Why This Thrilling Book Will Make You Question Your Beliefs about Ghosts

What are your beliefs about ghosts? I don’t believe in ghosts, friendly or otherwise, but this book had me questioning my beliefs!

I receive free electronic advanced reader copies of these books through an arrangement between the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on NetGalley’s website. I only review books on my blog that I really love.

What Are Your Beliefs about Ghosts?

I grew up in a faith tradition where the only beliefs about Ghosts had to do with the Holy Spirit (aka the Holy Ghost). We didn’t watch Ghostbusters or dress as goblins for Halloween (we didn’t even go trick-or-treating, either). As an adult, I came to realize my beliefs about Ghosts needed to expand and change. If I believe in Good (God), I also needed to acknowledge evil (satan). And the evil one has the ability to mask himself and present as a ‘ghost.’

Ghost stories have a logical explanation. Either the ‘ghosts’ are evil spirits masking as someone or something, or ghostly sightings have more to do with tricks of our imagination. One of my favorite authors has a new book out, The Souls of Lost Lake made me question my current beliefs about ghosts a time or two. An excellent writer will cause readers to suspend their disbelief and examine long-held beliefs. This modern gothic romance will both chill and thrill you.

The Souls of Lost Lake

By Jamie Jo Wright, Bethany House Publishers, April 2022, 384 pages.

Ava Coons became a legend the minute she walked into Tempter’s Creek as a waifish 13-year-old dragging a bloody logger’s ax and covered with blood. Ava had no memory of what happened, but her family had mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Some said she murdered them. Others claimed no small girl could wield a heavy ax and dispose of the bodies.

Six years later, two more brutal murders in Tempter’s Creek shove Ava back into the spotlight—a place she has no desire to occupy. Speculation, gossip, and vigilantes put Ava’s life at risk, and the new preacher promises protection. If only Ava could remember what happened. But in the 1930s in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, no one offers hope for healing. Except maybe Jesus, but Ava doesn’t hold him in high esteem.

Wren Blythe grew up hearing chilling tales around the campfire of how Ava Coons haunts the woods and nearby Lost Lake. Intellectually, she knows ghosts don’t exist. But when six-year-old Jasmine disappears near the Bible camp where Wren works with her father, her nightmares return. And when her search party team finds the remains of the Coons Cabin on the shores of Lost Lake, an antique porcelain doll has Wren’s name written on the foot.

Her best friend, Eddie keeps reminding her she’s not crazy, but the vivid dreams, feelings of lostness, and inexplicable appearance of the doll have her questioning her sanity. As the search for the missing girl moves into the second week, Wren reaches out to Jasmine’s mother, hoping to offer comfort.

Instead, Wren becomes convinced Ava Coons has something to do with the mystery. If she can only put the pieces of the puzzle together before time runs out for Jasmine.

Why I Loved This Book

Wright is the master at spooky suspense filled with faith and healing. I know, it sounds like an impossible combination. But Wright pulls it off with tenderness, compassion, and affirmation. The author explores our universal need to belong and how it might conflict with our need for truth. Readers will relate to Ava’s struggle to believe in a God who cares. I couldn’t set this one down.