Published: May 30, 2008
Words: 34,837 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452300962

Short description

Perry Chaplin is in mourning for his life partner, Bobby - a time of stress, notwithstanding. He gets an unsought lesson in life-after-death that turns his bereavement into a horrific adventure. Come peek through Perry Chaplin's mysterious window. What lies beneath the surface of life and death? What comes in Bobby's wake; in Bobby's trace? Perry Chalin knows. Will you?

Extended description

Do ghosts mourn the living? Perry Chaplin is in mourning for his life partner, Bobby - a time of stress, notwithstanding. The more he drifts, the more he becomes unhinged until he's one room short of a rubber one. "Get a grip, Perry." So he takes his chances on a blind date, which further plunges him along the nightmare highway. He gets an unsought lesson in life-after-death that turns his bereavement into a horrific adventure. Come peek through Perry Chaplin's mysterious window. See what there is to see. Enter Our Lady of Perpetual Grace, where the holy water boils and the confessionals whisper. What lurks in the rectory's attic? What lies beneath the surface of life and death? What comes in Bobby's - in Bobby's trace? Do ghosts mourn the living? Perry Chaplin knows. Will you?

REVISED and EXPANDED for 2010

Review from Rainbow Reviews: (Read more) Do ghosts mourn the living? Perry Chaplin is in mourning for his life partner, Bobby - a time of stress, notwithstanding. The more he drifts, the more he becomes unhinged until he's one room short of a rubber one. "Get a grip, Perry." So he takes his chances on a blind date, which further plunges him along the nightmare highway. He gets an unsought lesson in life-after-death that turns his bereavement into a horrific adventure. Come peek through Perry Chaplin's mysterious window. See what there is to see. Enter Our Lady of Perpetual Grace, where the holy water boils and the confessionals whisper. What lurks in the rectory's attic? What lies beneath the surface of life and death? What comes in Bobby's - in Bobby's trace? Do ghosts mourn the living? Perry Chaplin knows. Will you?

REVISED and EXPANDED for 2010

Review from Rainbow Reviews:

"Perry suffers unending grief at the untimely loss of his lover, who isn't quite as gone away as Perry believes.

Bobby's gone: bright, sparkly, creative, lovable, never-miss-a-trick Bobby, and Perry, Bobby's survivor, cannot cope. He's not sure whether the odd experiences he's encountering, which constantly remind him of his loss, are positive or negative. He just knows the grieving won't end.

Some experiences aren't accountable for by the natural laws of physics, and while those around Perry scoff and attribute them to troublemakers, deep down Perry knows better. His beloved is still reaching out to him in love. However, the living seem able to still anger the dead, and a deceased spirit can wreak job havoc for a computer programmer. Poor Perry: trapped between the unyielding, unforgiving rock of grief and the hard place of exorcism of a spirit whom he loved in life.

A subtle and wry humor never detracts from the intensity of the characterizations, which rather unfold like the peeling of an onion to reveal unexpected layers and depths. The characters belong in the category of "more here than meets the eye at first" and indeed, so does this story, which left me happy I had chosen to read it. I was also left with a quote that quite blew my mind and provoked thought:

"The fiction is never gone when you're in the closet." What an encouragement to do as Socrates recommended and be true to ourselves!"
(Less)

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.

Tags

romance, horror, mystery, gay, ghost, bargain

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Reviews

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Review by: rieta simison on June 02, 2012 :
good
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Sharon E. Cathcart on March 11, 2010 :
In "Bobby's Trace," author Edward C. Patterson has created a ghost story with some rather unusual twists. Protagonist Perry Chaplin is just back after a bereavement leave disguised as a vacation. His partner, Bobby, has been gone a month at the time the book's events occur.

Perry's co-worker, Mary, tells him to go on a blind date and gives him a phone number. His boss, Mrs. Wickersham, tells him to go to church and see a priest.

When Perry dials the number for the blind date, he sets in motion a series of events with entertaining twists and turns. Bobby doesn't want to be dead, Perry's date turns out to be more than he bargained for ... and all of the plot points converge in an unexpected and compassionate manner.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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