LOWER MAINLAND. Paterson, T.W. Langley (B.C.), Sun fire Publications, c1984. 156pp, paper, $6.95, ISBN 0-919531 -15-6. (British Columbia Ghost Town series) CIP Grades 6 and up Reviewed by Adele Case Volume 13 Number 3 1985 May Ghost towns seems to abound in British Columbia. Many are the legacy of mines whose miners veins petered out or which became too costly to operate profitably. Others died when by-ways or trails gave way to all-weather road systems, or after hydro developments restructured the geography of rivers and lakes. Paterson's book explores twenty defunct towns in British Columbia's lower mainland area. A few still house diehard residents, but many have been partially or wholly reclaimed by nature. It is hard to see who (other than the "ghosts") would be interested in the somewhat dull recounting of various mining deals, rock and mud slides, tragic accidents, and such other news as appear to have been lifted intact from different archival sources. There are black-and-white photographs (many of mining sites), but they do little to enliven the book, or to give us a glimpse of the human element that makes a town live. Useful small maps appear through the book, but this publication appears to have been sketchily proof-read, and too many of the excerpts read as though hastily written and hurriedly organized. Adele Case, Britannia S.S., Vancouver, B.C.