cover image The Ghost in Love

The Ghost in Love

Jonathan Carroll. Blackstone Audiobooks, $29.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-4332-4870-2

Bearing a striking resemblance to David Koepp's 2008 Ricky Gervais screen comedy Ghost Town, Carroll's novel features a man who finds himself with an otherworldly companion when he fails to die after hitting his head on a curb. The ghost falls in love with the man's wife, but not before the man realizes that he's only alive because he has stolen powers from the gods of the world. Ray Porter's awkward reading makes this unusual story even stranger. Porter's characters-be they dogs, humans or ghosts-have bizarre voices that sound like transvestite showgirls backstage before the big show. The result is laughable as well as uncomfortable. A Farrar, Straus & Giroux hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 4).