Have you ever read a book that you think is going to be one thing but in reality it is something almost entirely different? Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo is one such book. It tells the story of Andrew, a young man who had been planning to move to Nashville to join his friend Eddie at school there. Before he has the opportunity Eddie is found dead of what appears to be suicide. Having been such close friends Andrew refuses to believe that and starts investigating Eddie’s life in Nashville, a life without Andrew. He meets his new roommate Riley, an inheritance from Eddie when he inherited Eddie’s house, and Riley’s cousin Sam along with their group of street racing friends. Andrew also starts trying to navigate school life as he meets Eddie’s student mentor and faculty advisor who are pushing for him to continue Eddie’s research into local ghost stories, a subject that Andrew has studiously avoided since he was a teenager. However, perhaps the most difficult thing for Andrew to handle as he investigates is the fact that he is being haunted, quite literally, by the ghost or revenant of Eddie. One that is becoming increasingly more persistent and possessive over time.
I picked this book out because I thought it would be about a guy struggling to come to terms with his best friend’s death. Something that I think anybody would struggle with honestly, I know I would. However, I was only a couple of chapters into the story when the revenant showed up for the first time and I was like, whoa, this wasn’t described as a ghost story or being paranormal in any way. Don’t get me wrong, I greatly enjoyed the story and found the writing incredible but I was not in any way prepared for ghosts or the paranormal when I started. The story was well written and does a good job of gradually building the suspense over time. Especially with how it is tied in with the building mystery surrounding Eddie’s death. The more that gets revealed the more questions there are and so on and so forth. There are definite times where it seems like Andrew is struggling to get traction. I will admit that struggle is as much about his investigation into Eddie’s death as it is about him struggling with what that investigation reveals. Realizing what had actually been going on between him and Eddie was difficult for him to handle and made it hard for him to focus on the investigation. The multiple layers in this story was great as I really could see the nuance and character development over the course of the book. There was so much going on that it created an incredibly complex story, but one that was also incredibly compelling and moving. This book is about trying to figure out what happened to Eddie but it is also about Andrew trying to deal with his grief and finding a way to finally move on, a way that allows him to put his ghosts to rest, literally and physically in this case. The emotion that was present in Andrew seemed genuine and honest in a way that is not easily depicted on the page but was depicted so incredibly well. I am giving this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.
This book is probably best classified as a thriller but one that is also part horror as well. If you happen to enjoy either of those genres than I would suggest you consider trying this book out. Keep in mind though that it is also about loss and heartbreak and the random appearance of ghosts so if any of those topics are difficult for you make sure to take that into consideration before you try it out. This book also deals with themes related to the LGBTQ community so you may also want to take that into consideration when looking at this book. None of these were big issues for me but I can see where they may be issues for someone else. I will also state that this book contains mature content and borderline mature content so you may need to be careful about that as well. Because of this mature content I would recommend being extremely careful before considering letting younger readers try this. It should probably only be read by adults or extremely mature older teenagers as it has a lot of heavy topics throughout. Either way I still enjoyed it and am happy to share it. If you do decide to try it out feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.