Yet another one of those paperbacks I purchased after reading the flyleaf. When I am in between releases from my favorite authors, I tend to pick up some filler to read while I wait for one of my regulars. The Dead Room was one such novel for me. It's also the first work I have read by Heather Graham.
An archaeologist named Leslie MacIntyre, barley survives an explosion that took the life of her fiancé. Since that time she has slowly come to terms with the loss of her love and the fact that in her brush with death, she gained the ability to communicate with ghosts. Leslie has returned to the site of the explosion to investigate a newly discovered old burial ground. The spirits that she comes in contact with, while on this dig, hold secrets of both the past incident and a current unsolved series of missing women cases. Leslie finds herself caught between helping the spirits gain closure and aiding the authorities in solving this series of crimes, putting herself directly in harm's way during the process.
I was intrigued by the book's theme, and its likeness to television shows like Ghost Whisperer or Medium. If you have enjoyed shows like either of these, then you really might also like this quick read. I managed to finish this book in about four evenings of reading before bed, two of which I stayed up way longer than I should have because I simply didn't want to put the book down.
I enjoyed the well-rounded characters and could easily picture real people that fit each of them. I could easily identify with the struggle of the main character to put the past behind her and find her own sense of closure. I also liked the stories of some of the spirits and felt they helped make Leslie's "gift" seem more real while I read. I really wasn't ready for the story to end and felt it was wrapped up just a little too quickly. I wouldn't have minded a little more.
If I am being my extremely picky self, there were a few cheesy elements to the storyline that I could have done without. I won't mention them here since I don't want to spoil the read for anyone else.
This book has gotten the full spectrum of reader reviews and I can see why. I just don't let the few minor negatives sway my overall opinion. I really did enjoy the story and was somewhat surprised by the ending. I don't think this will be the only novel I read from Graham. I liked this one enough to definitely check out some of her other stories.
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Released March 1, 2008
ISBN-13: 978-0778325208
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Comments: 43
I had the chance to meet Heather Graham at a writer's conference about five years ago. She's very nice and freely shared advice on how she develops characters and plots. She really puts a lot of work into it and it shows. I think her writing has also matured over the last couple of years.
I haven't read this one yet, but I will. Great review.
Cool that some of you know of this author. As I said, I never read her before this book. I'll have to read the summaries on some of her others and see what ones I'm interested in :)
The thing I look forward to most in the summer is garage sales. I buy up mass quantites of paperbacks and unbeatable prices. I'll be on the lookout for this one.
P.S. I answered your question about why I bought a Lunch Lady action figure. Could she be used in a geocache that ends at the location of an old school? But if she could you would have to buy your own. I'm keeping mine, hygienically sealed, so the mystery meat casserole stays in the package.
I will check it out.
It took a while to get into it and then I was not happy with the enddind.
Good review.