Ghoster

August 26, 2019
Arnopp (The Last Days of Jack Sparks) once again provides a magnificently twisted and utterly unnerving tale that taps the rawest of our collective fears about social media. When Kate Collins first saw Scott Palmer’s face on Tinder, she knew he was going to be unforgettable. Now, after a whirlwind romance, she is moving in with him. But two days before her arrival, Scott breaks all contact, and Kate arrives to find his flat utterly empty except for his smartphone. Bereft, furious, and desperate for the truth, Kate breaks all her own strict rules regarding social media and hacks into Scott’s phone. But rather than finding answers, Kate only unleashes more mysteries: strange phone calls that whisper chilling messages, gouges in the apartment’s door, and sightings that speak to a much deeper conspiracy than a simple disappearance. Arnopp uses a straightforward premise and rich sensory details to create a deceptively believable world before rocketing readers into a maelstrom of uncertainty and dread that is difficult to escape. Genuinely unsettling and oddly provocative, this is a weird and worthy addition to Arnopp’s growing canon.

Starred review from October 1, 2019
Kate Collins is sure she's been ghosted. She's supposed to move in with her boyfriend, Scott, but when she arrives, Scott?and all his furniture?are nowhere to be found. Worse, Kate has transferred from her paramedic job in Leeds to Brighton, and she has to be at work first thing in the morning. With nowhere else to go, Kate camps out. When she finds Scott's phone, she must hack it to find out where he is, while frantically trying to stay employed. There are only two problems: Kate's on a digital detox after becoming addicted to smartphones, and there may be actual ghosts in the dark, cold, empty apartment. This is an absolute barn-burner of a novel, a page-turning ambulance ride with danger at every turn. Kate's first-person account flips back and forth in time, revealing secrets from her past at perfectly precise narrative moments. Arnopp (The Last Days of Jack Sparks, 2017) has written a rollicking, disturbing horror story that's also a biting commentary on the seductive nature of today's tech.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)