ghost tvRating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel


Victor Bayne hasn’t talked to his close friend Lisa in a while since she has been at the PsyTrain facility in California. But when he tries to reach her through email and her account is full, Vic knows something is off.  After a call to California, Vic and Jacob learn that Lisa is missing, along with her PsyTrain roommate, Karen.  At first the folks there just thought Karen had left the program, but with both women missing it is definitely suspicious.  Vic and Jacob race of to California determined to figure out what happened to Lisa.

Before they can get there, they are waylaid by Con Dreyfuss from the Federal Psychic Monitoring Program. Con has been trying to get Vic to come work for him and Victor wants nothing to do with the man who he is certain they can not trust (the fact that the FPMP is spying on him and Jacob certainly doesn’t help matters). But Vic soon realizes he needs to work with Con or he has no hope of ever getting to Lisa.

When the three men arrive in California and the PsyTrain facility, they find a lot of strange things going on. First off, Con has a surprise for Victor that he is not sure is a blessing or a curse.  Then two more people go missing and someone from Victor’s past ends up in the center of it all.  Victor and Jacob thought they had a handle on their psychic abilities, but things are going all out of whack at PsyTrain.  Meanwhile Victor is stuck in an alliance with Con and can’t figure out if he can trust the man or should be watching his back.  Through it all time is wasting and Lisa is still missing.  Victor and Jacob must use all their efforts to figure out what happened to Lisa and the other missing psychics before it is too late.

Hurray! I am finally caught up on my reread of the fabulous PsyCops series by Jordan Castillo Price.  This is the last book I am rereading in anticipation of finally getting to her latest book (which I am sad to say is almost a year old already).  But I adore this series so much I was determined to review them all before starting the newest one, so here we are. Yay!

Ok, so as I have mentioned before, these books tend to split time between a mystery or investigation involving either Vic or Jacob and their police partners.  These are wrapped up within each individual book and give us a feel for how the PsyCops teams work, as well as for all sorts of funky supernatural stuff the guys uncover.  The series then has a larger, overarching plot that focuses primarily on Victor and his background training in Camp Hell, as well as the overall world of psychics.  As the series has moved forward, the smaller mysteries have taken a back seat to the larger world building, something I have really enjoyed, especially in the fourth and fifth books, Secrets and Camp Hell.  We have learned more about psychics in general, but particularly about the role Victor and Jacob play, and their new knowledge of the government involvement through the FPMP.

Here in GhosTV, things take a slight turn again in that we really learn a lot about the larger psych world in some new ways.  First off, the Ghost TV from way back in Roger Burke days makes an appearance, and Victor and Jacob struggle to figure out just what exactly it does and how to use it. The TV has some unanticipated effects, leading to Victor exploring a talent he didn’t even know he had. This story delves into astral projection and the different planes of existence and Vic and Jacob begin to learn about a whole new aspect of the psych world.  I will say I was of mixed feelings here. I found some of this really fascinating, and other aspects a little hard to follow. There is just so much happening here, with a lot of new ideas and concepts being introduced, and at times I felt a little lost. I am someone who wants to understand EVERYTHING and I think I got bogged down in the details when I probably should have been focusing on the broader story. But I do love the way Castillo Price continues to expand this world and give us new aspects to learn and make it grow.

One of the things I really love about this story is the way there is a larger theme of perception versus reality interwoven into the storyline that carries throughout the book.  We start off the story with Victor getting a few off-handed comments that make him start to worry about how he looks physically, and the fact that he is sort of gangly and unathletic compared to his hunk of a boyfriend.  Jacob has always clearly been infatuated with Victor, so there is no real basis for his concern.  But Victor finds himself suddenly very aware of how he looks and whether he is worthy of Jacob. What is interesting is that when his defenses are down, we see Jacob has similar insecurities.  Victor can hardly believe that his gorgeous boyfriend, who is basically perfection personified, has any doubts about Vic’s attraction, but it is clear Jacob feels insecure at times as well.  Then we see the theme on a larger scale when we learn about astral projection, and the way that people see themselves becomes the way they project their image to others.  I was so impressed to see the way the author weaves all these elements together, taking these small bits from around the book and pulling them all together into a bigger picture.

GhosTV is much less intense on the sexy times than the past couple of books, but I really love how connected Victor and Jacob are here.  It has been clear that these guys are hot for each other all along, and we know their love for one another is strong.  But here we see their love and connection physically manifested in a new way that shows us how bonded they are as a couple.  I will say that Victor and Jacob are probably in my top handful of couples ever and this story just reinforces why I love them so much together.

So yep, I am now (finally) ready to start reading the most recent book in the series.  It has taken me a while, but I am so glad I took the time to reread this series because it is just so very good, one of my favorite of all time. Hopefully I have tempted some of you along the way to pick it up because it is definitely worth it.  I can’t wait to see what is next!

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