Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ghost of Deceit
SERIES: Medium Trouble
AUTHOR: Alice Winters
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
LENGTH: 8 hour and 48 minutes
RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2023
BLURB:
Hiro
Seeing the dead has never been easy, but the last thing I expected was to be a pawn in a serial killer’s game.
Moving in with Maddox was supposed to be the only thing we needed to worry about. Not a dead teacher, and not the fact that a serial killer knows my abilities. Following the trail left behind leaves us racing against time to figure out how to stop the murders before the final victim falls. Thankfully, I’m not alone. Maddox and my wonderful team of unusual ghosts are there to make sure that we don’t end up players in this twisted game.
Maddox
Nothing is drawn to Hiro like danger and ghosts, and this time, he’s managed to find himself tangled in both. Suddenly I find myself caught between protecting Hiro and saving the lives of those who are next on a deadly list. The killer’s mistake is that he doesn’t realize just how far Hiro and I will go, and that we’re going to end this game before the final pawn falls.
REVIEW:
NOTE: This is the third book in this series and as such follows the events of the previous books pretty quickly. There are major spoilers for the those books and multiple references to previous events, so it’s best to read/listen in order.
I don’t want to spoil the story here, but suffice to say that Hiro gets dragged into a mess by a guy named Ambrose, who can also see and talk to ghosts. But he doesn’t have the same ability as Hiro. When a teacher is killed, it sets off a “game” that Ambrose convinces Hiro he has to play or more people will die. He threatens that the last “victim” will be someone close to Hiro and that if he doesn’t “win” the game, that there will be dire consequences for him. Maddox doesn’t like it. It’s clear that Hiro is in danger. Maddox wants to keep Hiro safe, but Hiro wants to save people. They are thwarted at every turn by hostile ghosts who alternately attack and try to help Hiro. There is another player in this game that Hiro can’t figure out how he ties into it – and it takes quite a while to figure out that the game Hiro things he’s playing is indeed not what he thinks it is. And more than one person close to him is ultimately in grave danger. If only he can harness his power to help solve the mystery of what the real goal is and who is really pulling the strings.
While I still really enjoy Hiro and Maddox, I had some issues with this particular story. I found myself frustrated with Hiro. He just doesn’t have as much agency as I expected him to have by this point in the series. Maddox is doing his best to support Hiro, but I keep feeling like Hiro is holding himself back and it was making me irritated with him. I do enjoy Keaton being added to the Hiro’s posse of ghost friends, taking some of Reggie’s sass. Natalie is still largely an unknown, although we do get more clues in this installment which I’m sure will be fodder for future books. The mystery and the villains in this one were particularly heinous. The connections to Hiro and his abilities were slowly revealed and were well written. Poor Hiro really is surrounded by people with some pretty gruesome pasts though! Like nobody had a normal childhood or family? Bizarre. Maddox continues to be Hiro’s biggest fan and ardent supporter. He routinely puts himself in harm’s way to make sure that Hiro is safe. Hiro struggles a lot with the ghosts in this one and it takes him quite some time to figure out that he has more say in the outcome of his life and the horrific circumstances he keeps finding himself in thanks to Ambrose and the “game” that he ensnared him in. In some places the pacing dragged for me – and there were way more than enough porn jokes to go around in this one. I do love Reggie but I was ready for him to give it a rest by the end and hope that he and Keaton will find their footing in the next book.
Greg Boudreaux does another great job with these extremely varied characters. His performance of so many diverse characters was spot on. The continuity in this series is amazing – again given the large regular cast of characters it cannot be easy. His inflection, tone and emotional range particularly for Hiro and Ambrose and Maddox is particularly on point. Hiro is alternately terrified and strong. Maddox is many times frustrated and it’s clear that Mr. Boudreaux totally “gets” all thee characters. Reggie continues to be his OTT self, which keeps the humor rolling. Another outstanding marriage of narrator and characters. Recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: