Lost Hollow constable Graham Gordon just walked into his abandoned childhood home for the first time in twenty years. Local teenagers have been spreading rumors about disembodied screams coming from inside. Now, thanks to a rickety set of cellar stairs and the hateful spirit of his dead father, he might never escape.
Meanwhile, Channel 6 News feature reporter Afia Afton—whose father is the victim of a local decades-old hate crime—is meeting with town administrator Patsy Blankenship. Her mission is to develop a ghost story feature for a special to air on the station's Halloween broadcast. When Patsy tells her about the screams at the Gordon place, the past and the present are set on a collision course with potentially catastrophic results.
Can Graham come to terms with his father’s past and redeem his own future? Can the murder mystery that has haunted Afia for most of her life finally be solved?
It’s a fight for the future and the past when spirit and flesh wage war at the Gordon place.
Assessment:
Plot:Readers are pulled into a horror mystery very early on in the text, with ominous clues provided in the beginning of the story. There is a cohesive conclusion where interchanging characters coincide to reveal the text's full story.
Prose/Style:This book holds great descriptions of the physical environment and of the characters themselves, particularly given the amount of violence in the text.
Originality:In an attempt to subvert a simplified story with “good” and “bad” guys, the author uses science fiction to create a metaphor for the ways in which generational racism carries on into the present, by putting Lee Gordon into the body of his son, Graham.
Character Development:This novel is well thought-out, with intriguing character arcs that readers will want to learn more about. There are apt descriptions of gritty individuals in the small town.
Date Submitted: April 17, 2019
"...a thrilling throwback horror tale that tears through the pages like a hound from hell."
"Thorne has some serious writing chops and every time I jumped back into The Gordon Place, I was easily whisked away to Lost Hollow."
"Thorne eases into the story as if spinning a ghostly yarn, it is as comforting as sliding into a warm bloodbath and just as soothing and nerve-jangling."
"Isaac Thorne builds up the suspense gradually, writing in a way that draws the reader into the web. The descriptive nature of the story has you feeling you are really there, hearing every creak and echo of the past. "
"There are no heroes in Lost Hollow, just ordinary people dealing with extraordinary situations and it makes for a dark and wonderful ride."
