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From left to right: Melody, J.C., "Happy" Jack Plamer
A new series by Simon R. Green, Ghost Finders follows closely in the same vein as his two other urban fantasy series (Nightside and Secret Histories). It follows the adventures of a team from the Carnecki Institute, which wants to Do Something about ghosts (and other weirdness) - JC Chance, a perpetually optimistic, arrogant blowhard (who always turns out to be right, in the end); Melody, the team's tech guru who turns into a Lovable Sex Maniac after hours; and Happy, a "class 11 telepath" on enough drugs to empty out a pharmacy, who can almost never think positively (unless on certain types of the aforementioned drugs). On their tails are members of the rival group, the Crowley Project - Natasha Chang, a sadistic Rich Bitch of a telepath and her sidekick (against her will) ErikGrossman, a physically and socially repulsive scientist with similarly repulsive scientific interests.
The series books are -
- Ghost of a Chance (2010)
- Ghost of a Smile (2011)
- Batman Cold Open: If it's Simon R. Green...
- Came Back Wrong: Kim isn't alive, but she's also much more than a ghost. JC does this on the train, thanks to the Light - he's fine, but his eyes shine through even his sunglasses.
- Canon Welding: Not too overtly done in the first book, but the reference to Timeslips and making certain Nouns proper pretty much places this in the same universe.
- Chekhov MIA: Happy detects three minds outside of his team. We only meet two for most of the book.
- Crapsack World: It's part of the same universe as just about every other Simon R. Green novel... compared to all the others, though, this one takes the cake.
- Dating Catwoman: Humans and ghosts aren't supposed to date, no matter which group you're a part of. Which is admittedly part of why JC does it.
- Deus Ex Machina: JC's manifestation of the Light.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Twice in the first book. The first happened in the Batman Cold Open, where they sent a primordial Presence packing by feeding it a ghost, thus giving it spiritual indigetsion. Then, at the end, they do it again to Fenris. Despite its psychic assaults and the sheer overwhelming power of its presence, the team(s) have been trained to face off against something like him; so, when they finally see him face to face, they merely laugh in its face and throw it way off balance while they formulate a plan.
- Distaff Counterpart: Natasha is a twisted mix of Happy and JC. Erik is the Spear Counterpart of Melody, also twisted (and downright inverted in a lot of areas...)
- Eldritch Abomination: Considering this is Urban Fantasy by Simon R. Green, it'd be disappointing if there WASN'T at least one. In this case, it's Fenris Tenebrae, the Wolf of Shadows who will devour the sun and moon. Or would have, if the team hadn't kicked its ass (metaphorically) back to whichever afterworld it came from
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: JC Chance seems to have the good equivalent.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits:
- Noodle Incident: The team has been working together for several years. These pop up quite often.
- Who You Gonna Call?