The Last to See Me

Dressler takes up the perspective of a ghost in this gothic tale with a modern twist. In the book’s alternate universe, ghosts are a known entity but are so unwelcome that professional hunters work around the clock to eradicate them. Emma Rose has inhabited Lambry House ever since her death nearly a century ago. But when a hunter comes after her so that new owners can move in, Emma will have to fight to save herself and what little still exists of the personality she had while alive. Moving seamlessly between the present and Emma’s past, the narrative ratchets up the tension slowly as secrets from the past are revealed and the living come to terms with their own mortality. Dressler makes great use of the tension that arises from characters fighting against the very things they will one day become. The living and dead occupying the same space sparks insightful, but never overbearing, discussions of life and death. In this enjoyably claustrophobic novel set almost completely within Lambry House, Dressler reaches beyond the grave to consider the lengths that people go to in order to leave their mark behind. (Sept.)