The Worthy {A Ghost's Story}

Rating:
Summary: The Worthy isn't.
Review: The Worthy isn't.
What if you fused The Lovely Bones, and the movies Animal House and Ghost together. You would get The Worthy, Will Clarke's new novel about the disembodied spirit of a murdered LSU fraternity pledge. Like his first novel (Lord Vishnu's Love Handles, Middle Finger Press), The Worthy is full of Clarke's biting sarcasm, searing wit and unyielding eye for contemporary culture. He immerses you into the crazy world of fraternity hazing, with more keg parties, flatulence and sorority trysts, that even John Belushi's ghost would be pressed to keep up. But unlike his first book, The Worthy reads more like an extended short story than a fully flushed out novel. As the book's sub-title (A Ghost's Story) suggests, we follow the exploits of the murdered student, Conrad Avery Sutton, III, as he (or his spirit) seeks revenge on the psycho-smarmy leader of the Gamma Chi house, who broke his neck by shoving Sutton down the house's elaborate staircase (I won't get into why). I really wanted The Worthy to take off, but as I read through it, I found myself wanting more from the story than it could possibly deliver. Several characters were left undeveloped, the backstory was thin, and in the end, I was left not really liking any of the characters in this story of revenge and redemption. At 224 pages (and large type), The Worthy is a fairly quick read, so if you're looking for something to blast through on a plane flight, go ahead and give it a try. But if you're looking for a novel that you can spend some time with and sink your mind into, then I'd have to say that The Worthy isn't.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book! 6th Sense+The Skulls+The Tale of the Body Thief!
Review: Will Clarke is such a great author, he reminds me of Anne Rice because you are sucked in and have no idea what is going on around you while you read. This book is so interesting because it is told from the viewpoint of a ghost, but instead of the typical nice naive person who is randomly murdered ghost (Lovely Bones, Dead like me) this is your stereotypical fraternity boy. The frat boy perspective gives it a fresh viewpoint and makes it really relatable because this guy is so normal and not perfect and not all harmonious & pious after death. Like Lord Vishnu, you have no idea where this book is going to go and you can't put the book down. I also liked learning about the inner workings of fraternity rituals which I've always wondered about, hence The Skulls reference above. You can't go wrong with a Will Clarke book and here you have ghost stories, plus the college experience, plus great flushed out characters. If you love interesting books that will make you think, this is for you!