Cherie Priest, Wings to the Kingdom

Wings to the Kingdom

Cherie Priest

Tor, October 2006, $14.95

ISBN: 0765313096

On the Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga, Georgia, a ghost materializes in front of picnickers celebrating Decoration Day. Unfortunately, the spirit is unable to speak, but points at an area before dissipating. Other ghosts begin to appear pointing at the same spot. Eden Moore, who can see ghosts refuses to step onto the battlefield because she does not want to cope with the supernatural.

When Eden picks up her half-brother Malachi at Moccasin Bend, an institution for the criminally insane, she sees Old Green Eyes, a sentry who is supposed to guard the Chickamauga Battlefield. She overhears his mumblings to himself that the pact is ended so he can leave the battle area, forcing him to. She also overhears that he is worried about the ghosts who don't have WINGS TO THE KINGDOM. The ghosts need him back as their sentry, as a killer is loose on the battlefield, desecrating their sacred grounds while searching for something. Eden, her friends and two professional psychics investigate what is going on, and find out what it will take to return Old Green Eyes to protect his favorite haunt; none realize that the killer has no compunction about leaving Eden and company haunting the Chickamauga Battlefield as cohorts of Old Green Eyes.

Cherie Priest proves she is no one book wonder (see FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS) with her second novel, a stand-alone ghost story that returns many of the characters from the previous haunting. The plot deploys elements of the traditional ghost story with supernatural fog, foreboding feelings of impending doom, an assortment of spirits, and a specter with a conscience. Character driven, this is must reading for sub-genre fans.