If you like horror and suspense and reading how books are written then this will be a double treat. The main hero, Adam Senft is a decently successful writer who decided to give up his other job to write that great story that would be his ticked to solidified fame. With his wife Tara he settles into a quiet lifestyle in a home in Pennsylvania. His wife carrying the burden of commuting to work gave him time to sit back, enjoy the quiet, walk the dog and write those hot selling books. Little does he know but that peace is shattered with the arrival of spring. From the very first page the story hits off and then drops the reader back on Earth to catch up. Adam finds his neighbor, an attractive female involved in some strange activity in the LeHorn woods. Embarrassed and freaked out he starts a chain of events that brings upon him strange lust, bad luck and a horrific creature that is after every wife in town. When people start to disappear and those left act strangely little time is left before Adam's wife and his entire life is thrown into a well of chaos. Along with his friends he must get to the bottom of a mysterious nemesis that shakes his reality and to defend his territory from a menacing male - something.
Brian Keene surprised me this time, I didn't particularly like "The Conqueror Worms" and after reading it I was afraid that his style was set in stone; that another story would have random additives and would be scattered, but not so with "Dark Hollow". Was it literary genius? No, but it was darn addictive and enjoyable, it did what a good, gripping fiction book should - it enchanted the reader and gave satisfaction for reading it. I felt my teeth sink into the story until I absorbed its contents. It took me in and hardly ever stopped being great. The reason for 4 stars versus 5 ( since I am gushing about it ) is really simple; as I get older I get little tougher when I judge a book, and really only give 5 stars when it stirs my guts with a stick and makes me obsessed with what I just read - hard task, so 4 stars is not too shabby, trust me. Some of my favorite parts were reading about Adam's preparations and how he did his writing, it felt real and was such a treat.
Before I finish I must just say how proud I am of Keene for making this book steamy; he was very liberal with all sorts of naughty scenarios and wrote his book fulfilling his fantasies about just putting out that salty novel out there into the world. I saw no holding back and hopefully he can always write like this, but obviously only when necessary to the plot, gratuitous use of sex is plain fake, when the story doesn't scream for it; don't include it to avoid embarrassment- unless you're Richard Laymon. He was the king of lascivious books - at least to me and it's hard to knock him of that throne in my head. Like Laymon, Keene tapped into that channel and produced a decent read; I really enjoyed it tremendously and will try to read his other works. I know I criticized him heavily in my last review so I am trying to redeem myself, but it feels right only because this book deserved it. Fun, raunchy and actually interesting, good change from the usual gore and bloody horror, I read it on the bus, after dinner and then in bed; it was good stuff.
- Kasia S.
