The Last Ghost tells the story of Joshua Stewart, a boy who loses his parents in a tragic fire in Thailand and is raised by his aging grandparents in Toronto. What begins as a quiet, tender domestic story about loss and love evolves into a moving reflection on family, morality, and the strange intersection between faith and logic. It’s a coming-of-age story shaped by grief, education, and a world that seems to change faster than anyone can understand. The book carries Joshua from childhood through adolescence, from the safety of his grandfather’s theological certainty to the uncertainty of global chaos and financial collapse. In the background are ghosts, literal and figurative, the memories and moral lessons that cling to life long after the living are gone.

The prose is elegant but warm, never showy. Author D.E. Ring writes dialogue that feels alive, filled with pauses and silences that say more than the words themselves. The pacing is slow in the best way. I found myself caring deeply for Caleb and Marianne, those kind, weary grandparents trying to raise a boy while the modern world races past them. Joshua’s curiosity, his moral sense, and his grief are rendered so gently that when emotion hits, it hits hard. I caught myself tearing up more than once. The way Ring balances tragedy with moments of simple beauty, a walk by the lake, a child’s question about God, is fantastic. It’s literary without being pretentious, and it touches something primal about family and forgiveness.

That said, this isn’t a light read. The novel asks you to think. Some chapters stretch with patient detail about conversation or setting. The story builds a world that feels lived in. So much so that when the supernatural edges in, it feels believable. Ring doesn’t write jump-scares or gothic gloom. His ghosts come through in memory, regret, and the quiet ways people haunt one another. I loved that restraint. It’s the kind of ghost story that leaves you thinking rather than trembling. Still, I found myself haunted anyway, not by spirits, but by love, loss, and how time slips away no matter how much we hold on.

I’d recommend The Last Ghost to readers who love literary fiction with heart, people who appreciate family sagas, subtle hauntings, and moral reflection. It’s for those who like their ghost stories human, not horrific. I’d hand it to anyone who believes that real hauntings come from memory, conscience, and the ache of unfinished love.

Pages: 291 | ASIN : B0FS1W4T5Q