What a gripping read - I read this over two days & did not want to put it down! Jacob is leading a good life in a small town. He has a dog, a good business & friends. However, there's something in his past that's cone back to haunt him & this is where it gets interesting. I found this to be well written & attention getting.

Thank you to HQ Digital & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ecopy. Jacob has the life. He has a successful business and owns property that he rents out. His past a bit shady. He used to have a job involving drugs to pay for college. One day he rents his cottage to a person who looks so much like his ex girlfriend Laura who is dead. He begins to see Laura everywhere. He starts asking himself Is she really dead?

I really enjoyed this book! I read it in just a day because I didn’t want to put it down. It was fast paced, yet slow enough to keep me guessing. I loved many of the characters, who were very believable and realistic. I kind of wish The Hollows was a real place! I would love to sit by Murphy and sip some coffee. 🥰

A really good and dark thriller with a few elements of paranormal. Very good and nicely written. I really loved the main character and Murphy of course

This was a fast, enjoyable read. The twist wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped, but I read a ton of mystery/thrillers so I tend to be a little picky. I really appreciated the details of the town as well as the narrator's relationship with his dog. It felt so genuine. 3.5 stars. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read it!

Dark Hollows by Steve Frech was a quick read for me. I enjoyed the description of his town and wonderful life with his coffee shop, dog, rental place for extra money. It all sounded so wonderful. Picture perfect small town to enjoy life in.

At first I thought he was haunted by some supernatural being from his past. As more details about his past came to light, so many things had to be figured out. The sabotage at his cafe with the cockroaches almost had me freaked totally out. Supernatural or planned, that was intense.

Lots of intense moments, heart rate increasing because of not knowing what to expect next. Is it a ghost, is it a psycho? What has happened to his dog ??

Awesome read. Full of action and suspense.

Steve Frech offers a well-paced, intriguing psychological suspense. The entire narrative was well rounded and offered the perfect amount of foreshadowing. Frech intertwines shifts from the past and the present to keep the reader on engaged. The tertiary cast of characters and setting both play quintessential parts of the story line that make this novel feel unique. It was refreshing to have an author develop a story around a setting opposed to just inserting main characters into one. Excellent read. 4 stars


Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #DarkHollows. It was read and reviewed voluntarily by Tarrah Marie (@wayward_readers) All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to HQ Digital and the author for this advanced readers copy in return for an honest review.

Description 🔖

Jacob Reese lives an easy going, quiet life with his dog. He owns a coffee shop in the local small town and runs a business hosting guests in the quaint cottage on his property. All is shaken up when he has a guest in the cottage who eerily looks just like his ex-girlfriend Laura and given that Laura is dead, this is understandably unsettling. The scary thing is, he then starts seeing Laura everywhere. But she can’t be Laura. So who is messing with him and why?

General Thoughts 🤔

This was a nice quick read. At only 5 hours total, and after reading a bunch of quite lengthy books, I enjoyed jumping into a book that was snappy and straight to the point. There were times when I wasn’t quite sure where the story was going to go and was often asking myself “is Laura REALLY dead?!” and I liked that. I liked the unknowns.

Although the end of the story wasn’t a huge shock to me, it was all tied off nicely and it wasn’t an ending to the story that annoyed me or disappointed me.

Characters 👫👭👬

There aren’t a huge amount of characters in the book but there really doesn’t need to be. The story is mostly focused on Jacob and I came to really like him and actually empathise with him quite a lot. His relationship with his dog is so sweet!

Writing Style ✍🏽

There is a tiny tiny thing about the writing style in this book that I absolutely loved. There is a little bit of jumping around in the timeline and every time it jumps from the past to the present or vice versa, there is a word that links the two. Small little thing, but I really really liked that.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I expected it to be a little more horror and a little less thriller, but I was definitely not disappointed when I realised it wasn’t. Nice tension build throughout the story and just the right amount of suspense. I’d definitely recommend this if someone wants a short read on a wintery afternoon. I’ll be looking out for more Steve Frech to add to my TBR for sure.

#DarkHollows #NetGalley
My blood turned to ice. Its a perfect psychological thriller.
Jacob Reese enjoys the quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont.
Things become creepy when he sees a guest with a stick doll that belonged to his so called dead girlfriend Laura Aisling. Then the guest leaves a message in the guest book. The guest disappeared the next day. Who was this guest? What was happened to Laura Aisling? Who is Jacob? What is he hiding?
Characters are at their peak and creepy. I was feeling as if i was seeing a movie. Its a powerful debut. I didn't expect that much perfection but this author is awesome.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ Digital for providing me an advance copy of this awesome psychological thriller.
Highly recommended.

I really liked this book- it grips you from the beginning and I read it in a few hours. The story centers around Jacob, a coffee-shop owner in a small town. He has some unresolved issues around the death of his college girlfriend, and creepy things start to happen that he needs to figure out in order to recapture his quiet life.

The story here was really good- there were twists and turns and suspense from beginning to end. I really liked how it went back and forth between past and present tense- a word or a phrase would either bring Jacob back to his memories or back to the present This was a clever way of storytelling.

My only small nits were that Jacob seemed to effortlessly get himself out of trouble throughout the book and still get what he needed, which was great for the pace of the book but felt a little unrealistic at times. For example, when he visits the mental institution, it wasn't too hard for him to bully the administrator to get the information that he needed, and I think in real life it wouldn't have worked that way. Not a huge deal in the whole scheme of things, though.

All in all, this was a great read. I believe this is a debut and am looking forward to reading what's next by this author. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

"Dark Hollows" is Steve Frech's first published book. If this is the first book published I'm positive that his readers are in for long periods without a good night's sleep as they enjoy his future novels and his skill in writing them. The book is a ghost story - but is it? Whatever it is it brings the reader to a truly surprise ending after going through many changes of opinion.
Jacob Reese is the owner of a successful coffee shop as well as a cottage in a small town in Vermont called The Hollows. He came there after experiencing the traumatic pain of watching his girl friend die violently and wanting to change his life. At the same time that his girl friend dies he lost both his parents, although the only good part of that was that they left him everything they had. This gave him the wherewithal to afford the move and set up his coffee shop and buy the cottage.
The cottage is in an excellent location with adjacent attractions and is easy to rent. Jacob can pick and choose the people he rents to and normally has the cottage occupied. Most people looking to rent supply references that can be checked out until one day he gets a call from a woman that wants to rent the cottage but doesn't supply the normal information. Jacob makes the decision that he will rent to her and the lady indicates the day and time she wants to come. When she arrives Jacob sees her and gasping is sure that the woman is Laura, his dead ex girlfriend.
Suddenly Laura, if that who she is, is everywhere he goes even after she leaves the cottage. She has a scar on her face that Laura had, the same color hair and looks like her with the appearance of a girl that is a bit older than Laura looked at her death. Who or what is she, and what does she want at this period long after her death. The answers are found after a mesmerizing read and a good deal of coffee. A very well done novel be it the first published or the following books and the work of a gifted author.

Jacob Reese enjoys a quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont.
But the calm is shattered when a woman who looks eerily similar to his ex-girlfriend Laura turns up to stay in the cottage and leaves a mysterious note in the guest book.

Now Jacob’s seeing Laura everywhere—a glimpse of her face across the street, her music box left outside his house, a gift he gave her years before hanging from the trees.

But it can’t be Laura. Because of Laura’s dead.

It was a ride. I enjoyed it. It was not horror, more a mystery. It was one that at times got bogged down Other than a few slow moments and a number of people I enjoyed.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and give an honest
review of this book.

Jacob Reese seems to have a great life and future in the idyllic little town of The Hollows. He owns a successful business, a coffee shop, and he rents out the small cottage on his property to discriminating vacationers.

What is it then that causes his nightmares and guilty conscience?
Gradually, we find that to pay his college tuition, years ago, he took on a job delivering drugs and picking up payments for the drugs. A significant piece of the story is wrapped up in this part of his life. However, things have changed and strange occurrences have knocked Jacob a little off kilter. He begins his own investigation. It leads him to places that he never expected.

The book was well written and had a different plot than other mysteries or thrillers. The main character was likable but had some character flaws like all humans. The story was interesting and well thought out. I would have given it 5 stars if the ending had given some closure.

I liked the book and I would recommend it.

Enjoyable mysterious and well written. A great book would look forward to reading more from this author!!

Dark Hollows by Steve Frech - 5 Stars
Publisher: HQ Digital
ISBN: 9780008368227

Dark Hollows is an enjoyable mystery set in the fall in a quaint New England town. The setting and characters are beautifully described. Staying in Jason’s guest house, having coffee in the village coffee shop, and meeting Murphy, the friendliest dog ever, would make the perfect fall vacation.

The plot is somewhat spooky and interestingly complex. It is a nice length. I read it in a fairly short time. The ending was abrupt. At first, I was annoyed that there wasn’t an epilogue or something to tell me more. Then I thought about it and decided it was uniquely perfect. It made me think about what I would have done if I were Jason. It would be a great book to share with friends and to spark a discussion about Jason’s decision and events that led up to it.

Reviewer: Nancy

Jacob Reese has quite the checkered past. He now owns a coffee shop in the Hollows. A respectable citizen, as he also is making money renting out his cottage as a B&B.

When the chance for a franchise of Jacob's coffee shop arrives, he jumps at the idea. Potentially millions of dollars. - paid off for his hard work becoming established.

As always in life, the past rears it's ugly head. His old flame, Laura, appears (but isn't she dead?) as the major celebration in the Hollows - Halloween - draws near.

The reader relives Jacob's past and what has brought him to the Hollows. And what may make him want to LEAVE the Hollows...

Excellently scripted and easy to read from the "then" to the "now" . The characters are mostly believable and the scenes are well depicted. A good, fast read for a number of genres.

Many Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for a fun read!