The Ghost Orchid

Good night! Ms. Goodman has a triumph here. A real good old-fashioned leave-the-bathroom-light-on all nighter of a ghost story. The author's vivid description fits the late-19th century setting and provides the atmosphere without distracting the reader. The two simultaneous plots, one running in 1893 and one in the present, intertwine perfectly. Fans of Jodi Picoult's Second Glance and Sarah Blake's Grange House and Beth Gutcheon's More than You Know are going to love this one. And the action keeps right on rolling. Carol Goodman must have had an out-of-body experience, because the ones that she describes Corinth Blackwell having are one hundred percent accurate. This is going to be one of my top books of the year. Ms. Goodman's husband, who wrote the poetry for the character of Zalman, did a great job as well. As a minor point, the cover is one of the most beautiful I've seen, I may look for the photo to purchase. If you liked The Lake of Dead Languages, you've seen nothing at all until you've seen this story!

I have been a huge fan of Carol Goodman's books, ever since I inhaled "The Lake of Dead Languages". Her writing style, her storytelling ability and her sense of "place" when telling a story are unsurpassed. Her newest book did not disappoint me. It was filled with intrigue, questions, and a deep connection to the upstate New York region she has so captured. The characters were multi-dimensional, and I felt as if I had gotten to each of them. My only disappointment was not wanting the book to end ! It is an excellent read, and I am certain fans of her earlier works will find it engrossing.

Oooh, this was good! I'm usually not spooked by ghost stories of any type, but this one was so well written and the creepy elements were so, well, creepy, I had to reinstate my childhood rule about not reading scary stories after 7PM. I'm a big fan of Ms Goodman's writing, and although this book diverges somewhat from the style of the first three, incorporating a book within a book instead of working off of a legend or fairy tale, still it does not disappoint.

Carol Goodman writes literary gothic novels like no one else right now. I have loved all her books. The Ghost Orchid is the first one to foray into the supernatural and, while some fans may not like that, I loved it and think this is her best book yet. I was a huge fan of Barbara Michaels when B.M. was still writing those novels and there's been a hole waiting to be filled. Carol Goodman has filled it. She's more literary than Michaels, but has an equal ability to create suspense. Also, Goodman's settings are stunning. This one, the gardens and fountains of Bosco, was so amazing it was basically the main character. I highly recommend this book.

This was my first time reading Carol Goodman and I now have a craving for more. She combines so many emotional psychoses the book reads like a psychiatric primer, yet I couldn't put it down after getting past a somewhat leisurely beginning. There are mediums, ghosts, abusive parents and grandparents, betrayed lovers, cheating spouses, ego-riddled writers . . . and in spite of them (or maybe because of them) the books illuminates the spark of pure humanity in its central characters. The gardens and fountains become characters in their own right, to the point where I was drawing maps and schematics inside my head. There are twists and surprises nonstop throughout the final chapters -- so many that you're thinking "What else is left to be revealed?" But Goodman keeps one ace of hearts up her sleeve until the last page - leaving readers happy, satisfied . . . and a little dazed.