After a car accident that left him nearly dead, Lyle Hall, a lawyer in Bridgehampton, NY is confined to a wheelchair and has found that he now cares about people's emotions and may even be able to sense what they are feeling. As Lyle approaches an abandoned building, one he would usually fight to demolish in court, an apparition of an adolescent girl named Jewel appears to him in the window and shows him a vision of his daughter's death. With his daughter's death looming, Lyle decides to file a motion to stop the demolition of the building known as the "Old Vic," once thought to be a brothel. However, once the media finds out about Lyle's change of heart and the reasons why, the vultures descend. Lyle is goaded into a contract with FearCom, putting him on prime time TV for his ghostly vision and bringing protestors to the Old Vic. When Lyle visits the Old Vic again, he doesn't come in contact with Jewel, but darker forces. As Lyle's life spirals out of control, the date of his daughter's foreseen death draws closer and he has only succeeded in pushing her farther away.

Ghost Hampton is a paranormal mystery that focuses on what happens in the real world when a person claims that they have seen a ghost or have had a brush with the paranormal. Lyle Hall is the perfect character for this to happen to, a brutal property lawyer who has burned many bridges bringing development to the Hamptons. Now, in trying to save the Old Vic, he has to work with the organizations he is usually fighting. His relationship with his daughter, Georgie is also a large part of the story. Lyle wasn't the best dad, now Georgie helps to take care of him. Lyle enters the media frenzy in an attempt to save Georgie from the vision of her death, but ends up being swept up and abused by the media. I did find it a little hard to believe that Lyle didn't read his contract or couldn't find a way out of it. The media frenzy around the Old Vic and the believers that flocked there was really interesting. People are so quick to dismiss paranormal activity, but we all want to be able to see it for ourselves as well. Ghost Hampton is a longer read with several side stories, so the ghost part sometimes took a back seat. I really wanted to know more about the history of the Old Vic, Jewel and the many forces that seem to be active there. This information comes near the end, but I wish it would have been sprinkled more evenly throughout the story. ( )

Living in the town of Southampton, New York, Lyle Hall had acquired a reputation for being a notoriously tough real estate lawyer. It was a reputation that was certainly well-deserved, as he was known to be a difficult person to deal with - both in and out of the courtroom. He was definitely not the type of person who has ever allowed feelings of sentimentality to get in the way of him doing whatever was in his client's best interest. And if it just so happened that Lyle Hall's own best interests were also met during his career, then so much the better.

However, ever since his catastrophic car accident a year ago, Lyle has undergone a Scrooge-like transformation. The accident was indeed life-changing; it took the life of an elderly woman, and has left Lyle paralyzed from the waist down. After having a near-death experience himself and spending two months in a coma, Lyle Hall has awakened to find that he developed a strange and disturbing new 'talent': he has somehow become empathetic to other people's pain. This recent development in his personality is disturbing for Lyle, because while he certainly understands why the residents of Southampton are grieving, angry, and even hostile towards him; he is nevertheless powerless to make them understand that their assumptions about the accident are completely wrong.

Late one October night - while being driven back home - Lyle passes by a dilapidated Victorian mansion that has recently been slated for demolition. Known around town as "Old Vic" - the ramshackle house has apparently had quite a colorful history as a former brothel. Lyle cannot honestly describe how he feels just driving by Old Vic - but he intrinsically understands that if he mentions the disembodied pleas for help that he hears - nobody will believe him. Returning alone to the property two days later, Lyle sees an apparition standing on the porch of the house.

The vision of the mysterious young woman identifies herself as Jewel, and she looks to be about twelve years old. But she's been dead for at least a century. Jewel has been chosen to make a desperate appeal to Lyle for his help. In return, she shows him an appalling vision - his only daughter Georgia's epitaph - which, if it is to be believed, means that she will die in four days!

Whether or not Jewel is using this terrifying vision in order to force Lyle's assistance - he has no idea - yet the nightmarish vision serves as the catalyst that shocks Lyle out of his complacent convalescence and back into the real world. However, Lyle's court injunction to save the crumbling Old Vic backfires on him. When Lyle's former courthouse nemesis - a newspaper columnist with a hidden agenda - publishes a sensational story designed to embarrass Lyle, the resulting rumors of a possibly haunted house brings with it a flurry of national media attention. Soon a horde of paranormal-obsessed demonstrators - paranormal investigators and ghost-hunting paranormal enthusiasts alike - descend on the town of Southampton.

Rapidly swept up in the national media frenzy, Lyle finds himself trapped between the proverbial rock and a hard place when he meets the extraordinary Miranda Silkwood. Silk, as she is known to her fans, is a gorgeous yet highly devious television reporter. While his new nemesis may only be scheming to make her big break into the legitimate news business - biding her time working with an online media conglomerate dedicated to all things paranormal - Lyle nevertheless finds himself being seduced by Silk's offer of an exclusive media contract. Faced with an impossible situation - to either sit down with Miranda Silkwood for an exclusive interview; or continuing to try and protect his Georgie's wellbeing without her knowledge - Lyle initially stumbles badly.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I appreciated just how much Lyle Hall may have changed personally because of his accident, but also understood that he faced an extraordinary dilemma: proving to his neighbors that he is now an entirely different person. I would certainly say that this story is a lot like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - however, Ghost Hampton: A Novel focuses more on what happens after Lyle Hall undergoes his Scrooge-like transformation. I would certainly give this book an A! and am curious to see how this story will develop in future books. ( )

I must say that this book is hilarious! Not because of the fact that the protaganist, Lyle, has been injured in a car accident and is now in a wheelchair, not it is hilarious because of what he is attempting to do. See I think that Lyle is really bored with his "new" life and needs something to do with his time.

Enter a haunted house, Old Vic, has been around over 100 years, run down, only used by the homeless, mice and spiders, well also by the ghosts. Lyle sees an apparition of a young girl, who asks him for help. Old Vic used to be a brothel back in the day and there are some unhappy spirits that reside there. Lyle petitions the court to preserve this house. Not something they want to do. It is to be torn down to make way for a children's playground. Lyle has also seen his daughters name on a headstone and the date of death is looming for her. Lyle feels that saving this old house will also save his daughter. She is a detective who is investigating a drug and prostitution ring puts her in danger.

A psychic by the name of Silk has discovered the story and exploits Lyle, plus a tv reporter out to better herself both put Lyle back into his old habits of drinking and eating the wrong thing. As his life turns into a media circus, how will Lyle save his daughter and gain respect in the community?

With a cast of crazy characters, this book will make you laugh out loud and shudder at the same time. I enjoyed this book immensely and since this is book one, I look forward to further adventures of Lyle and the Hampton's!

This review is voluntary ( )

I’ve never read a book like this one before. Lyle Hall is a controversial Bridgehampton lawyer with a myriad of issues. While recovering from a serious auto accident and in retirement, he sees an apparition of a young girl at a soon-to-be-demolished falling down mansion in town. Lyle does not really know what to make of it, but the bigger problem for him is that this Victorian era girl also shows him a gravestone with his daughter’s name and date of birth and death on it. However, no one believes him. They only know that Lyle caused the car crash with the new ability to sense peoples’ suffering. Though no one believes him in town, after filing paperwork to save the mansion from demolition, a media circus of interested paranormal enthusiasts flocks to the area, causing unbelievable confusion. Lyle has become a media celebrity to those interested in the paranormal and to those interested in gawking at this once well-known town lawyer. One thing follows another. Lyle ends up not really understanding thing and making a real mess of the situation.

I found the book interesting but, unlike many other reviewers, whose reviews I read on-line, the book did not grab me and keep in suspense. I disliked Lyle and found few of the other characters also not very interesting or likable. Still, the characters were developed fairly well and the setting and descriptions are also good. But, I did not particularly like the story pot. I noticed a lot of hoopla on the Internet surrounding the story, but could not really understand it all and found it interesting that, weeks after the book came out, there were few reviews posted for what was supposed to be a fantastic book. Most of the reviews were flowing, though my take on the book led me to wonder why. I guess I prefer a different type of book, and this one did not “get to” me. I had great difficulty getting into the book, and, once in, had difficulty staying with it, and probably only stayed because I got the book free to review, and wanted to keep my end of the bargain. I have not read anything else by this author, so have nothing to which I can compare it. Before adding his name to my must-read list, I will have to think about it and how I felt about this book. I received this book from NetGalley to read and provide an honest review. ( )