The cares of life are beginning to cloud fifteen-year-old Adam Short's carefree existence. Important exams are looming, his girlfriend Julie thinks he's not focused, and right now he's about to be late for the school trip. Neither his teacher, nor Julie, will be pleased if the misses the bus.
But suddenly Adam has much bigger problems when, in an extraordinary accident, his soul is torn from his body. His body loses all consciousness - reduced to a mere automaton existence: eating when food is put in its mouth, moving when guided, reacting only to touch. Meanwhile, Adam, discovering that ghosts are very much real, is trapped without a body, and stuck in a place from which he cannot freely leave.
Only the untiring efforts of his girlfriend Julie - who had never considered the existence of a soul, and for whom the idea of ghosts is laughable - against the advice of everyone around her, including her parents, Adam's doctor, and his best friend can save Adam. Will she be able to figure out what has happened to Adam? Even if she does, can Julie help Adam escape the scene of his accident, and return the life to his body?
David J O'Brien is an Irish ecologist, poet, fiction writer and teacher. He was born in Dublin, studied environmental biology and zoology at University College Dublin. He taught English in Madrid for four years, biology in Boston for seven years and now teaches English and science in Pamplona, Spain, where he lives with his wife, daughter, and son. He is still involved in deer biology and management, and has written about deer watching for Ireland's Wildlife and deer management for the Irish Wildlife Trust. His non-academic writing is often influenced by science and the natural world-sometimes seeking to describe the science behind the supernatural. His poems have been published in several anthologies and journals, such as Albatross, Houseboat, and Misty Mountain Review. His paranormal horror trilogy, Silver Nights: Leaving the Pack, Leading the Pack and Unleashing the Pack, contemporary adult fiction novels Five Days on Ballyboy Beach, and The Ecology of Lonesomeness, have been published by Tirgearr Publishing. His young readers fairy tale novel Peter and the Little People and paranormal YA The Soul of Adam Short were published by MuseItUp Publishing and are now self-published, as is his dystopian novella The Logical Solution and short story collection, Last Light on the Sage Flats. More of his writing, including poems and blogs about nature, rewilding and wildlife management, can be found at http://davidjmobrien.wordpress.com/