The Hollower [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Sangiovanni (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary SanGiovanni is the author of the Bram Stoker nominated THE HOLLOWER, its sequel, FOUND YOU, THRALL, and FOR EMMY. She has been writing fiction for over a decade, has a Masters in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, and is a member of The Authors Guild and Penn Writers.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843959746
• ISBN-13: 978-0843959741
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,813,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A promising debut, August 29, 2007

By 

Henry W. Wagner (Rockaway, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hollower (Mass Market Paperback)

The Hollower is a virtual treatise on the nature of despair, a tight, tough, often nasty bit of work that focuses on a group of protagonists who, unfortunately, have come to the attention of a seemingly supernatural entity that one of their number refers to as the Hollower. This entity, which collects identities and voices which it uses against its victims, feeds on the doubt, confusion and insecurity it fosters in its carefully chosen targets.

The Hollower appears full blown within the first few pages of the story, shortly after pushing one of the people it's stalking to suicide. It's a dark, mysterious, faceless figure, dressed in a black trench coat, black suit and shoes, and a hat like "Humphrey Bogart's", presumably a fedora. The creature is currently torturing Erik, a recovering drug addict, one of several people in the same town that the dark man has focused his attention on. Erik later joins with the members of that group to confront the Hollower, leading to a climactic battle inside what has now become a haunted house.

Reflecting on the basic plot of this book, you'll likely find yourself thinking about horror movie icon Freddy Krueger, but, if you think about it a little more, you might see some similarities to Bram Stoker's Dracula, wherein a force of nature which threatens the populace is eventually put down by a band of stalwart individuals after a protracted game of cat and mouse between good and evil. That comparison proves apt, because it explains both the positives and negatives of this book. Getting the negative out of the way first, there's not much of a buildup here, as the Hollower is dropped into the action with no introduction--in other words, no equivalent of Harker's trip to the Castle, no visit from Dracula's brides, no ship pulling into London harbor sans living crew, very little besides one character's suicide (ironically, he turns out to be the Van Helsing of SanGiovanni's group) to create a sense of foreboding, or menace, or impending doom. This lack of buildup and insight into the creature becomes especially jolting deep into the book, when readers suddenly find themselves in the Hollower's head--either keep his thoughts out of the book all together, as Stoker did with his villain, or introduce them earlier, so we get a glimpse about what this gent is up to, and why he's stalking these folks.

That aside, once SanGiovanni drops you into her reality, she never relinquishes her iron grip on your attention--there are some interesting set pieces in the novel which even a more experienced writer would envy. The individual evolution of her characters, and their group dynamic as they evolve from victims to hunters is also convincingly rendered, as is their easy comradeship (here, the book stays true to its Dracula roots, but becomes more reminiscent of more modern novels--King's IT and Desperation spring readily to mind, as does Straub's Ghost Story). SanGiovanni brings her novel to a satisfying conclusion, but also closes with a note of uncertainty, however, clearly paving the way for sequels.

The weaknesses in San Giovanni's story can be attributed to the fact that is a debut novel, and that she is still learning her craft; weighing in at approximately 80,000 words, it could have certainly benefited from some back-story, but that's a minor point. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with in the future.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Debut Novel, September 2, 2007

By 

Christopher S. Eubanks "Bizarro/Horror Fan" (Landrum, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hollower (Mass Market Paperback)

From the opening pages, Mary SanGiovanni, sets the tension bar high with a suicide followed by empty footsteps trailing out an open door. Her main characters are all broken people- a recovering coke-addict, a barmaid who was molested as a child, an alcoholic and his mentally unstable younger sister, an emotion-fearing cop, and a young boy whose father died early. The common ground between them is a "man" wearing a black fedora, trench coat and gloves that comes to expose their deepest fears. This man has no face, but instead a smooth, blank canvas where its features should be. All our characters are tormented by this creature who becomes known as the Hollower and pursue it back to its lair, the home of the novel's opening-scene suicide. Here, they are forced to fight through their vices and fears to bond together and vanquish their enemy.

SanGiovanni avoids the standard monster-from-another-world horror cliches and turns in a very impressive debut, taking her characters through intense challenges of willpower, resolve, and strength in order to actually fight for their survival rather than curling up and submitting to the terror against which they are faced. The writing is strong, the plot solid, and the characters sympathetic in a realistic rather than exaggerated manner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut!!, April 30, 2008

By 

Throbbin' Hood "Carlin's Ghost" (Limbo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hollower (Mass Market Paperback)

Got this book a while ago and wish I'd read it sooner. I'd read a few of her short stories and was anxious to dive into her novel. Was a great debut novel from Mary SanGiovanni. I love her style of writing; her descriptive narrative is fresh, vivid, and intense. The characters are fleshed out nicely.

The story had sort of a Twilight Zone feel to it, which I enjoy very much. The ending reminded me of either a Clive Barker or Stephen King novel; not one in particular, but the action, the description, was (as Barker and King) extremely intense and visual.

My only gripe is that, though it had suspense and action throughout, it didn't really take off "full speed" until about halfway through the book. From there on, it was hard to put down.

SanGiovanni is a ripe talent in the writing world. Am so looking forward to reading more from here. Can't wait for her next book to come out!!