cover image The Ghost Box

The Ghost Box

Mike Duran. Blue Crescent, $12.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-9909077-1-8

Magnificent mayhem ensues when hard-boiled PI and tabloid reporter Reagan Moon meets things he really cannot explain away in Duran’s (Subterranea) delicious urban fantasy novel. The paranormal is Moon’s stock in trade, though usually he’s fairly cynical about the fantastical stories he peddles to the denizens of modern-day Los Angeles. Once he’s offered the opportunity to find out what really happened to his deceased girlfriend, however, his skepticism is challenged in ways that he couldn’t have imagined. Shadowy conspiracies jostle the wondrous world of the weird in an effort to get his attention—or kill him trying. A myriad of mythological detail is wrapped in Moon’s occasionally self-deprecating humor, and he embodies the sort of charm that lets adorable 10-year-olds get away with mayhem. Moon’s transformation, from hard-edged cynic to a man with morals and a mission, transcends schlock to tug the reader’s heartstrings. This madcap tale flashes through highs and lows en route to a shamelessly and lovably over-the-top conclusion. (BookLife)