Review: GhosTV (PsyCop, #6) by Jordan Castillo Price, narrated by Gomez Pugh

For the past dozen years, Victor Bayne has solved numerous murders by interrogating witnesses only he can see—dead witnesses. But when his best friend Lisa goes missing from the sunny California campus of PsyTrain, the last thing he wants to find there is her spirit.

Disappearing without a trace in a school full of psychics? That’s some trick. But somehow both Lisa and her roommate have vanished into thin air. A group of fanatics called Five Faith has been sniffing around, and Lisa’s email is compromised.

Time is running out, and with no ghosts to cross-examine, Vic can’t afford to turn down any offers of help. An old enemy can provide an innovative way to track Vic’s missing friend, and he enters into an uneasy alliance—even though its ultimate cost will ensnare him in a debt he may never manage to settle.

Narrator: Gomez Pugh
Listening Length: 12 hrs 6 mins

Audiobooks - they have their pros and their cons as far as I'm concerned. They're in that strange middle ground between reading books and watching TV. I have to admit, an avid reader, I was slow to see the plus sides to audio stories. My children are HUGE audiobook fans but it was Stephen Fry and his wonderful narration of the Harry Potter stories that convinced me sometimes an author and narrator just go beautifully together. 

For this to happen (particularly if I've already read the book) - and it's a damn tricky line - the narrator needs to match the images I have already created in my head of the characters. Not an easy task, because I am infinitely certain that no two readers perceive characters and their nuances in the same way, in the same vein I imagine each reader reads each character differently from the author's own vision. For a narrator to capture the character I hear/see/read is a marvelous thing, and like Stephen fry, Gomez Pugh does it perfectly. To me his voice is Vic's, and that made listening to this fabulous story a wonderful experience.

This series is one of my favourites. I am especially drawn to Vic, he is so...normal. Well, for someone who sees ghosts. He has this strange mix of confidence and self deprecation that just wins me over. He's not pretentious, he's not a big buff *insert hero stereotype here*, he is just Vic. A man made up of his experiences, completely fallible, stupidly brave at times and - well just wonderful. I have  a huge not-so-secret crush on him.

In GhosTV, we see this strangely mixed up, yet utterly normal, bag of character traits at its finest.  Although I love his relationship with Jake, it is his interactions with the secondary characters that perhaps interest me the most. Crash is another favourite, and though he doesn't feature for the main of this story, the way he and Vic interact is so different from the dynamics of Vic and Jake (because Vic has Jake on a bit of a pedestal) that it helps fully round out Vic. Gives him more depth and dimension and let's us, the reader/listener, see more of him.

One character who is in this book a lot, who truly gives Vic another edge, is Dreyfus. I, like Vic, do not know whether to trust him or not. Vic blatantly doesn't - yet there is something there. The man spies on Vic, for his greater good. It creeps me out as much as it does Vic... yet his reasoning does make sense. UGH. Dreyfus just adds another layer to the whole psycop story, and his importance in this book is significant. Jordan Castillo Price knows how to write characters and a  great storyline and Gomez Pugh delivers it seemingly effortlessly.

I have to mention, hopefully without spoiling the storyline, a particular scene at the airport. I won't go into details, but I absolutely felt for Vic. His fear. his panic. I felt it when I read the story, when I listened to it though, Gomez Pugh made it even more real, I could feel my heart beating faster and Vic's fear lodged in my throat. THAT'S how you narrate a story.

I can't believe there are many people out there who've not tried this series; it is firmly one of my favourites and one I would highly recommend. I can say without hesitation as well, that this audio version is well worth listening too. Price and Pugh are like peanut butter and chocolate spread, they go amazingly well together. (Okay, I know over the pond the classic is peanut butter and jam jelly, but really I can't even stomach the thought of that combination. Sorry. PB with chocolate spread though... it's like melted Peanut Butter Cups on toast or in a sarnie. Heavenly.) 

Completely and utterly recommended.

For more information see Goodreads.