SLIPPERY ROCK TWP —When his new novel wasn't breaking down the doors of the traditional publishing houses, David Skeele decided to take it to the public in another way.

In January, the Slippery Rock Township resident entered his novel "Raised in Darkness" in the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel contest. The winner receives a publishing contract.

Initially, Skeele's was among 7,500 entries before Amazon narrowed the field to 5,000. Amazon then weeded it to 800 semi-finalists, including Skeele. Customer reviews will decide his fate from here.

"Part of the evaluation is based on how many reader reviews we can generate," said Skeele, a theater professor at Slippery Rock University who also writes plays.

So far, he's garnered 20 reviews of the book's first chapter, and all but one are positive. Out of a five-star ranking, 13 readers rated the passage with five stars, six with four stars and one with three stars. Each person is also required to write a review, which Skeele said he's enjoyed.

"Someone asked why I didn't describe the main character's connection to his grandmother better, and that's something I hadn't really thought about," Skeele said.

Reviews will be accepted at Amazon.com until March 2, and the winner will be announced April 7. Those wishing to participate can search for the novel's name on the Amazon site.

Skeele said this isn't his first novel, but he has tried harder to get this one published than some of his others. He finished the book in 2004 and shortly after obtained an agent from the Dystel-Goderick Literary Management Co. to pass the book around to several publishing houses. He had no luck.

"It's almost been published about 10 times," he said.

The problems with publishing, according to the companies, is the novel's confusing genre, Skeele said.

"It combines the traditional thriller with the supernatural novel," he said.

The main character is a ghost hunter, but over the course of the novel the book turns into a mystery and thriller, he said. While hunting ghosts, the main character gets a little more than he bargained for.

"I had him (inadvertently bring a ghost) home, but it fixates on his girlfriend's daughter and becomes dangerous," he said. "The book becomes a posthumous hunt for a serial killer."

Inspiration came while Skeele was writing another book, "Analee's Keepers," in which a ghost hunter served as a minor character.

While researching that book and trying to tag along with a real ghost hunter at work, Skeele started to think it might be an irresponsible move.

"I had a hard time," he said. "I was afraid, thinking 'Is this responsible? What if I bring (a ghost) home?"

Since he and his wife were just starting a family, he began to think he should look out for more than himself in the process. The caution led to his novel's concept.

He's also sent the manuscript to the New York State Summer Writers Institute, where several people read it and gave favorable reviews, he said. There is also a yearly contest in Writer's Digest magazine, which includes tips on how to get a book published.

He does have one bound copy of the book, in slightly worn brown leather. It was made for his theater class because the class needed a book with an old English binding for a play. He offered his book to be bound.

Skeele said acquaintances who have read his book seem to love it. It's something he judges not by what they say after reading it but by how fast they return it.

"Anyone I've given it to reads it in less than two days, and at 366 pages, that's the best compliment I can get," he said. "Anyone can read a book and say anything about it."

Gordon Phetteplace, chairman of the theater department at SRU, read his book in one weekend.

"It's a really good mix of horror and supernatural," he said. "It's better than a lot of stuff I go and pay for. I like it better than most Stephen King stuff."

As a reader of many mystery novels, Phetteplace said this book held his attention. "Sometimes in a mystery, you can figure out what's going on early on, or it ends and makes no sense," he said. "This is not like that."

Laura Smiley, an assistant professor of theater at SRU, doesn't usually read thriller novels, but made an exception for Skeele.

"It was so interesting, I started to get scared, but then I couldn't put it down," she said.

Like Phetteplace, she read it in a weekend. That was about a year ago, but she remembers it's a well-written book with great passages and "characters that are drawn very completely."

To write a review of Skeele's first chapter, visit www.amazon.com.