Description
Let's get this straight - ghosts are everywhere. And they're dangerous. This is why my family has hunted them for hundreds of years. The Marin family run a two-man operation in inner-city Melbourne. Anton has the ghost-sight, but his father does not. Theirs is a gentle approach to ghost hunting. Rani Cross, combat-skilled ghost hunter from the Company of the Righteous, is all about the slashing.
Anton and Rani don't see eye to eye - but with a massive spike in violent ghost manifestations, they must find a way to work together. And what with all the blindingly terrifying brushes with death, Anton must use his gap year to decide if he really wants in on the whole ghost-hunting biz . . .
Gap Year in Ghost Town is smart, funny and scary - with extra action and attitude.
Review
Eighteen-year-old Anton Marin doesn’t know what he wants to do now that he’s finished Year 12, but what he does know is that he doesn’t particularly want to follow in the family business. Unfortunately, Anton’s Dad has other ideas. The Marin’s are ghost hunters, and Anton is the last in their line; without him the centuries-old family legacy will die out. A compromise is reached, and Anton agrees to give ghost hunting a whirl for twelve months before starting University… if he survives.
Unluckily, it’s clear that there’s something nasty brewing in Melbourne’s ghostly underworld, and it might be more than Anton can handle by himself. When he’s attacked in Fitzroy Gardens, unexpected assistance comes in the form of Rani Cross: a sword-wielding member of the shadowy ghost hunting organisation the Company of the Righteous. Rani’s slice-and-dice method is at odds with the more holistic approach that has made the Marin family outcasts in the ghost hunting community, but in order to fight the coming storm they’ll have to learn how to work together.
Gap Year in Ghost Town is an enormously fun adventure story punctuated throughout with pop-culture references, whip-crack fast dialogue, a host of fascinating characters, and plenty of supernatural shenanigans. It’s perfect for readers aged 14+
Reviewed by Lian
