Located in the city of Akron, in upper western New York State, located just outside of Buffalo, is the Hotel Akron. This is the location of this extraordinary atmospheric story. Referring to WHAT REMAINS as a horror, supernatural, or mystery tale would not be a sufficient description. This novel contains all those elements and more.
Author Terry Daly Karl is a resident of Akron and clearly knows the territory. He imbues his story with rich detail while at the same time using a modern time frame to tell a story that contains the rich elements that have shaped classic ghost stories for centuries. WHAT REMAINS includes ghost hunting, sessions and a murder mystery that includes an otherworldly character as a possible suspect.
The novel begins with an employee of the Akron Hotel, Jenny Shenandoah, cursing because she has to travel to the upper floors of the Hotel which she firmly believes is haunted. She thinks she sees a ghost and runs to hotel manager Steve and bartender Joe for protection. When the small team investigates things on the third floor further, they don’t find a ghost. Instead, they find the body of one of her missing employees, Wendy Kulbrick.
Lead investigator Sergeant Mike O’Brien is called. He leads a team of three who begin interviewing employees of the Hotel Akron as they try to find out why Wendy Kulbrick died. O’Brien scoffs at any supernatural possibility and believes that he had to be a person who took Kubrick’s life by hitting her in the head with a blunt object. Interviews don’t provide investigators with much more than guesswork. A clue indicates that Wendy may have been having an affair with Joe the bartender. Jenny keeps going back to the apparition she saw before her body was found. She was in the form of a person who left bloody footprints on the ground.
With the strong belief of many at the hotel that it was indeed haunted, O’Brien decides it’s time to call in a different kind of expert. Rae Dembrowsky has a reputation as a trusted medium known for conducting séances. A shoot has been scheduled for the Akron hotel that will include Rae, her husband Mark, some hotel staff and Mike O’Brien. To everyone’s surprise, it is O’Brien who is used as a host for a channeling spirit, as it is inhabited by an unknown entity that begins to scream, “You can’t have it, it’s MINE!”
This experience changes everything and also places the novel firmly in the classic ghost story/supernatural realm with a murder mystery twist. As O’Brien continues his investigation of him, including a reflection on why he wanted to be part of the session, we are introduced to more characters and possible motives for the murder. It’s no secret that the Sheriff’s Department had been tracking former hotel employee Gil Herbert, who has left a series of jobs each time after some type of robbery. Herbert is linked to Wendy and that at least gives some motivation for the murder, but no further indication of who the killer may have been.
A local historian meets with O’Brien and Rae to discuss the famous piece of art that is supposed to be housed within the confines of the upper floors of the Hotel Akron and has historical ties that include a famous former President of the United States. We also get more details about who the ghost — or ghosts — may be haunting the hotel and possibly guarding the hidden treasure. I won’t reveal any more spoilers here and can simply attest that Terry Daly Karl succeeds on every level with WHAT REMAINS, making this novel an essential read during the Halloween season.