We are going to start Valentine’s week with some good ol’ paranormal ghost hunting, Curious One. Let’s dig into the world created by J.L. Bryan with his Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper series. Today we will focus on book one as Ellie Jordan takes on a haunted mansion with new colleague Stacey and the newly skilled psychic Jacob who was thrust upon her by her boss.
The Characters of Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper
In the beginning, you have the normal introduction to characters. You learn that Ellie is a paranormal investigator for a small company called Eckhart Investigations who specializes in the bizarre hauntings and paranormal activity. Her parents died when she was young from a malicious ghost and ever since then she has been preparing herself for a career in ghost trapping.
Stacey is a new graduate from a local college with a degree in film – she is there to document the hauntings and to act as backup to Ellie if she needs it. Stacey comes from a well-off family who doesn’t fully accept her desire to become a ghost trapper.
Calvin Eckhart is a retired detective who even during his active years would take on the creepy and haunting cases that ran through the department – he also is the owner of Eckhart Investigations which is who hired all the other characters.
And Jacob is a newly acquired psychic that Calvin pushed onto Ellie for this first case in the series. He was in a plane crash and was the only survivor, but when he woke, he had psychic abilities. He comes into play closer to the ending, when they are taking on the ghosts themselves so we don’t get to see too much into his character development, but he seems genuine and like a guy you can count on when needed. He did help save them, you know…
A Breath of Fresh Air
Ellie and Stacey meet up with the Treadwell family. They moved into a mansion and have plans to convert it into a B&B. But they have a female ghost who is destroying their attempts and eating up their savings in repairs.
It’s kind of a cool notion, really. The investigators don’t promise anything until they are positive that there really is a ghost. They make sure it’s not plumbing or electrical shorts or critters in the walls before they set up shop and take on the “haunting”.
I like how it is set in a modern-day world too. It’s not some post-apocalyptic world or a futuristic world. It’s the real-life Savannah, Georgia – paranormal hotspot! And thank goodness it’s not New Orleans! Don’t get me wrong, I love Louisiana, but it’s a breath of fresh air to have a different setting for a series.
The wife and daughter of the Treadwell family seem nice and concerned. The husband, however, kills me. Denial can only get you so far and he was taking it much too far. Very rude and archaic in his beliefs and thinking. Especially about women.
The little girl has had the most experience with the ghost and she is obviously troubled by it. The mother has had a few encounters, enough to believe that there is actually a problem.
Ellie and Stacey decide that there is actually a haunting happening, and that they will do what they can to get the ghost out of their house.
The Prep Work for Ellie Jordan
It’s nice J.L. Bryan wrote about the background work that they do. The research in the library, contacting the local gossip leader and historical association for information in archives, the previous owners of the haunted home and their families…I like that he included that in Ghost Trapper. It was a relief from all the “instinctual feelings” that usually come hand-in-hand with mystery and paranormal books.
After her research, she takes some pictures to the Treadwell’s and they point out a woman named Mercy Cutledge. Mercy used to live in the house as a worker for a previous owner, named Captain Augustus Marsh. Captain Marsh was murdered by Mercy when he was 106 years old. Mercy was then admitted to a mental hospital which she was released from years later and returned to the house. She was found hanging from the second-floor landing by Captain Marsh’s niece who inherited the house.
Stacey and Ellie set up their cameras in the hotspots and recorded the activity that happened that night. They showed the family in the morning and were able to convince them that they would be able to take care of Mercy the Ghost.
Their first attempt to get Mercy to leave was to hold a mock funeral. The family and investigators dressed in black and went through the rites and music and prayers in order to help convince Mercy that she was indeed dead and needed to move on. It didn’t work though, and they had to go to plan B. Plan B is a ghost trap configured with some candles for energy and a trinket in the bottom of a canister that a ghost will try to get.
Which is where their trip to the old, abandoned psych ward comes in. They went there to try to find something of value to Mercy. Something she would want back, even in death…
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A Look at the Building in Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper
Before the psych hospital though, Ellie and Stacey went to meet Grant (the local authority in all things gossip and historical related to the town of Savannah). He informed them that Captain Marsh’s wife Eugenia died mysteriously and was possibly murdered by Marsh. That was when he turned his home into a cesspool of excess for young, wealthy men. Drinking, gambling, drugs and prostitutes. Mercy was apparently one of the prostitutes and after she stabbed and killed him, she claimed he was an “occult wizard in league with demons.”
Of course, her claim was never investigated and she was sent to the state asylum.
After his death was when his grand-niece, Louisa, inherited the house. She turned it into a boarding house, which was when she divided the building and walled off the one wing for her personal use. She catered to the lowly though, and many drug addicts, drifters and prostitutes stayed there. There were multiple murders, overdoses and suicides.
The psych ward/abandoned asylum, naturally, is full of ghosts that try to attach themselves to Stacey and Ellie. They are both attacked by ghosts. It was honestly a nice reprieve. Stacey, the entire time, has been uplifting and very much a go-getter regarding catching and hunting ghosts, but this gave her a chance to see firsthand what could happen. You know? That not all of the job was fun and exciting. That it was dangerous and daring and could easily make you scream in fear.
The Experience Helped Me as a Reader Connect to Her a Bit More
She seemed more real and less like a filler character. It was her third week on the job, and she had a first glimpse of something super traumatizing. It made her question whether she was fit for the job. And even though Ellie didn’t want her hired to begin with, she grew fond of her and Stacey didn’t leave her in the dust, running away, alone with all the ghosts. Stacey kept her cool and was able to help Ellie until they could get out of there. I loved the Asylum scene.
Anyways, they get back to the Treadwell’s house and get their ghost trap set up to capture Mercy. They begin exploring the rest of the house. They run into some interesting finds but had to go back down to finish setting the bait for Mercy.
They light the candles in the canister just before midnight and after some struggling and fighting with Mercy the Ghost, they successfully trap her!
A day or so later they take the canister of Mercy the Ghost to a graveyard to release her. Before they were finished though, Calvin called to let them know that they needed to get back to the Treadwell’s. That there are more ghosts now and that the house is being destroyed in the process.
They get back to the house and of course the father is a jerk about everything, but the mother and girl were still helpful. They explore the house again and run into multiple ghosts, including Eugenia Marsh and an obvious drug addict.
Jacob Enters
The Treadwell’s leave for the next few days to stay in a hotel.
This is where Jacob comes in. He’s introduced and helps load up the van before meeting them later at the house.
They go through the motions, set up more cameras, Jacob describes what he’s seeing and feeling to them. There are a dozen ghosts trapped in the house, held there by someone, most likely Captain Marsh.
After an eventful night, the next day they visited the grandniece of Captain Marsh. She was very welcoming in the beginning, talking about how much she loved the house, and she gave them the next “clue” to talk to two men who had helped her a lot with repairs. She was fine with talking about everything until she was questioned about whether Captain Marsh was into the occult or had ever murdered anyone. That was when she refused to speak to them anymore.
So, they talked to the two men she hired way back when and I have a feeling they were more involved than they claimed…
Stacey once again became real and questioned her ability to do the job. Ellie took her to her old house and told her about why she became a ghost hunter.
The next morning, she went back to her apartment to find it trashed and destroyed with the phrase “LEAVE TOWN” painted on a wall.
That evening, Ellie, Stacey and Jacob go to the cemetery to visit Mercy. Mercy was the only one holding back the dangerous spirits that they are now encountering. She was the only one who hadn’t been killed by Captain Marsh, so he had no control over her and she was able to keep him trapped, along with all his other ghosts (the men and women he had killed over the years).
Mercy possessed Ellie and took control of her body. When they got back to the house, she took charge and broke into the place that Captain Marsh was trapped. The place he buried all the bodies, the place that his grandniece buried his own body and the place that held the gargoyle idol that encompassed all his powers.
Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper’s Climax
Jacob was keeping the ghosts distracted upstairs and Stacey was attacked and unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, so Ellie did the only thing she knew to do. She started to break the idol. Marsh began to scream in pain until the idol was broken. It was then he lost all his power and control over the dozens of ghosts he had trapped in the house.
They attacked him and tore him apart and took him down through the stone floor, “hopefully to hell.”
Stacey had a broken arm and Jacob was barely alive after holding the entire horde of ghosts off of them so they could destroy the idol.
The next afternoon the Treadwell’s come back to a brighter and more welcoming home. Everyone had moved on, except Mercy who was still possessing Ellie, but their house was safe and free of the paranormal.
The next night Ellie walked into the bar owned by the two men who used to work for Marsh’s grandniece. They were the ones who killed Mercy, making it look like a suicide – at the behest of the grandniece, all in revenge for Mercy killing her beloved uncle. So, Ellie freed Mercy into the bar, letting her have her own after-death revenge on the two men.
Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper closes with Mercy tearing their bar apart!
Final Thoughts on Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper
I don’t know about you, Curious One, but I was pleased by J.L. Bryan’s work. He wrote well rounded characters that I was able to connect to and his story wasn’t full of drama. I would still consider it a young adult book, but maybe on the older end of young adults. The possibility for romance was there, and maybe it will become more engrained into the theme of the series when Jacob starts showing up more often, but it wasn’t the sole focus of the book.
You know me, I love a book that has some heart, but doesn’t obsess over it.
Bryan is actually an American author and you can find out more about him on his website, jlbryanbooks.com. He has a handful of series that sound intriguing, although I think I just might find his next novel in the Ghost Trapper series and explore more in Ellie, Stacey, and Jacob’s world.
His elements of ghost hunting were followed up with simple, but realistic explanations that helped solve the mystery. They didn’t just run around talking to spirits to help them move on, they actually were true detectives who dug into the pasts and reasons behind the haunting.
I was able to read the whole book in one day, although that is about all I did. I’m okay with it being a bit shorter though, because there are apparently 14 books in the Ghost Trapper series; all centered around Ellie and her adventures. I can say that for now I love the series, but I can easily see it falling into a repetitive plot and guideline of the same basic story, just different houses and ghosts, names and mysteries. We will hopefully see how the series progresses!
I am kind of in the mood for some more paranormal! I think I just might checkout his second installment of the Ghost Trapper series. Wish me luck!
If you decide to join me, don’t forget to turn on a light!
As for me…it’s time for another book…
Check out J.L. Bryan at the following links:
Website: http://jlbryanbooks.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/J-L-Bryans-Books-123417766958
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