I’m not a big fan of paranormal fiction. Well, I’m not a big fan of fiction at all, getting my hands of the The Ghosts of Lone Jack, a novel by Lance Lee Noel therefore was a big challenge. After few weeks, I finally finished my reading, and I have to admit – it went well, maybe it took me too much time, but it went well.

About the book

10 years old boy, Jared Millhouse and his dad plan to spend an uneventful summer on his grandfather s farm in Lone Jack, Missouri. Then Jared runs into the ghost of a Civil War innkeeper and wonders if he s lost his mind. With the help of his grandfather–and some local characters–Jared and the Crossroads Gang uncover the truth about the Civil War battle that trapped so many bloodthirsty ghosts in Lone Jack. They even recruit a pair of eccentric ghost hunters to help. When it comes to facing down the local bully, dodging the power-crazy sheriff, or escaping convicts, Jared can count on his friends. Together, they face haunted baseball diamonds, embattled cornfields and abandoned mines. But when Confederate and Union ghouls line up on the battlefield, the entire town relives the gruesome Battle of Lone Jack, as it was fought in 1862. Then only Jared can save the town from its ghosts.

The review

First of all, The Ghosts of Lone Jack is meant for kids, so it was my first big threshold to make through – it’s hard to read a book for kids if you’re an adult, not mentioning reviewing it, yet I wrote hundreds of reviews in my life already, so I knew what to do. After few first pages, I managed to change the frequency of my mind and I became a kid once again, and the reading became easier – this is the first major advantage of the book, the language itself; it’s simple and easy to read, if I can understand everything with my English skills, no kid should have any problems finishing the book because of the words on his own (and in addition, for me as person whose English isn’t native language, it’s a great opportunity to learn some slang, too!).

The story is a typical adventure for young people, we have a young hero, a gang of kids, an opposite gang to fight with, some baseball play, some ATV races, family relations included, some romance, and some paranormal fiction: freaked ghost hunters and demonic entities (more like ghouls than demons though) – well, the paranormal part of the is a little overdone, instead of classic apparitions we have ghouls that can hurt people. But it’s an element of the entertaining part of the book. It was meant to be entertaining after all, and I won’t overdo it by saying the Ghosts of Lone Jack is action-packed – you (I mean your kid) just can’t get bored.

But entertaining is not the most important thing here, the educational part is. Whole story is placed in historical location, the town of Lone Jack, and this creates an opportunity to teach kids about their heritage, the history of their country – the Civil War to be more specific. I’m a Pole, and because of this, because of history of my own country, I understand why the heritage of our (I mean each and every) nation is so important. Also I greatly enjoy reading about history, and because of this, I have to admit that the fragments describing the actual battle of Lone Jack were the most interesting parts of the whole book. Right now, I can’t really think about any better way to teach kids about history of your country than by giving them book that is both action-packed and so educational.

I can’t really think about any disadvantages of the Ghosts of Lone Jack. Well, maybe it’s a little too “realistic” from time to time, I mean – there are fragments describing ghouls attacks in which our older heroes use weapons to literally kill the beasts, there we have descriptions of loosing certain parts of the bodies by ghouls. On the other hand, maybe it’s a way of author to describe the brutality of war to young readers?

At the end, The Ghosts of Lone Jack is a good book and it’s a fine addition to the Librarium Parapsychologicum in paranormal fiction section. I recommend it for all parents out there who want their kids to learn some history about USA and the Civil War from an entertaining book. Lee Noel have made a great job writing this book! I guess I’m starting to like paranormal fiction, and now I’m just waiting for similar books about historic locations in Europe!

Big thanks to Rebecca and Susan, and other people from The Cadence Group for making it possible for me to review The Ghosts of Lone Jack!

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