Faces in the Flames: A Ghost Story & The True Story
A novel offers a ghost story inspired by World War II naval history.
Teenager Cam Lund is named for his deceased grandfather Cameron, who served on the USS Mississinewa in the 1940s. One fateful night in 1944, a Japanese “suicide sub” deliberately crashed into the naval ship, resulting in a fire and the vessel’s sinking. In an effort to learn more about his heroic grandfather’s history, Cam and his father trek to Ulithi Atoll—the ship’s final resting place—to dive to the wreck.While underwater, Cam spots a shiny object “calling” him and dives beneath the vessel to retrieve it. He later learns that it is a dog tag that belonged to Mike Bowers, a crew member who did not survive the attack. This realization coincides with a dose of spookiness when Cam wakes one morning to find salty seaweed on the floor. Strange occurrences follow him home, where he sees a ghost and smells oil in his bedroom. Cam links the spirit to the dog tag, and quickly begins researching Mike and the ship, leading to connections he never imagined. With two books in one (the second half is a brief, nonfiction overview of the events that inspired the story as well as information on the actual sailors and photographs of the ship), Fulleman presents an authentic tale about an episode that is perhaps not widely known. The story seems intended for younger readers, which explains the more rudimentary prose as well as the glossary. But the writing is sometimes repetitive, which hampers the tale’s flow: “The colors on the fish were bright, happy colors. It looked like a living wall of color…Then, the distinct gray color of the ship stood out…The color of the fish stood in stark contrast to the gray ship.” Though the prose is sometimes a bit too simplistic, the author succeeds in achieving the delicate balance of faithfully detailing a tragedy while making the story enjoyable and heartwarming. Fulleman clearly has a great deal of respect for his father (who was on the real ship during the attack) and the men who sailed with him. His work will enlighten readers about a historical event while honoring the sailors lost in the assault.
An engaging and educational supernatural tale.