Ghosts of Gotham

by Craig Schaefer

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Ghosts of Gotham through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ghosts of Gotham is a unique and peculiar read, written by Craig Schaefer. The novel follows an investigative reporter, but not the kind you’re used to. Lionel Page specializes in debunking the supernatural. Have a guy claiming to be a faith healer? Lionel will be there, and he’ll prove just how fake that guy is. Have a cult that needs to get outted? He’ll take care of it.
I went into Ghosts of Gotham expecting it to be a series of Lionel busting the fake supernatural, but instead I found myself reading a much larger mystery. One that I’m sure that Lionel was not prepared for.
Ghosts of Gotham is a blending of many of my favorite things. It’s a paranormal thriller first and foremost. But it also has a dash of horror, some of the classic investigative journalism I expected, some romance, and so much more.


Ghosts of Gotham was a fun and fascinating read, with a specialty in showing us a world through an eerie lens. It was incredibly well written, and I was captivated from start to finish.
I went into Ghosts of Gotham expecting one thing, and ended up getting so much more. This was a spine-tingling read at times. Other times I enjoyed trying to piece together the mystery alongside the main characters.
There were moments where you could see, without a shadow of a doubt, where Lionel’s lack of exposure to the world was going to cost him. That may sound like a bad thing, but for me it just meant that Craig Schaefer was writing in a believable manner. We saw Lionel getting set up to be taken advantage of (or rather, being set up to make a deal with the proverbial devil), but obviously we’re not Lionel. Who’s to say that we wouldn’t have made that call, had we been in his shoes?
Seeing it happen did help me become more attached to his character fairly early on, and honestly I’ll confess more than an idle curiosity about his backstory that he was so desperate to hide. That along would have been a strong enough hook to keep me reading. But of course there was even more thrown into the mix, ensuring that I’d read the whole book cover to cover as quickly as possible.
Actually, I enjoyed this book so much that I honestly sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting. And no, it wasn’t a book short enough to do so easily. It was just that enthralling.
In particular I loved the Edgar Allen Poe hat tip. It added a whole new tone to the novel, and honestly I just couldn’t wait to see where that was going to lead. Also, I’m not ashamed to confess that before the book finished the introduction of Edgar Allen Poe’s mysterious works, I went and did a quick search to learn more about any missing works. Just out of curiosity more than anything else.
I’ll be curious to see if they turn this novel into a series. I could very easily see it going either way. It’d work as a standalone, but likewise they’ve developed a world that could be interesting to return to once again. I guess I’ll wait and see what happens with it.

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