The Ghost Chronicles

Volume 1

Young Adult - Paranormal
332 Pages
Reviewed on 03/27/2016
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

Formerly an accounting manager for a Fortune 500 company, Marlo is currently an intern with a well-known literary agency based in New York City, as well as, an editor at Chimera Editing. Marlo writes young adult, women’s fiction, and short stories. THE GHOST CHRONICLES is her first novel. Her second novel in a new series, SECRETS BENEATH, will be released in the fall. She is currently working on a sequel to THE GHOST CHRONICLES, as well as, her third and fourth novels.
When she's not writing or editing, Marlo loves reading, relaxing at the beach, watching movies, and rooting for the Penn State Nittany Lions. After having spent some wonderful time in Pittsburgh and Houston, she’s now back in her home state of New Jersey where she resides with her husband and two sons.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Tracy A. Fischer for Readers' Favorite

Wow! That's all I can say after reading the absolutely fantastic debut novel by author Marlo Berliner, The Ghost Chronicles. Follow the story of Michael Andrews, a young man who seemed to have everything going his way; a great girlfriend and family, a talent in playing basketball and a bright future in front of him. In front of him, that is, until he is killed in a tragic accident. Michael spends some time as a pretty lost soul, not sure what he's supposed to do or why he seems to be stuck among the living. When he meets Sarah, another stuck soul, he starts to feel some hope again, but any relationship they develop is governed by the many rules of the afterlife, including rules against falling in love or getting too close to each other. Will Michael and Sarah ever find peace? You'll need to read this great book to find out!

I loved The Ghost Chronicles. Simply loved it. Billed as a young adult novel with crossover appeal for the adult crowd, this book certainly got the attention of this adult. Author Marlo Berliner has done a masterful job in creating a story and characters that her readers will care about, relate to, and continue to think about long after the final words are read. If that isn't a hallmark of a great author, I'm not sure what is. Her scene setting skills are simply second to none, and the setting of the Angel of the Sea Inn bed and breakfast is a perfect place for this afterlife love story to take place. Any reader, young adult or not, who enjoys paranormal fiction, love stories, or just a great work of fiction should absolutely read The Ghost Chronicles. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more from the extremely promising and talented new author, Marlo Berliner, as soon as I possibly can!

Joel R. Dennstedt

Michael is dead. This is not a spoiler. Marlo Berliner, the author of The Ghost Chronicles, tells the reader this at the beginning of her book, actually offering up a rather vividly detailed account of his accidental but violent passing to ensure the reader understands: Michael is really, truly, completely dead, which is a deft move on her part as Michael’s further life – after death – is the subject of a most beguiling, intriguing, mystery-filled adventure. Michael must learn quickly how to navigate this new reality of death, finding both helpful and conniving other ghosts to guide and to mislead him as he seeks to understand why he was not “taken by the light.” As he searches for a purpose that may or may not come from a Creator, he falls in love. Of course with another ghost. And he must continue to fight off his demons, both real and those imagined. Will he find all that he is looking for? Will he, so to speak, survive?

With a literary nod to the movie Ghost, something Ms. Berliner acknowledges in her accompanying blurb for The Ghost Chronicles, and a certain resonance with the Odd Thomas series by the master of the genre, Dean Koontz, the story does remind us frequently that it is intended for Young Adults. And yet, the excellent plotting, precise editing, and well-projected development of storyline all guarantee that the writing is also perfectly suitable for an Old Adult. The familiarity of the worlds depicted both in Ghost and Odd Thomas do not make the reader feel cheated by the similarity found in The Ghost Chronicles. Not at all. Quite the contrary; the reader feels comfortable with the easily recognizable physics involved in ghosthood and needs no overly detailed explanation for the demonic shades that plague Michael and his eternal love.

Jack Magnus

The Ghost Chronicles, Volume 1 is a young adult paranormal fantasy written by Marlo Berliner. Michael had his whole life ahead of him. He had a basketball scholarship waiting for him in the fall and a fun-filled senior summer stretched out in front of him. Better yet, Melissa, his girlfriend of two years, seemed definitely interested in taking their relationship to the next step. After he completed his chores on Saturday, he started to get ready to pick her up from her job and then got into the Mustang that he, his brother and their father had lovingly restored. Everything changed in a moment. As he turned into a bend, a tractor-trailer manned by an overtired, snoozing driver bore down on his vehicle, pinning him in the ensuing wreckage. But Michael felt no pain, and he knew he should have. The out-of-body experience was something else he knew meant trouble, and he willed himself back down into his body. It didn't seem to matter, however, as it became all too obvious that he had died.

Marlo Berliner's young adult paranormal fantasy, The Ghost Chronicles, Volume 1 is an imaginative and original story about a young man's entry into a strange, otherworldly existence. He's got no idea why he didn't go up to heaven or down to the other place, and his initial experiences as a ghost are filled with feelings of alienation and despair. Still, the reader can't help but be intrigued as Michael figures out how to visit the places he loved when he was living, and then gets excited as he meets Tom, another wandering spirit who seems to have been around a bit longer and acts as his unofficial mentor. Berliner injects a sweet romance into her fantasy when Michael meets Sarah, a young Irish woman who died in a fall and still haunts the B&B where she met her end. The Ghost Chronicles is filled with conjecture and philosophical concepts that keep the reader thinking and progressing along with Michael. This is an original and thought-provoking story that will keep readers wondering and looking forward to the next book in the series. It's highly recommended.