Almost impossibly, Ghosts is the sequel to The Book of Evidence. As if there ever could be a sequel. And yet, there is.
“The book opens with a shipwreck on an island where there is a strange singing in the air. As the stranded castaways make their way toward the refuge of the island’s reclusive savant, it begins to look as though we might be in for a version of The Tempest, reflecting those aspects of the play expressed by the title of the Singspiel that Mozart was planning at the time of his death, Die Geisterinsel.” – Michael Dibdin, The Indepedent
What ensues is a meeting with an odd medley of castaways from a day outing who have washed ashore a remote island. They are led by Felix, the “lord of the streets.” And they are of the strange types that populated The Book of Evidence and Mephisto – Faustian, otherworldly, ideal typical, perhaps even godlike. It is perhaps the strangest or oddest cast of characters ever.
We meet an art expert with exceedingly dubious credentials, Professor Kreutnaer, along with his lovelorn assistant Licht. Additionally, we have an ex-convict, quite familiar to us now, the newly released Freddie Montgomery, as the first-person narrator. And having assembled the cast, Banville allows the hilarious narrator to take off and deliver a mass of observations in a stream-of-consciousness-like manner.
Oh. And did I mention that the island is haunted? Of course it is, for this is John Banville at his playful best! Ghosts is witty, odd, sarcastic, wild, and very curiously constructed. The second installment of John Banville’s Freddie Montgomery trilogy is a marvel. But it is a book that doesn’t make all that much sense unless The Book of Evidence has already been read – so do not start with this one. But when you have, quickly move on to this stylistic novel and read it. Then reread it. For Ghosts is John Banville at his surrealistic and stylistic best, and this is a book that require several readings to fully reveal itself!
and 
.