The Hungry Ghost
Paperback| Kindle
By Dalena Storm
Publisher: Black Spot Books
Release date: June 11, 2019

Samantha, “Sam” to her friends, is at a crossroads in her life. Having recently divorced her husband Peter, she’s trying to find who she is as a 30-something college writing instructor in the Boston area. Her brother is happily married with two children and the only inkling of romance going for Sam is Madeleine, a six-years-younger former student who has taken a shine to her for reasons Sam cannot fathom.

But none of these questions will matter soon when Sam winds up in a coma after a vicious car accident leaves her clinging to life.

At the same time, a very hungry ghost is wandering around the netherworld wanting nothing more than to escape… and eat… a lot. So when the ghost sees the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel,” it jumps at the opportunity to get out. Even if that means occupying the comatose body of Sam.

As soon as the ghost-inhabited Sam wakes up, a young runt kitten is born to the owner of a used cat emporium. And its mannerisms are decidedly not feline.

Admittedly, it sounds like an odd concept, at least insofar as the publisher’s synopsis goes (see below). I wasn’t too terribly taken by the description at all. But The Hungry Ghost is, in fact, a very well-written, albeit quick, emotional thriller. The characters are well fleshed out and you become attached to them in very short order, even the ones that are clearly “bad.” The coolest thing, IMHO, is that Dalena Storm has crafted a visually believable and relatable setting and events without getting too flowery with her language and descriptions. I really appreciated her writing style and it made this book a page turner for me.

From the Publisher:

A hungry ghost escapes from a dark realm into the human world, where it enters the unconscious body of a woman named Sam. When Sam appears to miraculously awaken from her accident-induced coma, her lesbian lover, alcoholic ex-husband, and well-meaning family must come together to try and stop the ghost from devouring everything Sam once loved. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Boston, a mysterious new kitten has just been born who holds the key to understanding what has happened to Sam. Will Sam’s loved ones be able to put things back in their proper place, or will the ghost destroy them first?