REMAIN

Bestseller Sparks (The Notebook) and filmmaker Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) combine their talents to create a paranormal love story that makes suspension of disbelief easy through thoughtful characterization. Architect Tate Donovan entered a "paralyzing" depression following the death of his sister and closest confidante, Sylvia, leading to a four-month stay in a psychiatric hospital at the urging of his best friend, Oscar. Now readjusting to day-to-day life, Tate takes a room in a Cape Cod estate while helping Oscar to design and build a vacation home nearby. That banal assignment takes an odd turn when Tate catches sight of an attractive stranger in the house where he's staying. When Tate asks around, the property's groundskeeper remarks that his description of the woman sounds like Wren Tobin, who died in the house almost two years prior. Tate comes to believe that he's seen a ghost, which does nothing to stop him from falling for her when they meet again. He also becomes preoccupied with resolving the mystery tethering Wren to the house: the possibility that she was murdered. The mystery chugs along nicely but the romance is the stronger plot, and the authors deserve credit for making the relationship between the living and the dead moving. Fans of both authors will not be disappointed. (Oct.)