5.0 out of 5 starsA super good read
ByJane Hickson October 11, 2015
Format: Paperback
A super good read! It
kept me turning pages to see what happened next. Mr. Chagnons series of books,
in his Chandlerville Chronicles, has me anxiously waiting for his third in the
series to come out! A wonderful trip down memory lane, set in the 1950s,
brought the charm of northern small towns and the suspenseful, and humorous
exploits of teenage brothers and friends close to home of anyone who ever grew
up. :-) The fact that the boy's father owns the local funeral home only made it
more interesting. Add in a ghost trying to tell them something and you have a
fun and fanciful story that's hard to resist.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
ByDona M Criston September 29, 2015
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Enjoyed and great
reading
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5.0 out of 5 starsHE DID IT AGAIN!
ByKindle Customeron September 28, 2015
Format: Paperback
It just keeps getting
better. Usually the next in a series isn't quite as good, but this one was even
better. The author has a way to capture your heart and interest with the good,
bad and ghostly all in one book. I can't wait for the next one. Thank you Chris
for writing.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA Small Town Thriller
ByBob Doniaon September 21, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
“Tom Sawyer” meets
“Nightmare on Elm Street” in this suspenseful coming-of-age tale set in a small
Northern Michigan town. If the genre is commonplace, Christopher Chagnon’s
rendering is not. His characters spring to life on every page to confront the
challenges, disappointments, and crises of adolescence. In the end, they are
forced to confront a mysterious force that threatens to destroy their
community. Their tribulations become all the more poignant as it dawns on the
reader that these kids are thinly-veiled real people living in the
thinly-veiled burg of Chandlerville.
The “Tom Sawyer” in this page-turner is Chris Cosette, a restless teenager who
builds forts in the woods and runs the rapids of swift-flowing rivers in
disregard of the obvious risks. Raised in a family of raucous but close-knit
brothers, Chris knew a great deal about death before he knew much about life.
While working in his father’s mortuary business, he retrieved corpses, embalmed
bodies, and oversaw their burial. As a result, he came to view death with
cavalier, irreverent detachment, and individual deaths became random events
devoid of divine or human significance. With a penchant for defying authority
and testing his elders’ patience, he became the town’s wild child, detested and
feared by almost every deer-hunting, trout-fishing inhabitant (which is to say
all inhabitants) of Chandlerville.
The “Nightmare” of this tale is a murder – nothing less would enthrall the
scion of a mortuary family. The murder in question took place awhile ago -- in
the 1870s. The killing survived in the twentieth century only in furtive shards
of memory, since the real if implausible story was repressed by the
self-protecting city fathers whose ancestry traced back to those years. But one
day, Chris breaks through the mists of history and learns of the murder quite
by accident. Soon thereafter he discovers that mysterious remnants of the deed
still linger among the community’s dark secrets.
How does the youth of this isolated community cope with the plethora of
portents unleashed by evil deeds of long ago? The answer is known to every
third-grader who has written a book report: If you want to know more, you have
to read it yourself. But when you do, be prepared for a riveting, rollicking
tale with twists and turns that resemble Chris’s own biography. And save
yourself from nightmares by staying awake until you’ve turned the last page.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBook Review for “Ghosts of
Presque Isle” by Chris Chagnon
ByChuck Boergeron August 13, 2015
Format: Paperback
As a boy who grew up
in Onaway (Chandlerville) I loved Chris’ first book, “The Dregs of Presque
Isle” because it reminded me of the carefree life of growing up in a small town
and the absolute freedom we had as young boys. As a friend and classmate of
Chris’ older brother, Verdi, I can attest to most of the shenanigans that the
heroes of this series were involved in because I was often right there with
them. So I looked forward to reading Chris’ second effort, “The Ghosts of
Presque Isle” and he absolutely didn’t disappoint in this thrilling historical
fiction novel.
I could certainly identify most of the characters as the story unfolded. His
realistic descriptions of the physical and personality makeup of the main
characters were very believable because, once again, I knew many of the actual
people he was describing. Each of his characters was unique and interesting,
flaws and all. The evil characters were truly evil in this classic tale of a
fight between good and evil. The characters even used the distinctive dialog
that was very common in that small, backward Northern Michigan town. I found
myself easily transformed back 50 years ago as I read.
Because I lived in Onaway (Chandlerville) from 1950 to 1965 I had no trouble
following the action around the area: the factory ruins, the grove, the weeds,
main street, Edna’s store, the old high school, the Tanks, etc. are all real
places of the 50s and 60s era. The author’s great use of descriptive features
put me right there in the scene of action. But, I believe someone who has never
been in that Northern Michigan County could also draw a visible picture of the
place because of Mr. Chagnon’s clear, descriptive detail.
“Ghosts” starts out with the author developing background for his tale.
However, the pace and complexity of the plot quickly grabs the readers’
attention. Mr. Chagnon takes real events and spins his fictional story around
factual accounts. The reader is transformed into “Chris”, the main character,
as he deals with the tragedies that surround him. By the time the author gets
to the sinking of the Carl Bradley (Karl Bremen) very early in the book, I’m
hooked. I remember crying at our dinner table on that 1958 November evening
when my dad told our family of the sinking. Citizens of Onaway all knew men who
worked on the Great Lakes ore carriers. My dad (a Lutheran Pastor) officiated
at a few of the funerals and it was a sad time for the whole County. From that
point on the main character’s visions foretell of more tragic events that are
realized. “Ghosts” is a real page turner – I had my nose into it whenever I had
a minute to read – and found it difficult to put it down. I even had dreams
about it at night.
The thrilling conclusion will surprise most of the readers and the author even
surprises us with a little twist at the end of the book that entices me to want
to read the third book of his trilogy. This novel is a must read for any avid
historical fiction readers who want to get an accurate picture of what it was
like growing up in a small Northern Michigan town.
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5.0 out of 5 starsChildhood fears
ByBruce Don July 16, 2015
Format: Paperback
Reading a Christopher
Chagnon book is like re-living your childhood over again. He takes you back to
your schooldays and you start to remember all the secret crushes you had and
little petty arguments with your best friend. Then there is the dark dark
secrets of the family that no one knows about and you don't dare tell for fear
of the "Bundschuh" but that's a tale for another time. Throw in a dead
body or two, a couple of evil men, and a ghost from the past and you have the
ingredients of a damn fine mystery that keeps you on your toes and afraid to
turn out the light at night. This is an exciting read and I'm looking forward
to the tale continuing in the third book "Soldiers of Presque Isle."
