Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

This is a terrifying and highly plausible horror story.

Thoroughly engaging and unputdownable.

This tale will stay with you for long after you read the final page.

Graham Masterson once again proves why he sits high above many other authors of the same genre. His throne is secure.

I rate this as 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Rob Zombie film in a book. Tons or gore, violence, and body horror. People are being infected with the desire to kill, and two detectives have to find the cure.

I have read many Graham Masterton novels over the years probably starting with The Manitou all those years ago.
Mostly they are very good but there is a lot of dross with such a prolific author who does a book a year at least.
This one requires you to suspend your disbelief about haunted clothes and just have fun with,not his best but still pretty good I must say.

This book is so good. Great characters, compelling plot, amazing setting. Will definitely recommend this book. Can't wait for the public to discover it!

Ghost Virus by Graham Masterton is a horror novel that simply does not horrify. It is intense and visceral but in the end, the monster/creature simply does not do it. I am a big Graham Masteron fan and on his name alone, I picked up this novel and read it. But even Masteron's powerful writing style could not make this a book I can recommend.

"...BEWARE, BELOW THERE BE SPOILERS!!!!...."

"...Samira had been staring into her dressing-table mirror all morning before she summoned up the courage to burn off her face.
You are not me, she whispered to herself. Whoever you are, you are not me..."

DC Jerry Pardoe and DS Jamila Patel of Tooting Police investigate the crime scene of a young woman who has been murdered. Sulfuric acid had been poured over her face until all that was left was bone. It had been splashed on her, but slowly poured. It took time and the pain must have been excruciating. What troubles Pardoe and Patel is that the young woman showed not signs of struggling or being restrained. But then a young husband who never showed any signed of violence murders his wife and a young woman kills her boyfriend. But it doesn't stop there. A local school Principal begins throwing children out a second story window and a young girl murders her parents. Worse than the killings, is that they had also begun to eat their victims, consuming the flesh raw and in some instances, cooking them.

Pardoe and Patel have come to realize that there is a virus of some kind that is causing these psychotic episodes. These acts of extreme violence and cannibalism. But what they find is difficult to understand and even far more difficult to prove.

"...It's not possible,' said Jerry, shaking his head. 'I'm asleep, and this is a dream. Well-no it's not, it's a nightmare.'
'It is possible,' Jamila told him. She was clenching her fists and her voice was very level, but Jerry could tell that she was shocked and upset. 'It is possible in the same way that all spirits are possible.'
'I don't get you.'
Jamila looked up at him. He had yet to see her expression so serious. 'Just because people in the West have lost their belief in their God, and everything that cannot be explained by science, that doesn't mean for a moment that they no longer exist. I believe that ghosts exist, Jerry, and I believe that evil spirits exist, and that they can possess anything and everything..."

Okay, here is the big reveal, the spoiler and the main reason i simply could not take this horror novel seriously.

The evil spirits/ghosts are possessing used clothing. That kind you would pick up at a Goodwill.

The clothing attaches to the host body and causes the possessed to do these horrible and graphically described crimes. Soon the clothing does not even need a host body and just goes forth to murder and mutilate at its leisure, that is if it is a leisure suit. Okay that was bad. But clothing given to a charity resale outlet?

Of course the Ghost Virus then moves on to newer clothing because as it is explained. Many clothing manufacturers use threads and fabric from used clothing to make new. So what we have here is clothing going around and killing people. Not just killing, but dismembering and tearing their internal organs out. There is one scene where an article of clothing, after tearing off a young woman's underwear, enters her vagina and proceeds to grip her uterus and graphically rip her inside out. Masterton writes graphic depictions of violence, all his novels are this way and it may be too much for some readers.

But the graphic violence is not what failed me here. Nor is it Masterton's writing because he is a very gifted writer. Check out his Katie Maguire or Beatrice Scarlett series of mysteries and you will become a huge fan of his work. Only with Ghost Virus, less than a third of the way through, I kept thinking...doesn't anyone have a match? A lighter? Hell, how about a military grade flamethrower!

I literary kept reading just to see how long it would take them to figure it out. But no, instead they are shooting bullets into the mass of clothing attacking them and getting torn apart. There is a scene toward the end where one of the cops takes a chain saw to one of the possessed jackets and hacks it to pieces. All I could think of was Ash in Evil Dead. It was shortly after this that fire came in to fight the clothes.

I believe it was Stephen King who said, and I am paraphrasing here, that the two most difficult genres to write in are comedy and horror. Because horror, when not executed, becomes comedy. The moments that should feel you with dread are actually funny and then, well sad.

Ghost Virus falls somewhere in there.

A terrific writer that just missed on this one for me.

This was a well-written story that seemed to get away from the author and gain a life of its own. It starts strong, but some of the elements detract from the narrative and ensures the boon fails to deliver what it promises.

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love horror books and that was what prompted me to request this book for review. However, after starting this book I soon came to the conclusion that this was not what I thought it was going to be. The beginning of the book was basically like watching a police show. When I got to the middle of the book I was reminded of the walking dead mixed with NYPD or CSI. The book was written very well but it just seemed to be all over the place.

This book just wasn't for me. Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the advance copy of this publication.

I really have no idea how to rate this one. The first half of the book wasn't bad at all, and read like a British police procedural, with a DS and DI investigating linked murders. In the second half, the book went off the rails, and I felt like I went from watching a CSI episode to Shawn of the Dead.

The writing wasn't bad, but it seemed like the author lost control of the plot, and it ran wild.

This book is like Marmite®, you are either going to love it or hate it ... well I can't stand Marmite® but I really quite enjoyed this book ... I found it rather entertaining in a strange sort of way although I must admit that it did get a little OTT which had me giggling to myself and shaking my head at times BUT it did make me tell loads of people about it and isn't that the point?

Well written, good pace, great characters and a very unique story line makes this a pretty good read but it does contain a lot of violence, gore and graphic descriptions of death so be warned ... it is not for the fainthearted so if you don't like that type of thing, I would give this a wide berth if I was you.

Over the years, I have read a lot of Graham Masterton's books and I have never been disappointed and even though this probably isn't one of his best, I will carry on reading his stories and will continue to be entertained that I have no doubt.

Thank you to the publisher, Head of Zeus, via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Murderers, wearing used clothing - what a concept, such a brilliant idea and I loved it! Deaths were gory and horrific and not for anyone who is the slightest bit squeamish. I shuddered and laughed my way through this book and couldn’t bear to put it down, apart from mealtimes. It grabs you instantly until the final page when there’s another shock waiting. Have always enjoyed this author’s horror stories and this one definitely didn’t disappoint - more please!

A good read with plenty of gruesome scenes. Who would have thought second hand clothes could be so sinister. A really good read that will make your stomach turn.

When I think of Graham Masterton I think horror, gruesome, violent horror surrounded by a well written book. I'm not saying this isn't well written, it is, it's just different.

It's violent, gory, has a good main cast, it's a quick read and it involves evil clothes. Yes, evil clothes. That's not a spoiler as it's mentioned in the synopsis but you just want to know what the fuck is this guy on to actually write a book with that as a plot point?

It is a fun read for people who want a weird ass horror book and wants to spend a couple of days side-eyeing their clothes hitting them with a stick every time they hear a strange noise. Ah, good times.

The humour gives it some levity in the face of all the violence and I love that, the mixture of both helped me fly through it even though it is a bit silly and that's why it's a 3 from me.

*Huge thanks to Graham Masterton, Head of Zeus and NetGalley for this copy which I chose to read and all opinions are my own*

As far as I know, I'd never read a book by this author, but I had heard from friends that anyone who liked horror novels needs to check out his books. I have always been a fan of creepy horror novels from the likes of Stephen King and Richard Laymon, so I figured this book would be right up my alley. However, I found that while it lived up to the gore of what I was expecting, I didn't enjoy the rest of the book. To me, I found myself more relating to the cops while they say things like "None of this makes any sense".

A part of me kept reading the book long after I'd given up hope of finding any kind of enjoyment from it past the more traditionally gory death scenes, simply to see if it ever really made any sense. Unfortunately, I found my answer was a no. I kept expecting there to be some kind of horror creeping up slowly through the book that would jump out eventually like a bad movie ghost leaping from the closet to yell "BOO". But the only thing leaping from the closets were sweaters with a taste for blood.

I rated this book 3/5 stars and I feel that was a bit generous. I mostly gave it this rating because of the newness factor to the killer clothes idea and the gory death scenes that kept appearing. However, if those things didn't exist, the rating would have been much lower.

I love a good horror story. Sadly, this one didn't do it for me. This was way too gruesome and gross. The descriptions didn't add anything to the horror. I honestly had to skip a few of the scenes because it was making me ill. I worked with kids and have seen a lot of gross stuff, but this was beyond what I could handle. The idea of the storyline was a good one but the gross factor detracted from the good parts. If you like your horror gory and gross then this one could be for you!

This is my first time with Graham Masterton. I found the minutes I spent with him to be thrilling and horrible at the same time. Ghost Virus is a mystery/horror story expounding on the warning, “be careful wihen you shop at thrift stores or buy antiques. You may get more than you bargained for.” However, while Ghost Virus is a bargain on Amazon, Masterton makes sure you get your money’s worth and more. Fun read. I would read his other work.

GHOST VIRUS, by Graham Masterton is a book that I have completely mixed feelings on. On one hand, Masterton is a genius when it comes to "original" horrific threats, and this certainly fits the bill. However, there was just "too much" repetition of everyday things that ramped up the page count unnecessarily. For example, I lost count of the number of times the main characters took a triple expresso break. . . .

The premise here is pretty clear with the title GHOST VIRUS: some sort of virus that infects clothing, causing the new wearers to do things that they would never have done under ordinary circumstances. The idea was one that did capture my attention at first, and the graphic, gory death scenes were fantastically detailed for horror fans. These I had no issues with.

In addition to the added/unnecessary data, I felt that many of the different parts of the novel were left unresolved. The opening scene was incredible and really grabbed the reader's attention. However, the cause of demise there is quite different from the ones that occur later on; yet this is never addressed or even "commented" on by the detectives in charge. You would think that the initial instance that they know of having a vastly different "outcome" would have been brought up at some point. Also, while I did enjoy the theory behind the virus, I felt it took entirely too long to give any indication of it, and by the time it was revealed, the book was almost over. The "resolution" felt very rushed to me on account of this, and after 400 pages, I would have liked a little more discussion as to the hows and whys.

Overall, this novel is one that really had me conflicted throughout my reading. One minute, I was loving the scenes, and the next, I felt like I was reading 1/2 hour of wasted "filler". A great premise for a story, but I feel the execution could have been a lot smoother overall.

**Copy received through NetGalley in exchange for a review.**

Thank You to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay where do I begin
. Even though I find this to be a unique spin on virus spread, the idea of clothes coming to life and attacking people was just a little too nonsensical for me. I'm writing this review about a month after finishing the book and to be honest I don't remember many of the details. Not to say I didn't enjoy the book, because I did, I just had to put away my sense of realism. This book was a cross of what I was expecting, medical mystery, mixed with a dose of the fantastical.

Good summer read.

Loved it! To think that I almost didn't read it because of the negative reviews. I'm so glad that I did. There were horrifying parts as well as humorous bits scattered about. The only part I did not care for was about Snout. A solid, well written read. I recommend it.