Soul Trapper

Computer game designer Lennon's debut, the first novel to be adapted from an iPhone app, will disappoint those who expect some scares from a supernatural thriller involving ghosts and evil spirits. A priest's request to rid his Lompoc, Calif., church of "a mischievous entity" leads L.A. ghostbuster Kane Pryce, who uses the soul trap, a device Kane's late scientist father invented, to the shade of six-year-old Ollie Lonzi. The paranormal investigator soon determines that Ollie, who was killed 50 years earlier with his mother in a car crash, is a friendly if lonely ghost. Kane's efforts to re-examine the circumstances of Ollie's death take him to Las Vegas and eventually somewhere much, much farther away. In the process, Kane falls for the ghost of Ollie's actress mother, who gave her soul to a demon to protect her son. The over-the-top plot and hokey ending don't best serve Kane's intriguingly misanthropic personality. (Jan.)