Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Case of Thistledown House
SERIES: Standalone
AUTHOR: Ellis Colton
PUBLISHER: FiresignTen Press
LENGTH: 204 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2024
BLURB:
Zeke Hanson hunts things that go bump in the night. He grew up traveling the country with his dad, who taught Zeke everything he knew. Until his murder forced Zeke into foster care for his remaining teenage years. Outgoing and with an easy charm, Zeke keeps his emotions safely hidden. Especially his ever-deepening love for his foster brother/bestie.
Ian Clark is a smart, intuitive young man with his own tragic past. He’s adored Zeke from their first night as roommates. Zeke’s warmth and kindness made the foster home feel safe. But his feelings for Zeke have grown from admiration and friendship into intense physical yearning.
When Ian witnesses the murder of their foster sister, his plans for community college go on indefinite hold. Instead, he joins Zeke on his hunting travels. They may not be able to stop human monsters, but they can fight the supernatural ones. Spending time together and dealing with dangerous situations deepens their bond, making their secret feelings nearly impossible to contain. The risk of rejection and abandonment is scarier than any monster. But when Zeke’s life is at risk, Ian must make a choice.
Will they admit their love to one another or will it—and Zeke—perish?
REVIEW:
After years of banter and camaraderie, best friends, and ghost hunters, Zeke and Ian hadn’t realized that their relationship had morphed into wanting more. However, with an evil ghost or several threatening the status quo, is their love something they must acknowledge before they’re out of time?
The concept of this story is superb, and after the dramatic prologue, I had high hopes. Ultimately, I suspect this may be a bit of a marmite tale, because there were awesomely spooky elements, but I found myself in that awkward position of wanting to like the whole thing and finding excuses to justify a higher mark.
The story is told in the third person from the viewpoints of Zeke and Ian. How the duo came to be in Ghostbusting is relived via chapters of flashbacks dotted throughout the narrative. Zeke and Ian are lovely people, and due to the couple’s years in foster care and paranormal endeavors, they come across as far older than their early twenties.
The tale comes across as mainly a friends-to-lovers with the backdrop of ghost hunting. Revelations are prompted by various classically familiar scenarios, forcing hidden thoughts to be acknowledged in several ways.
I greatly enjoyed the paranormal parts. The spookiness leaped off the page, and a shiver went down my spine – Bravo. However, there were loose ends, inconsistencies, trespassing on occupied property, and the collateral damage, let alone insurance implications of other actions were conveniently not there due to the done-and-dusted practice without thought to the owners.
I’ve read a lot of paranormal mysteries, and Ian has abilities, which sooo much more could have been made of. So, I was disappointed that the rule of thumb was – to find the ghost, burn the bones, and move on – which admittedly isn’t the whole case here, but it added to the evidence that the paranormal was a means to an end.
Maybe I was overthinking things and should have taken the story at face value instead of its potential. I can understand why many will love this tale – the boys are sweet, Ian is a star, and the ghosts are spooky. However, given the overall impression of some of the elements mentioned above, and the novel’s place amongst others I’ve read, I enjoyed the story but didn’t fall in love with it.
RATING: 
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