No one can truly escape their past and this epic dark thriller truly represents that. Tension filled and in moments heartwarming - this is a thriller read of the month for me

I really enjoyed this book, it was a dark suspense novel and although somewhat fantastical it was just this side of believable, which really made this one shine. The characters were sharply written and intriguing and some of the events were really just terrifying. Great read!

This dark and spooky novel kept me flipping pages til the end. The chapters were long but it was fast paced and I wanted to know the ending. There were many twists and turns along the way. Well done Mr. Frech.
Many thanks to HQDigital and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jacob Reese lives in Vermont running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows. After a woman who reminds him of his ex-girlfriend Laura stays in the cottage and disappears the next day leaving a mysterious note in the guest book, Jacob starts seeing Laura everywhere. But it can’t be Laura because Laura’s dead. Someone knows Jacob’s secret, what really happened the night Laura died, and is out to get him.

The synopsis of this book really intrigued me, and the cover gave a dark, gothic feel. I went into it excepting a chilling ride, but the atmosphere is certainly limited to the cover. Another issue was with Jacob's extreme reaction to this whole thing, which somehow didn't seem to match with the flow of the story.

Overall, the story is quite enjoyable. Many people online loved the book. I think the issue is just with me. Somehow I formed an image in my mind and it didn't match that image. Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Many thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for this ARC.

I liked the characters, I liked the story, wasn't much of a thriller but engaging all the same.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book! I appreciate it so much!

Unfortunately Dark Hollows just wasn’t for me, and I have stopped reading around 74,% and therefore won’t be reviewing or rating it on Goodreads. I loved the aspect of Murphy the dog! And the creepy small town of The Hollows and their lore. However, the mystery wasn’t gripping me as much as I had hoped! This is absolutely to no fault of the book, as everyone likes different things in mysteries and thrillers and this one just wasn’t mine!

I have no doubt many people will enjoy this story! The eerie back and forth flashbacks and the isolating quality, as well as a great book cover are sure to bring in many readers! Thank you again!

This was propulsive and fun to read, but it really doesn’t hold up as a quality mystery/thriller.

When the first mention of the villain comes 80% into the book, there’s an obvious flaw in structure and plot. Furthering the problem was that upon thinking back to earlier events in the story, it becomes clear that the villain somehow knew things they could not possibly have known about the protagonist and another central character based on the timeline.

I certainly didn’t hate reading this, as it’s very well paced and the atmosphere was outstanding, but the narrative structure and ultimate solve really needed a lot more work. The vague ending was another source of frustration and felt like a cop-out to rescue the author from having to solve what was a very interesting moral dilemma that was too central to the plot to be glossed over as it was.

Big thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for this ARC

This book follows Jacob Reese who lives with his dog Murphy. He manages his coffee shop and also rents out
his cottage in the Hallows, Vermont. Jacob had a very dark secret that nobody knows about. But when one guest rented the cottage and left without notice but left some clues that this lady knew about his secret. Jacob has no choice but to trace this person by unburying his past.
This book is a fast-paced mystery thriller. I love the authors writing style and he made the atmosphere very creepy. I was able to connect to the main characters.
I read this book while I was curled up in my bed and wrapped in my blanket with a sound of thunder in the background. I had fun reading this book.

A tense, fast paced thriller which was really well written and had the characters developed in a manner that had you wanting to see what happens. Twists & turns, chills, thrills, and a shock at the end that had me guessing until I read it!
Will make sure I buzz it up!

It was a very insightful novel, with a strong cast of characters. I enjoyed the story line very much and would definitely recommend this book.

An exciting thriller, filled with plenty of twists and turns o keep you guessing long into the night.

Dark Hollows is a contemporary standalone mystery thriller by Steve Frech. Released 6th Dec 2019, it's 384 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

I found the premise engaging, a young single guy with a (self inflicted) rough past living alone in a small New England town running a coffee shop and living on the proceeds of his rental cottage. Weird things start happening, like seeing a ringer for his ex-girlfriend (who's dead) all over the place. The first person point of view was a little wearying for me in places, and some of the dialogue and character motivations seemed a little over the top to me, but otherwise this was a very exciting and immersive read. The mystery wasn't terribly twisty, but I liked Jacob and really loved his canine sidekick, Murphy.

Four stars. Definitely a good wintertime read for modern American mystery fans. This is an author I look forward to following in future.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Quite a fun read. Jacob Reece enjoyed his life with his dog Murphy. Then things started happening, and the past came hurling down on him.

My first book by author Steve Frech, the story was kinda formulaic, but the writing kept me bound to the kindle. Jacob was not very likable, and neither were his decisions. But that's what made him so easy to connect. Everything was about survival instinct with him. And I liked how the author showed me that.

I knew where the story was going, but I couldn't stop reading. There was something so hypnotic about the atmosphere created by the author. I needed to know who was playing with him as much as Jacob did. It was quite a cat and mouse game.

A good way to start the weekend.

This was a great, quick read. Frech has an interesting mix of things happening here: the setting is wonderful (a small Vermont town around Halloween) and the main character is engaging. Jacob Reese runs a thriving coffee shop while also renting out a picturesque cottage on his land--which is netting him a windfall of cash. And there is a touching and poignant relationship between this young-ish man and his best friend--his dog. Then things get creepy when it appears that his dead girlfriend is starting to haunt him.

I burned through this in a few hours. It is a short read, but it's also a great page turner. I enjoyed the first part of the novel more than the second (when Jacob goes on offense and tries to track down his dead girlfriend's past), but I still couldn't flip the pages quickly enough. I also think the character development is complicated in all the right ways: you get Jacob's history, some of which is ugly, but at the same time you see the human side of this man and are forced to question if you would have made different decisions than he did.

You might think you're reading a cozy novel at first, but the malice sneaks up on you and suddenly you notice the tension thickening with each chapter. I highly recommend this one and will read more by this author.

Dark Hollows is a quick, but thrilling read. I definitely want to visit the quaint, adorable town of The Hollows. I loved how detailed the descriptions of the town were and loved how they celebrated Halloween. The mystery of who is haunting Jacob Reese, is it a stranger or someone from his past?? I highly recommend this thriller, I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

Fantastic book. Really enjoyed it and I didn't guess the end.

Couldnt put it down and was totally absorbed by the story.

Fantastic.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishing house, HQ Digital, for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions written in this review are my own.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter! The author sets up a scenic town with a character, Jacob, who comes across as just an all-around nice individual. He runs a coffee shop and is looking to expand nationally. He rents out his cottage through a popular website. He is an active member in the community of The Hollows. What could be wrong with this upstanding citizen? Well, it turns Jacob has a dark past he’s been running from. When a guest with a resemblance of a woman from his past shows up to the cottage, he begins to question whether his skeletons are still in the closet.

Straightaway, I loved the detail of the town. The author made it sound so welcoming that I would love to visit. The storyline alternates between past and present tense so we learn about Jacob’s dark past. I thought the author did a great job of teasing me as the story went along as he would give just enough of the story to keep me wanting to read just one more chapter. I did feel like the ending was a little rushed, but overall I would rate it as a 4 star read and I would read something by this author again.

Jacob Reese and his black Labrador, Murphy, live on the outskirts of a little town called The Hollows in Vermont. He runs a coffee shop called Groundworks on Main Street, with the help of manager, Sandy Bellhurst, and rents out a cottage to tourists.

The Hollows is a charming New England town with a main road running through it and 300-year-old buildings plus a church, green and nearby hills and forests, and it’s very attractive to tourists.

Jacob bought his property using the inheritance money from his estranged parents, who passed away within days of each other. His plot of land is next to the woods and contains the main house, a pond and the cottage, which used to be storage for Groundworks but Jacob renovated it and created a one-bedroom building with updated kitchen and bathroom, and a fire pit.

Usually, Jacob is quite particular about who he rents out his cottage to via Be Our Guest (similar to Airbnb but more upmarket with unique properties), only allowing guests who have written at least three reviews on the website to stay there. He breaks this rule after he gets a request from an attractive woman called Rebecca Lowden, who grew up in a town nearby to where Jacob grew up and also has similar favourites to him.

When she arrives, the woman has dark red hair and behaves rather strangely. She makes Jacob feel rather uncomfortable and brings up memories from the past, especially when he spots her holding a stick doll. When she heads off early the next morning, leaving the front door wide open, he’s horrified to see the name ‘Laura Aisling’ scrawled in red lettering in the cottage guestbook. She was his old college girlfriend, who disappeared, and it means that someone knows his secret.

After this, strange things begin to happen and Jacob is forced to close his shop and the cottage as he investigates who the strange Rebecca Lowden was and what she knows about Laura Aisling. He needs to work it out before things escalate even more and his secret is revealed.

The story contained flashbacks, which were done in an unusual manner by linking words. I found this a bit confusing at first but grew to like the way they were done as we learnt more about Jacob and Laura and how they met, and some more about Jacob’s past.

Jacob suffers from vivid, disturbing nightmares as a result of his past – he was involved in some dodgy criminal activities when he was a student as a way of financing his way through college. His parents cut him off after he made too many silly decisions in his life, despite being a privileged only child from a wealthy background.

Jacob has a complicated past but tries to live a quiet life in The Hollows. I liked his character, despite the mistakes he’d made when he was younger, and he was an interesting protagonist. It was lovely to see how much he cared for his dog, Murphy, and how protective he was of him. And he’s loyal to his coffee shop staff and rewards them when they’ve done well and treats them very fairly too.

I was curious to see what would be revealed about Laura and whether she was actually still alive or not. As Jacob tracks down her mother and friends, we learn more about how they were deeply affected by her disappearance. I liked the way the story unfolded as Jacob followed the clues and got a few lucky breaks at times!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and raced through it in a couple of days. It was engaging and well written and had a good pace, with some intriguing twists and turns and red herrings. I was keen to see how everything would be resolved as Jacob battled with his memories and guilt. I sort of guessed how it would play out but there were some surprising moments! Steve Frech is a new author to me but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for him in the future.

An atmospheric, well written and gripping thriller that kept me on the edge till the last page.
The mystery is solid and well crafted, the cast of character fleshed out and interesting.
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I liked most of this book. It worked through the story at a good pace and kept me intrigued. I enjoyed the descriptions of the small town and the main characters relationship with his dog. The ending let me down and I felt it was a little weak.