Entertaining the Alien

17. Billie's Ghost, Chad Hautmann

Free books are a major perk of my new job--that much I knew going into it. What I didn't know was that occasionally advance proof copies of new books come through, sometimes months before they're published. Plume is publishing Billie's Ghost in November of this year, but I was lucky enough to get a copy during a marketing meeting this week. (Of course, as it turns out, Plume is reprinting the novel--apparently it came out a couple of years ago from a small press.)

Anyway, the book itself treads that fine line between literary spec fic and magical realism. The main character, Casey, is a widower who may or may not be haunted by the ghost of Billie Holiday. Whether she's a figment of his depressed imagination or not, she serves to help him get over his wife's sudden death. The book has a great, moody feel to it. It's not perfect, at times it feels a little fractured and uneven, but it's a short, involving read. It's worth keeping an eye out for it when it comes out in November.