did think “Should I be reading this right now?”, but as I’m sure my fellow bookworms can relate… sometimes, you just have to finish the book. Sleep will not happen until you find out how it ends.

Then, that ending. Holy crap, that ending! I could see like three different ways the author could have finished the book, and none of them ended up being the way she actually did finish it! I stared at the last page in disbelief, and pushed the ‘turn page’ button on my Kindle in a futile gesture to make the story have just a few more pages. I can’t believe she ended it like she did! That’s horrible, awful, no good, very bad…and absolutely freaking perfect.

Overall, The Spirit Chaser by Kat Mayor is the best possession book I’ve ever read. The romance and slight comedy elements to it just serve to make it even more disturbing and engrossing in the end. The only problem I had is I wasn’t a huge fan of the occasional crude language. That’s it. This is a fantastic book that you have to read if you like horror stories about possession. Just… maybe don’t read it right before bed. That’s kind of a bad idea if you’re easily spooked at all. At noon, on hallowed ground might be the best setting if you’re easily spooked (at least for the last half of the book). ….. I still can’t get over that ending. Wow.

Click here to get The Spirit Chaser now on Amazon. (Do it! Do it!)

I also interviewed the author after I wrote this The Spirit Chaser review. See that interview by clicking: here

The Spirit Chaser Review