I have reviewed Ghost of a Chance by Chris Tullbane for Reader’s Favorite.
Make way for a case of ghost-napping with our ridiculous and inexperienced private investigator/mediator John Smith in this comedic urban fantasy called Ghost of a Chance by Chris Tullbane. This is the third book in The Many Travails of John Smith series. Having only just discovered the existence of the supernatural world, his knowledge of the subject is quite blurry. So, when The White Ladies, a group of ghosts, who make up one of the prominent organizations of the Supernatural Powers of San Diego, contact him to find their missing leader, Graciela, he is more than perplexed. The concept of a ghost going missing is bizarre in itself; finding one is almost ridiculous. Still, beggars can’t be choosers, and the fact that he owes his own house-ghost a favor for saving his life ultimately makes him accept the job. In addition to this quest, he has other problems to focus on: a Vampire Queen (Lucia) who considers John is her thrall and, despite his open protests, doesn’t let him forget that, and his hopes for a romantic endeavor with Ana, a centuries-old Vampire. The more the search for Graciela deepens, the more supernatural creatures, including zombies, werewolves (and other types of were’s), demigods, witches, John Smith comes across.
Barry was a wereboar. More significantly, he was Steve’s wereboar boyfriend, an inter-species relationship that still had me scratching my head. Steve and I got along famously, but Barry always seemed to be one bad day away from tearing my arms off.
— an excerpt from Ghost of a Chance by Chris Tullbane
Ghost of a Chance is a hysterical journey into a supernatural political drama. The level of supernatural politics is complex, and our protagonist, Mr. Smith, is only equipped with his sense of humor. Even when he tries to present a competent front, his clients, friends, acquaintances — and, even total strangers for that matter — crash his efforts by throwing his past failures, his sense of style, his lack of money — and well, his overall appearance — to his face. If you are reading Ghost of a Chance in public, beware! The hilarious dialogues, ridiculous situations, and absolutely genius and funny comebacks will make you giggle. In fact, these can make you break into a burst of laughter, even. Chris Tullbane, the author, has found the perfect antidote for the gloomy Covid-19 atmosphere. He is a clever storyteller. Instead of dedicating the whole book to just one case, he has diversified the story by including several other distractions/projects for John Smith, and consequently, the audience, to focus.
“Nonsense,” I told her. “Everyone knows, it’s bros before…” I stopped myself before I could get into trouble. “I mean friends before…”
Shit. What rhymed with friends?
“Trends?”
— an excerpt from Ghost of a Chance by Chris Tullbane
Even though Chris Tullbane has included tidbits of previous books of the series into Ghost of a Chance, reading previous books will help understand certain events and references. Femmepire term appeared quite a few times before John Smith mentioned that he had cleverly coined this term to refer to Female Vampires. Before that mention, however, this puzzled me to no end. Having said that, The dose of laughter in Ghost of a Chance combined with a noteworthy plot, intriguing twists, and well-written action scenes make Ghost of a Chance an absolute delight.
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Disclosure: Mojito with a Twist is a professional book review site that receives compensation from the authors. Nonetheless, the compensation has no impact on the fairness and honesty of the review. I show only an unbiased opinion of the book that I read. Mojito with a Twist is independently owned and the opinions expressed are entirely mine, except for a few guest posts, which are explicitly marked as guest posts
