A Manhattan Ghost Story

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A quest that is futile, pitiable, and manic. A quest doomed to failure.

Wright's haunting world of pain and loss, redemption and heartache, is as steeped in the banality of the everyday as it is electrically charged with the dead. His characters, and the world visited, is neither one nor the other, but both. Wright's Manhattan is full of dead folk who don't realize it, and members of the living who may as well be dead; many are already dead emotionally and spiritually if not physically. Love-- that central theme in Wright's work -- is shown with the same terrifying honesty as a cemetery plot, honestly; love is as much a funeral shroud and beast as it is ecstasy, obsessive and destructive, hungry and fulfilling.

Capable of cutting into the soul no less harsh than a razor splitting skin. All this makes Wright's frightening, fatalistic fables undeniably, painfully human. His characters mirror the authenticity and emotional overflow of Edgar Wallace's prose-poems while going still further into secret stories of lives lived, lost, and regretted. As often as classic revenants stalk street and dream, the primary specters of this novel masterpiece not only of genre but American literature are guilt and regret -- internal phantoms that cripple the presents of people unable to free themselves from the past.

Broken futures and broken promises share the stage with broken hearts. Review by William P Simmons From its origins in oral folk belief and the quasi-religious story patterns of cross-comparative mythology, to its subsequent refinement as written literature an art form more concerned with refined emotional effect than the general story patterns of oral lore , the ghost story has long served as a symbolic vehicle which entertains while reflecting the apprehensions, secret desires, and nightmares of humankind, regardless of age or era. Elsewhere in infinity plus: I was looking for a creepy read.

Not a love story that lacked any substance. Feb 28, Dharia Scarab rated it liked it Shelves: I've read a couple books by this author and at the end I have the same things to say about both, they were weird. I wouldn't call it horror, but I suppose anything involving ghosts gets lumped into that category.

A Manhattan Ghost Story

Started off interesting enough, but the the author jumps around a lot and seems to loose momentum half way through. The stories have lots of threads to them, but at the end of the book the author doesn't bother to tied them together and the reader is left to try to puzzle it out or assu I've read a couple books by this author and at the end I have the same things to say about both, they were weird. The stories have lots of threads to them, but at the end of the book the author doesn't bother to tied them together and the reader is left to try to puzzle it out or assume that it was just filler meant to extend the book.

The endings just drop off with no real resolution, and don't necessarily make sense in the context of everything that came before. I didnt dislike the books, they just felt unfinished.

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And as I said before, they were weird. Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future. This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author. This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP. I'm not sure how I felt about this book. I did like it, but it wasn't something worth raving about.

The story lead nowhere, and it was more of a love story than a ghost story. But even the relationship didn't really go anywhere. It wasn't that nothing happened, either. But none of it meant anything, except in I suppose some abstract way that I guess was a little too abstract for me and I just didn't get it. Nothing was resolved, and I felt like the protagonist spend a lot of time walking around I'm not sure how I felt about this book. Nothing was resolved, and I felt like the protagonist spend a lot of time walking around doing nothing.

I would probably give the author another shot, though. Apparently this story has a sequel, so maybe I'll try that one. Jul 13, Carol Phillips rated it it was ok. I was very disappointed in this book.

It is hard for me to believe that Stephen King is quoted as loving this book. There are so many typos that it is distracting from the story. I made the mistake of reading the description of the book and found that it gave away the plot.

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What is going on with the story is generally dull, flat and boring. Save your time and your money. Finished this pretty quick. It was a fast, easy read. I rather enjoyed the whole thing even though it left me feeling somewhat cheated.

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What was with the two of them in the morgue as kids? Was I missing something? And the minute Phyllis was introduced, you had to know it all. All-in-all, a thoroughly enjoyable read even though I guessed it within the first few pages. A Manhattan Ghost Story is like M. James for a different time and place. Ripe storytelling and at a bargainous price, it is definitely on my buy soon list.

Read the full ebook Sample Reader review here. Jul 02, BJ Haun rated it did not like it Shelves: Wasn't really digging the writing in this one from the get go. Then it goes and does one of the things that will get me to put down a book, which is view spoiler [having a sex scene before it feels like the plot has been established. Like, no, seriously, if you can't get me to care about these characters before you have them sleep with each other, chances are this isn't the book for me hide spoiler ].

May 06, A. Wright's voice, especially the endless repetitions.

www.farmersmarketmusic.com: A Manhattan Ghost Story eBook: T. M. Wright: Kindle Store

The tale didn't scare me, and I felt cheated. I wish he'd revealed that he was becoming one of the ghosts. That would've made the story a success for me. Jul 04, D. Williams rated it liked it. Interesting book, I liked the curious story and having to figure out how the characters fit in. I cant say I will ever recommend this book, and I'm not really sure if I liked it or not?

I need to read other works by the artist for comparison. Bored I was reading and reading a woman looks at a house taking pictures talk to town people about a haunted I was waiting for anything to just happen that's when I decided that was enough. Abler becomes cursed with the awareness of the dead 'living' in the city. Mar 07, Cindy Smith rated it it was ok. Jul 06, Deborah rated it did not like it.

I only finished it because I kept expecting an exciting twist, it had to get better. Irritated I could have read a good book with my time. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. The reader agrees to suspend disbelief and the writer agrees not to deliver the goods, which involves a pay-off for the clues and something that makes sense.

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If the author is going to troll an incest subplot or a detective subplot, it ought to have some connection to the resolution of the story and not just be filler. This is the "Chekhov's Gun" rule: If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there. Ultimately, there were too many guns hanging all over the place for me to uncritically suspend my disbelief. Also, I didn't like Abner or any of the other characters who, honestly, were there just to move along the plot at key moments. I tended to agree with Abner's editor that he was a weird jerk, and I knew what he was going through.

On the other hand, the story did have a nice atmospheric quality.

At times, it did deliver the "ghost chills. I was excited to begin the book after reading the glowing reviews. The excitement didn't last very long. I felt as though I was reading the journal of deranged person who just kept repeating themselves. The writer literally does repeat certain phrases ; phrases that I guess are supposed to represent some deep meaningful truths about life. I thoroughly disliked all the characters in the book, living and dead.

And the dead were not frightening nor worthy of my interest in how they "live" after dying. How our dear Abner didn't realize right away who the deaders were as opposed to the living was just one more clue as to how terribly clueless he is. Happy ending or sad? How about no ending at all. I knew I was there only because there were no more pages to turn. And that left me feeling just as I had all through the story. One person found this helpful. Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase. I very much enjoyed "A Manhattan Ghost Story" from the very first page.

It was around page that it began to lose me. The story focuses on Abner Cray, a photographer that comes to New York City to work on a book and winds up falling in love with a woman he meets in the apartment he is subletting from a friend. As he wanders the city he finds unusual things from out of a nightmare, and begins to learn that his new love may not be what he thinks.

Wright has a wonderful, engaging style of writing, the sort of style that reads quickly and keeps you turning the page to see what happens next. The problem is that you still feel that way after the last page. There's no sense of conclusion to the book. You don't get a feeling of resolution for Abner, you only get a hint of resolution for Art, and subplots about the deaths of his parents, estrangement from his family and a superfluous subplot about an incestuous relationship with his cousin never go anywhere at all.

At the ending you get a feeling that the writer intended the book to have an unresolved feeling, implying that's how life and death is, but instead I was just left unsatisfied. Wright's style is good enough to make me interested in reading some of his other works this is the first book of his I've read , but if the second one doesn't give me a more fulfilling read than this, there probably won't be a third.

Abner decides to live in his friend's apartment for a small rent payment while he is in Manhattan and discovers a sexual and very strange woman living in the apartment and begins a relationship with her at the same time he realizes that he has the ability to communicate with the dead. The story does not make you fear the dead. The only thing I feared in reading this is he wouldn't get to keep his relationship with Phyllis.

It does leave a little on what feels like a cliffhanger and that is somewhat frustrating, no doubt he meant it to be a serial. This is, without question, one of the weirdest novels I've ever read. And not in a good way. Despite the title, it's not a ghost story in the conventional sense. I can't go into more detail than that without spoiling the alleged "plot.

And the ending falls flat. I'm giving "AMGS" two stars because the first half of the book is at least mildly intriguing. But anyone who makes it that far can expect to be disappointed by its conclusion. What a strange story, but strange can be good, and in this case it was. There were times when I was a little confused, and times when I was a little more confused, but I have to say that this was a well written book. It held my interest, and actually was a page turner.

I would recommend this book. I think you'll enjoy it. This book did have some places that were ok but, things were repeated over and over again. Most of the book was boring but it was also confusing, I had a hard time finishing the book.

I do hope you all remember this is my opinion so if you feel you still want to read the book I hope you enjoy it. See all 43 reviews. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers.

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