Book Review: Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum by Stephen Prosapio

Title: Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum (Xavier Paranormal Investigations #1)
Author: Stephen Prosapio
Release Date: 05/10/2011
Available Through: Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Nobles

Zach Kalusky, host of Sci-D TV's Xavier Paranormal Investigators, is ecstatic when he's given the opportunity to explore the most haunted site in Chicago for a Halloween Special: Rosewood Asylum, a place long made off-limits by the local government, plagued by decades of mysterious fires and unexplained events. It's Zach's dream investigation- but there's a catch: the network forces Xavier Paranormal Investigators to partner with the more dramatic-but less ethical-Demon Hunters. Now, Zach must fight for both his show's integrity and his team's loyalty while trying to protect his own secret: that he, himself, is possessed.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it'd be unusual. Prosapio has given us a rather interesting read in Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum in that it's rather hard to pin down to a specific genre. At its heart it's a ghost story but it also has the feel of a nice cozy mystery (minus the murder that always happens at the start of a cozy mystery) as well as a touch of urban fantasy.

The idea of a group of ghost hunting college students (their ghost show takes on the name of the university) is an intriguing one. There's a lot that can be done with this idea as well as with the celebrity angle, which is a good thing since this is going to be a series. I liked that the characters were so varied, although not all of them stood out as much as I'd have liked them to. This is forgivable since there's a rather huge cast in this book and a lot of "first novel" ground to cover. My only true gripe with the book is that it took a while for some of the plot's more basic elements to be explained (such as the reason why the show is named Xavier and that almost everyone in the group is a student at St Xavier).

This novel is a little rough around the edges but it's overall an entertaining read. The book included a sneak preview of the next book, which seemed to be pretty promising. This is a series worth checking out.

4 out of 5 stars



(Reader's copy provided by the author)