Spirit Fire by Susan McCauley || Paranormal MG With Spooky Goodness

Spirit Fire (Ghost Hunters, #3)

Who—or what—is causing the fires in the French Quarter? A little girl? A long-dead prisoner? An evil presence calling to those beyond the grave?
In this spooky, fast-paced adventure, twelve-year-old Alex must fight smoke, flames, and ghostly prisoners to stop whatever’s causing the blazes—before more lives are lost.

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Middle grade spooky goodness that’ll give you goosebumps but not terrify you.
• Paranormal mystery with twists and turns to solve.
• Interesting world where ghosts roam alongside the living.
• A neat mix of religions and beliefs around the supernatural.
• Squad vibes with a trio of heroes who work together and help each other.
• But, you know, still make mistakes and that’s okay because they’re learning how to be humans.
• (And being human is stinking hard, I’ll have you know.)

Many thanks to Celtic Sea Publishing and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I am always up for some spooky reads, especially this time of year, and this series was just giving off the good sort of ghostly vibes. Hard to go wrong with ghost hunters, right? Even though it’s maybe not quite what you think.

Spirit Fire is the third book in a fun MG paranormal adventure series filled with fun investigations, surprising ghosts, a fun squad of characters, and the perfect amount of spookiness for scaredy-cats who still want some chills.

I actually read the three books that are already out back to back, so it was a little different experience. However, McCauley does such a good job at recapping what happened in previous books that you could almost read these in any order and it would still make sense. Either way, I’ve come to love this world and the casual acceptance that ghosts are everywhere, and I hope there’ll be more to the series!

This review may contain some mild spoilers for books one and two.

This is a world similar to ours, but slightly different. One where psychics used seals to break down the barrier between the living realm and the spiritual one, which ushered in The Problem.

Which is a very fitting name for the fact that ghosts are everywhere, and they have the potential to start a lot of trouble. Needless to say, psychics aren’t very popular in this world, even though they’re now necessary in order to handle the Problem, because regular people can’t see these spirits. Kind of difficult to take care of what you can’t see or hear, yeah?

Not every spirit is harmful, though. Some are just trying to live their best afterlife. I absolutely loved all the different spirits Alex meets, but especially his pseudo-mother, Mrs. Wilson, who has decided to take him under her wing and care for him following the death of his mother in the first book.

Oh, and did I mention that there’s definitely a ghost cat, too? Because what’s better than a cat sidekick? A ghost cat sidekick. Duh!

Onyx actually appeared in book two, but he’s definitely become a part of this very unique, very strange family. Also, he’s every bit as sarcastic and stubborn as one might expect a cat to be. Even though he obviously can’t talk, he manages to get his point across just fine. When I started this series, I hadn’t even considered animal spirits, so I was really excited to find that McCauley has thought about them, and I’m interested to see where it might go in future books.

Alex is trying to tackle a lot in this book. Not only is he still healing from the death of his mother, but he’s coming to grips with the fact that he’s not just a psychic but a strong psychic, and it can sometimes be a little bit overwhelming.

Hard not to feel for this kid. His life was turned upside-down in so many ways over the course of these three books, and he’s still just doing his best to stumble along and find his way. Alex is a fantastic protagonist because he’s genuinely a good person, but he also gets to act very much like the twelve-year-old he is. McCauley does a wonderful job of balancing the two. Sometimes he acts out or gets jealous or takes his anger and frustration out on someone, and that’s okay. Well, it’s not okay, but he’s not demonized for it.

This book sends such a healthy message about making mistakes and being able to apologize and be forgiven, and I love it! It’s something middle grade readers should hear more about, because they’re going to make mistakes. Heck, I make mistakes all the time! I am a mistake waiting to happen. It’s great that this book (and this series in general) normalizes mistakes and lets the characters just learn and grow.

As one might expect from a series called Ghost Hunters, this is a spooky book. Not one that’s likely to keep anyone up at night, but definitely enough to give you goosebumps every now and then. Great for scaredy-cats like me who enjoy being creeped out but don’t want to lie awake at night wondering when the ghosts will get you.

I have plenty of other reasons to lie awake at night, thank you very much.

This is such a great fall read, because it’ll get you in the spooky Halloween frame of mind without being too scary. There are some scenes that tend slightly towards the graphic or discuss some heavier, more mature things in this book, so I’d maybe recommend it for more mature middle grade readers who can handle that. I mean, the story in this isn’t exactly a happy one. Obviously. It involves an accidental fire and a host of angry ghosts who were trapped in it. Not a particularly great combination.

There are so many really good, poignant questions raised by this book, though, and I absolutely loved it! This is the first book in the series where I had to really stop and think, Are these ghosts wrong? Well . . . no, not necessarily! Even if they do some not-great things, it’s hard not to sympathize with the ghosts in this one, once you learn what they went through!

What would a book be without its lead trio and supporting characters? Alex has a great safety net of people around him, especially his two best friends, Jason and Hannah, and they each bring something unique to the table.

I actually really love how each of them are very different, but they support each other anyway. Hannah is obsessed with becoming a paranormal investigator, even though society tends to look down on them. Psychics are supposed to be the only ones that deal with ghosts, but with her handy technology and technical skills, Hannah is able to keep up, to some degree, with the psychics and provide some helpful information of her own.

Jason, on the other hand, is the low-tech to Hannah’s high-tech. Instead, he’s apprenticed with an old woman who focuses on African magic and non-technology gadget-making by combining magic. It’s really neat to see a similar but slightly different approach and that he gets his own individual thing. Some of the inventions they come up with are really neat, and they allow Jason to keep up with the other two and contribute to the team.

About Susan McCauley

Susan is an award winning author of paranormal, fantasy, and horror for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers. She first fell in love with the paranormal when she was three years old and scared witless on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride, but begged her parents to ride again and again! 

Susan has lived on all three coasts of the United States, as well as having spent a few years in the U.K. She loves to travel, scuba dive, practice taekwondo (she's not a black belt - yet!), read, see movies, and go to the theatre. She's also passionate about animals and has a special place in her heart for cats. You can visit her on the web at www.sbmccauley.com

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2 winners will receive a finished copy of book 1 in the GHOST HUNTERS series & swag (Ghost Hunters bag, Evil Eye pendant from Turkey, series branded bookmark), US Only.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

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