Charlie St. Cloud (Ben Sherwood)

This was a quick read but we all know never to judge a book by it's length or cover.

So I seem to be in a supernatural/ghost phase. First with Cecelia Ahern's If You Could See Me Now about imaginary friends and now this little gem.

I don't know what propelled me to pick it up but I read the first chapter online through amazon and it grabbed me. It might have been my mind casting Mr. Efron as the lead character (I didn't see the movie but have seen enough previews to fuel the mind, ha-ha he's a cutie).

The story stars Charlie St. Cloud as told through the narrator, a fireman who was at the scene of the accident who pulled two brothers from a car and was able to bring back one of them, Sam, Charlie's younger brother. Charlie took Sam to a baseball game, underaged and with a "borrowed" car from a neighbor and on the way home they got hit by a drunk trucker. Charlie gets revived but now with having been 'on the other side' has the ability to see the ghosts of people who are otherwise in-between life and the afterlife.

Fast forwad about 13 years and an adult Charlie is the caretaker of the cemetary in town where his brother has been buried. His gift allows him to visit Sam and play catch and basically hold on to past memories. It's his gift and also his curse as he's been unable to move on with his own life feeling the guilt of losing his younger brother and honoring a promise to never leave him.

Other chapters feature Tess, a girl who also lives in town whose only desire is to sail the world. She goes for a pre-sail and being stubborn and wanting a challenge goes through some rough water and has a bad accident herself.
Charlie ends up getting to know her and falling in love. But what we don't know is if she's alive or dead. And it's not as predictable as you might think.

The story flows smoothly and quickly and although it's not a mushy romance it's still about love and making choices in life and living with consequences and also about when to let go.

I enjoyed it and am now willing to sit through the movie- I don't watch too many but generally like to watch the movie after I've read the book so I can be all uppity and criticize how the book was better, ain't it always???