The Ghost Exterminator by Vivi Andrews
A Karmic Consultants Story, Book 2
Samhain Publishing
Paranormal Humor
ISBN: 9781605047188
Reviewed by Val




Wyatt Haines is a skeptic’s skeptic.  Running a multi-million dollar hotel empire requires order, discipline, planning, and a hearty dose of realism.  There’s no room in his philosophy for the unexplained and there’s definitely no room for Jo Banks, Girl Ghost Buster, even if she does look like Pamela Anderson gone Goth.  But there’s no denying there’s something spooky going on inside the towering Victorian mansion Wyatt is trying to turn into a seaside inn.  And, like the haunt-infested Victorian, Jo Banks is more than meets the eye.  If Wyatt can find a way to look beyond her aggressively dark exterior and if Jo can see past the elitist posturing and the perpetual scowl stuck to that otherwise gorgeous face, they might solve more than Wyatt’s little ghost problem.

All they have to do is make it through the terrors of a family wedding, a gala opening, a pair of energetic juvenile haunts that would give Bart Simpson a run for his money, a bit of mile-high nookie, and a little light bondage, then it’s clear sailing.  Well, no one ever said Ghost Busting was going to be easy.

The Ghost Exterminator is part of the Vivi Andrews’ Karmic Consultants series, a set of stories about the paranormal agency that employs Jo.  Although this tale easily stands alone, it gave me an immediate urge to seek out the rest of the series.

This story is as full of surprises as the mischievous ghosts that hijack Wyatt’s orderly world and Ms. Andrews packs in the plot twists with an unflagging wit.  Jo’s first impression of the man who will turn her life upside down reads: “Wyatt Haines, with his Armani everything, three-hundred dollar haircut, and designer disdain, continued to stand in the middle of the path, every muscle in his (admittedly gorgeous) body clenched…”  The constant barrage of one liners and clever turns of phrase could have easily become exhausting, but the story zips along on the tide of good humor.

As a dedicated reader of paranormal fiction, it’s not often I encounter a book that finds a way to make hauntings feel new, but from the vivid description of Jo’s ghostly second sight to Wyatt’s paranormal encounters of the very close kind.  This story brings one inventive revelation after another.  The Ghost Exterminator is a real original and a definite Recommended Read.