Review: Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper by J.L. Bryan (@Mollykatie112, @jlbryanbooks)

Posted October 20, 2015 by Lorna in Horror, Lorna, Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 24 Comments

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper Series: Ellie Jordan #1
Published by Indie
Published on: September 16, 2014
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 220
Format: eBook
Source: Freebie

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Ellie Jordan’s job is to catch and remove unwanted ghosts. Part detective, part paranormal exterminator, Ellie operates out of Savannah, Georgia, the most haunted city in the United States.

When a family contacts her to deal with a disturbing presence in the old mansion they’ve recently purchased, Ellie first believes it to be a typical, by-the-book specter, a residual haunting by a restless spirit. Instead, she finds herself confronting an evil older and more powerful than she’d ever expected, rooted in the house’s long and sordid history of luxury, sin, and murder. The dangerous entity seems particularly interested in her clients’ ten-year-old daughter.

Soon her own life is in danger, and Ellie must find a way to exorcise the darkness of the house before it can kill her, her clients, or their frightened young child.

First a shout out to Ali at My Guilty Obsession Reads for recommending this series on her blog. I was immediately interested and bought it after reading her review of one of the newer ones in this series.

Ellie Jordan is an investigator of ghostly encounters and other things of that nature. Instead of starting with her first cases, this book begins with her taking a new employee, Stacey, on her first case. Even though there’s only four years difference in age between the two, it might as well be a hundred when it comes to hunting ghosts. Stacey’s first case actually rivals many of Ellie’s hardest cases, complete with lots of over the top scary moments. Until now, it’s been a really long time since a book scared me enough to have to put it down late at night due to the heebee jeebees. Otherwise there would have been no sleep to be had.

Ellie is very capable as a ghost hunter/trapper. She’s not afraid to admit-but not every time-when something is scaring her. When most people wouldn’t go near a haunted basement or asylum, she’s the first one through the door. And yes, this book has both of those situations. She’s a bit of a tomboy, with wild, unmanageable hair, and glasses. She’s got her own compelling reasons for why she does this job. Stacey is from a wealthy family and has just finished her degree. She’s cute and perky, and not the sort for this job at all. Ellie has deep reservations about Stacey succeeding as a ghost trapper. She has even more reservations about the psychic her boss is foisting on her. Jacob is a money manager(or stockbroker) by day and is learning how to use his psychic ability in his off time. Ellie doesn’t want to fool with him at all. Although he is cute!

This story revolves around an old mansion on the outskirts of Savannah. The new owners are in the middle of renovation for a bed and breakfast, and now their ten year old daughter is being haunted by a woman that shows up in her bedroom every night. I kept wondering why the parents just didn’t let her bunk in with them while this is going on, but then I guess we wouldn’t have a story. It’s up to Ellie and Stacey to solve the mystery of the woman ghost and rid the house of her. Little do they know that things are going to be a lot scarier and involved, than even they could ever imagine.

I got fully immersed into this story very quickly. It was a really fast read for me and I had no idea where the story was going to go. It was actually all I could do to stick with the story when the haunted asylum came into play. I was that spooked. And of course the bed and breakfast had its own major spooky moments.

I would recommend this to any paranormal fan probably 14 plus, due to the scare factor. There’s not a romance yet-but maybe later? I usually want a romance, but honestly there was so much going on that I don’t know where the author would have put it! Good read!

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper Series

Lorna Atkins

I’m Lorna and I live in Maryland. Since retiring, I spend my time mostly reading and reviewing books. My favorite reads are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Young Adult. I read a lot of indie books in addition to traditionally published books. Favorite paranormal creature? Vampires, but I am really liking werewolves more everyday.