Fish and Ghosts

Hellsinger, Book 1

By: Rhys Ford

Narrated by: Tristan James

Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

When his Uncle Mortimer died and left him Hoxne Grange, the family's Gilded Age mansion, Tristan Pryce became the second generation of Pryces to serve as a caretaker for the estate, a way station for spirits on their final steps to the afterlife. Tristan is prepared for challenges, though not necessarily from the ghosts he's seen since childhood. Determined to establish Tristan's insanity and gain access to his trust fund, his loving relatives hire Dr. Wolf Kincaid and his paranormal researchers, Hellsinger Investigations, to prove the Grange is not haunted.

Skeptic Wolf Kincaid has made it his life's work to debunk the supernatural. After years of cons and fakes, he can't wait to reveal the Grange's ghostly activity is just badly leveled floorboards and a drafty old house. More than a few surprises await him at the Grange, including its prickly, reclusive owner. Tristan Pryce is much less insane and much more attractive than Wolf wants to admit, and when his team releases a ghostly serial killer on the Grange, Wolf is torn between his skepticism and protecting the man he's been sent to discredit.

©2013 Rhys Ford (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

refreshingly unique

Enjoyed the modern, different take on a haunting combined with irrestible romance. This is must read for anyone who enjoys this genre. Rhys Ford did wonderful job painting a picture of the old inn, spectra, and combative budding romance. And Tristan James did a phenomenal job bringing it to life.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the series

I really loved Tristan's confidence. He knows he's seeing ghosts in his home and he's completely sure it will all work out in the end. And it does. Great book, buy it!

Good story

I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get when I read Rhys Ford, but I know I'm going to enjoy it! A very interesting ghost story where you're never quite sure who all the ghosts are. Loved the chemistry between Tris and Wolf and the "word" play! Tristan James was an excellent narrator. Looking forward to listening to the next installment!

nice and easy

I like some of Rhys Ford's books, and some I don't.
This is one of the good ones.
it is nice, easy and sometimes fun.
A thoroughly enjoyable and well narrated book.

Amazing ghostly world building.

Take one amazing story by Rhys Ford and add a dash of Tristan James and you have an almost perfect cocktail. .. Garnish with a reference to Sinner's Gin and an amazing level of world building and perfection is attained.
Rhys has such a lyrical style that it is easy to fall into and as such I find myself always looking forward to her next book.
Tristan James is such an amazing narrator that I believe I could listen to him read the tax code and I'd still be entranced.
If you want hot, with sides of scary, and romantic, then this work ranks with the best.

Very Clever

Clever and funny. When you're in the mood for an interesting paranormal romance, I promise you'll thoroughly enjoy Fish and Ghosts by Rhys Ford. Nobody describes MM loving better than Rhys Ford, and where better than in this creative ghost motel.

Audio version beautifully performed by Tristan James.

Ghosts, romance, heat, humor, heart - its all here

Audiobook Review October 2019:
My original review four years ago was short and sweet but so on the mark I don't know what else to add. Tristan James is a perfect narrator when it comes to portarying Tristan and Wolf's journey, the voices for each character jumps off the page and makes them so real I expected to look up and find myself face to face with the boys and Winifred the ghost.

There's just something about Fish and Ghosts that appeals to my love of classic Hollywood horror, both A- and B- quality films. For some, that would mean cheesy bordering on comical but for those of us who love that genre and era, the old black and white tales of horror are anything but comical and neither is Fish and Ghosts. Okay, maybe there is plenty of humorous banter and flirting between Tris and Wolf but for me that only makes the ghostly elements that much more macabre and menacing. The humor gives cause to the reader to let their guard down so when Winifred strikes it can knock you sideways, you know the moment in a horror film where the theater audience laughs out loud, suddenly grows quiet, and then lets out a collective scream. Fish and Ghosts does that to you.

Original ebook Review October 2015:
When I was searching for paranormal reads for October I asked around and Hellsingers by Rhys Ford was recommended more than once so I decided to check it out. The connection between Tristan and Wolf jumps off the page and you can just feel it in every fiber of your being. The secondary characters may be secondary by definition of their page time but not by their contributions to the story. Don't even get me started on the creepiness of Winifred the ghost, shudders just thinking about it.

Stellar narrator, writing could be better.

Would you consider the audio edition of Fish and Ghosts to be better than the print version?

I don't have the print version, but since I bought this title specifically because it was narrated by Tristan James, then I'd have to say I prefer the audio version. I did buy the ebook at the same time as the audio version because of whisper sync, but I haven't even opened it.

Would you recommend Fish and Ghosts to your friends? Why or why not?

Probably for people who like the author or those who want something like the show Supernatural with an m/m romance aspect.

What does Tristan James bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Everything. He brings everything. This wasn't an especially interesting story, the flowery descriptions during the sex scene and the epithets used instead of character names (referring to Tristan as 'the blonde' for example even after he and Wolf have known each other for awhile) was somewhat annoying but Tristan James' narration made the book bearable. I've gone through enough Rhys Ford books by now to know that her writing just isn't my cup of tea, but Tristan James and his sultry voice is addictive to listen to so he remains on my auto-buy list.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The epilogue when Wolf 'hired' the ghost cook. I don't know, just felt sorry for her.

Any additional comments?

Nada.

super great read (listen)

this book has it all - great narration that keeps you interested in the story from start to finish - So good in fact that I listened to it twice just because - and of course it demands that you buy the next book because the characters become your extended familly.

Tristan James nailed it!

I’ve had this book on my TBR for a long time now and figured I needed to change that and actually pick the book up. I’m so glad that I did, I loved every minute of it.

When Tristan Pryce was about nineteen he inherited the family estate, Hoxne Grange, from his uncle. With the estate came a huge responsibility and one few people understand and even fewer believed in. The estate was a way station for spirits crossing over into the afterlife. Tristan’s job was to check the guests in for the duration and in general take care of the estate and its inhabitants; be it Jack the dog that won’t stop playing fetch, to the Victorian cook coming around every Tuesday asking for a job. It’s a life he can’t imagine not doing, it’s who he is in his core.

Unfortunately his family is far from supportive and do not believe in spirits or things that go bump in the night. They hire Wolf Kincaid from Hellsinger Investigations, who is dedicated to disprove all paranormal activity. They hope Wolf will help them declare Tristan mentally ill in hopes to take over the coveted estate. Wolf does not believe in the paranormal – even though his family has made a living out of it for a very long time. Still he wants to expose frauds and is convinced the job at Hoxne Grange will be another routine one. It’s not long until things really do go bump in the night, and unexplainable things starting to happen. And when one of his team accidentally lets a ghostly serial killer loose things take a turn for the dangerous.

This is my kind of book. I don’t mean to say that I want to read them exclusively, but still, I loved this story. The ghosts. Tristan’s abilities. The overall feel and atmosphere of the book. It hooked me from the start, feeding my addiction to know more and more of the strange place that was the Grange.

I enjoyed Tristan and Wolf together. The instant dislike, the griping and bickering. Nothing too serious – but they were not friends. Then strange things started happening around the manor and Wolf started opening up, just a tiiiiny bit mind you, to the possibilities that the estate might just be haunted after all. The romance, once started, was a bit fast. I mean Wolf and his team only spent a few days at Hoxne Grange yet they still developed something deep... I’m sceptic but it’s also something I can live with.

Tristan James really worked for this book. There’s something about his earlier works that really does it for me. He captured Tristan and Wolf the essence of the house. He took you to the Grange where you met Jack, saw the fireflies and felt the wonder. He brought it to life, from Tristan’s dedication to the spirits coming to the estate to Wolf’s exasperation and scepticism of all things paranormal. It was all there in his voice and it made it a joy to listen to for these past hours.

Fish and Ghosts was a really good start for a series and I can't wait to listen to the next one to see what else might happen. Maybe Wolf will turn into a true believer and leave all of his scepticism behind?

A copy of this book was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes.