Kathryn Meyer Griffith - Ghost Brother

Friday, January 25, 2013

3. Ghost Brother by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)
Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Book 1
Length: 23 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started/Finished: 25 January 2013
Where did it come from? From Amazon
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 December 2012
Why do I have it? I am beginning to like reading short stories and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

So what happens after you die? Do you go to heaven...or hell? Or do you go to a special place fashioned just for you and based on the life you had lived; how you had treated people...what you did to them during your time on earth? And do ghosts really exist? Do they roam the earth and torment the living, persuading them to do things they shouldn't do? Two brothers and their tale follow...their journey through life and death. Their ultimate reward for the lives they'd lived.

I have to say that I haven't read that many short stories before. So, when I was able to, I decided to splurge and treat myself by buying two of the four stories in Kathryn Meyer Griffith's Spooky Short Stories Series for Kindle as a Christmas present for myself. These stories were originally released in September of 2012 in celebration of the Halloween season.

I like Kathryn Meyer Griffith's writing style and the characters that she creates. I have read seven books by Kathryn Meyer Griffith so far, and have many more of her books waiting on my TBR shelf. I am avidly looking forward to reading them as soon as I can.

Overall, I enjoyed this story very much. The characters were sympathetic up to a point and I never could pinpoint when Gerald - the 'Ghost Brother' in the story - had actually died. I know that both brothers had gone off to fight in Vietnam together, but it was never entirely clear - at least to me - if Gerald returned physically, or as a wraith from Vietnam to haunt his brother Bobby. I give this short story an A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

3 comments:

Kathryn Meyer Griffith said...

Mareena,
glad you liked the short story...it's the harshest of the four. A sort of revenge fable. The others are more like my ususal fare. Your author Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Emeraldfire said...

Hello Kathryn,
Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting on my blog. I can understand how this was perhaps the harshest short story for you to write - to be completely honest, Bobby blaming Gerald for him abusing his wife and child was believable up until Bobby said,

"Gerald would advise me to discipline both Nicky and Tessa, which is something that I would never do - except for the times when they needed to be punished."

I'm paraphrasing of course, but it just seemed to me that Bobby was blaming Gerald for inciting all the anger and violence that Bobby caused his family.

Kathryn Meyer Griffith said...

Ah, but you have to understand...was it Gerald inciting Bobby to do bad...or was it ALL in Bobby's sick mind, because Bobby was just evil?? I wanted the reader to wonder if Gerald the ghost even existed...or if Bobby was just slightly insane. I wanted the reader to think about that....
Kathryn Meyer Griffith