I took a while to get to know and like Dexter, but once I did I really liked this book. Maybe because I liked the original concept so much. Who wouldn't? The book is great for a number of reasons. The sex is hot. The Captain is suitably the perfect stud, and Dexter, the ex-child actor narrator has a delightful turn of bitchiness, especially when describing other people and their clothes. Here's a couple of great examples:Fred must have been about ten years younger. He had darker hair with graying sides, but it was too short for someone with a nose so large. His outfit looked as if he’d raided Madonna’s 1980s closet. He wore a shiny silver shirt covered with a shiny bronze vest. His parachute pants were made out of some kind of plastic material and his shoes were black quarter-boots with three-inch Cuban heels. Dexter hadn’t seen anyone dress like that in years. and then another outfit:He was wearing acid-washed jeans with pegged legs, a red and white striped T-shirt, and thick red socks. He’d been in Madonna’s closet again and he’d forgotten to raid the shoe shelf. His hair was slicked and stiff with product and his eyebrows had been freshly plucked into thin arches.Having been involved in local political groups, I enjoyed the account of the meetings etc. Perhaps learning more about the Captain's seafaring days would have been interesting, but I had the feeling Dexter is a tad self-centred. No doubt, over time he would have learnt more, especially as he writes 40 books about his life...Ryan creates fascinating gay characters and is, in that respect, almost the Jane Austen of our time.Dexter's view of himself is amusing at times.He had never been promiscuous in his life—he could count his lovers on one hand with fingers left to spare—and he hadn’t had sex in a long time. But he did have one quiet little kink—or fundamental flaw, depending on how it was perceived—that he kept to himself. He loved exhibitionism.He paints a probably very accurate picture of life in that gay Mecca, Provincetown.Best of all, what happened in the Provincetown dunes between gay men remained in the dunes. If he spotted someone in town who had seen one of his blatant amateur strip shows, it was never mentioned. They just nodded, smiled, and continued walking.Dexter is an observer, like many of Jane's characters. He sees but he doesn't always understand, as in this reaction of their daughter, Brighton, to his cheating ex-partner:Her reaction to Michael always made Dexter wonder. No matter how many times Michael disappointed her, Brighton never stopped worshipping him. Dexter isn't beyond his own brand of bitchy insincerity at times, but never with the people he cares about: his housekeeper, Marion, his daughter Brighton and the ghost.A good, sweet story.
The story of a man falling in love with a sexy ghost only he can see. I though it was a cute, sweet, very sexy story and maybe just a bit sad. This did not got quite like I thought it would, but I enjoyed it.
What do You think about The Ghost And Mr. Moore (2009)?
I did not find this book remotely romantic. I've read other books where there's a romance with a ghost that were very romantic. This book wasn't one of them. I just found the main character, Dexter pathetic and desperate. I found captain Lang creepy and under developed. The only redeeming characters in the book were the secondary ones, I loved Brighton and Marion. I just couldn't buy that Dexter was passing over chances for a normal healthy relationship for a ghostly obsessive one. Even the 'happy' ending just didn't strike a cord with me. It was too trite. Over all I would say that this book had a good premise but simply didn't get beyond that to being a good book.
—Shanna
