Adventure on the high seas.

I really enjoyed this Young Adult adventure, which takes place in a refurbished Chinese Junk, with its crew of troubled teens. Already the scene is set for a assortment of misfits and interesting interactions. What made this book different, was the main character, fifteen-year-old James McCafferty, who can see auras and hear the voices of the dead.

The youngsters who made up the crew of the Good Fortune were all sent on the vacation "trip of a lifetime" by parents who couldn't cope with them; or just wanted an easy summer. As soon as James set foot on the boat he felt the presence of spirits from the past and started to feel uneasy. However, there was a girl on the boat who he liked the look of, so he climbed on board with the rest.
The adult crew consisted of captain, second mate and a social worker to manage the teenagers. They are determined to get the youngsters actively involved and set up all sorts of training and rotas. The crew must all take part in turns on watch, including through the night. A lot of the traditional methods are followed; the night watches are timed by the burning down of incense sticks. However, when trouble strikes and the emergency systems fail, the old methods are all that's left.

This was well written and the audiobook was well read by Aaron Landon. It was well on the way to being a 5* read until we hit the part where the spirit of the eunuch from the Ming Dynasty, more than 600 years earlier, speaks. I'm afraid I found this part drawn out and overdramatised, I would have skimmed it if I'd been reading but that's not so easy with an audiobook.
That part aside, however, this was tastefully handled and full of atmosphere.
Recommended for teens and adults alike.

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Water Ghosts

The story of the audiobooks moves smoothly forward with engaging characters that everyone can relate to, whether you are a young reader or an adult

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3 people found this helpful

Enjoyable Ghost Story

Myself and my nieces very much enjoyed this YA offering about a young lad, James, who has what we in the UK would call 'the sight'.

His Ma and her current boyf send him on an off-beat version of summer camp - a voyage on a wreck of a Chinese junk.

Bullied and marginalised, James does at least have his special gift; but his summer would have been so much less troublesome without it...

There is adventure, the paranormal (or normal if you are 'sighted' yourself) a gorgeous old boat and a very believable young narrator in this audio-book.

Recommended.

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Ghosts of ancient china meet youth of today

This story tells a tale of coming of age. Not a sweetie-pie, goodie-2-shoes kind of tale, one with real troubled-teen characters full of easy to identify with angst, fears, ego and need to be either all-powerful or just plain liked.
The lead character is a genuinely mixed up kid - 'gifted' with a special skill that is the stuff of nightmares...ones that come to life in all to real ways. There's plenty of character twists, apprehension, suspense and moments where you're holding your breath willing the next words to save the day!
I really enjoyed the listen - it's an unusual story that brings in little bits of history and Chinese culture through pretty unique snippets of myths and legends.
I was given a free copy for an honest review. If you like ghost stories, go for it. It's a good one

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Interesting story

Water Ghosts is the story of James, a fifteen-year-old boy sent on a working holiday by his mother. His vacation is set aboard a ship, a Chinese Junk. The voyage is for wayward teens. However, he soon becomes convinced that the voyage is doomed and that there are ghosts aboard the Junk.
James is a troubled boy and throughout the story the author keeps you guessing as to whether he has a mental illness or if he really is psychic.
The narration was good but I did speed it up a little. As for the storyline, I enjoyed getting to know all the characters.

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